NASCAR: It’s not just the cars changing for 2022
By Asher Fair
Kevin Harvick spoke about some of the behind the scenes changes that teams will need to consider heading into the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Stewart-Haas Racing appear slated to maintain the same exact four drivers in their lineup from the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season to the 2022 season, something they have not done since they kept Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch and Danica Patrick from the 2015 season to the 2016 season.
After 2016, Stewart retired and Clint Bowyer replaced him. After 2017, Patrick retired and Aric Almirola replaced her. Busch left for Chip Ganassi Racing after 2018, and Daniel Suarez replaced him. Suarez only lasted one year with the team, as Cole Custer replaced him after 2019. Then after 2020, Bowyer retired and Chase Briscoe replaced him.
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Stewart recently confirmed that he wants to move forward with Harvick, Almirola, Custer and Briscoe for the 2022 season.
For Harvick, the team’s longest tenured driver, this would become just the second group of teammates to remain the same for him from one year to the next while at Stewart-Haas Racing, and he has been with the team since 2014.
Harvick believes that this continuity will matter in 2022 when the Next Gen car is slated for its long-awaited debut, but there is a whole lot more to it than the driver’s side in a year that is set to see many changes which go beyond the simple introduction of a new car.
“I think it’s an interesting year,” he told Beyond the Flag. “I really think the model of what our teams will look like and how they function should be different as you go into the year next year. I think from a driver’s standpoint, that continuity would be good. I think, from personnel and how that structure is shaped, that is going to have to be different.
“You can’t run a race team the way that’s it’s being run right now and function in the Next Gen world, in my opinion, because of the differences in not making parts and pieces and being able to buy body panels and things of that nature. You have to rethink the structure and where you put the focus of how you run the team. From an engineering side and detail side, those things are going to be different.
“But I think in saying that, you also have to understand how long it takes to put a car together and what you’re fighting. So as we go into starting to test the race cars over the next few weeks, I think you’ll have a better understanding of where the hot spots are, the buttons that you might want to push, and the things that you might want to focus on. From a driver’s standpoint, that’s really the easiest part of the equation. The hard part is what that new structure looks like from an organizational structure and layout.”
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Either way, Stewart-Haas Racing appear set for an offseason where they will not have to worry about a driver change for the first time in six years, which is especially a big plus heading into 2022, of all years.