NASCAR: Driver changes coming for Stewart-Haas Racing?

Will Stewart-Haas Racing make another driver lineup change for the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season, or will they end a recent trend of changes?

It’s been quite some time since Stewart-Haas Racing entered a NASCAR Cup Series season with the exact same four-driver lineup they fielded the year prior. In fact, the last time it happened, team co-owner Tony Stewart was still driving one of the team’s four cars.

After 2015, Stewart returned to the #14 Chevrolet for 2016, and his three teammates returned to their respective cars as well: Kevin Harvick to the #4 Chevrolet, Danica Patrick to the #10 Chevrolet, and Kurt Busch to the #41 Chevrolet.

But ever since then, a single driver change has been made after each season.

Take a look at the moves that have taken place since 2016.

• 2016 to 2017: Clint Bowyer replaces Stewart, who retires, in the #14 Chevrolet-turned-Ford
• 2017 to 2018: Aric Almirola replaces Patrick, who retires, in the #10 Ford
• 2018 to 2019: Daniel Suarez replaces Busch, who moves to Chip Ganassi Racing, in the #41 Ford
• 2019 to 2020: Cole Custer replaces Suarez, who moves to Gaunt Brothers Racing, in the #41 Ford
• 2020 to 2021: Chase Briscoe replaces Bowyer, who retires, in the #14 Ford

That marks five straight seasons of driver changes at Stewart-Haas Racing, and while this has been one of the lesser discussed points of this year’s silly season, there had been some speculation as to whether or not they would make it six ahead of next year.

Harvick had already signed a new deal that runs through the 2023 season, while both Custer and Briscoe were naturally seen as long-term options, having been brought on as rookies.

There were questions about Almirola’s future, however, specifically before he ended a disastrous start to the 2021 season and a nearly three-year win drought with a win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in mid-July.

While formal confirmation from Stewart-Haas Racing has not been made about any of Harvick’s three teammates for next year, Almirola’s statement in August that the extension he signed last year was a multi-year deal implied that this could be the first offseason with no change at the four-car team in six years.

Again, there is no formal confirmation to speak of, but Stewart’s recent statement directly to Beyond the Flag backs up the idea of Harvick, Almirola, Briscoe and Custer all moving forward together as teammates once again in 2022.

“We’ve had a history of having long-term relationships,” Stewart noted when asked about the fact that the last five years have seen changes on the driver front.

He then indicated that there is nothing in the works as far as making a change for what would be a sixth straight year is concerned.

“We don’t have any plans to make any changes right now,” he continued. “We’re happy with our lineup. We’re happy with our guys. We feel like they’ve all contributed and worked really well together to try to find solutions [amid a tough 2021 season]. This is the lineup I want for next season.”

So for all intents and purposes, it doesn’t look like the upcoming offseason will see any changes in Stewart-Haas Racing’s driver lineup, which could prove to be paramount in the first year of the Next Gen car in 2022.