NASCAR: Has another seat unexpectedly opened up?

Cole Custer’s future with Stewart-Haas Racing isn’t as certain as it once seemed, with Tony Stewart reportedly keen on replacing him for the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season.

The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series silly season has been a crazy one to say the least, and while things appear to have wound down in recent weeks, we may not be completely done with high-profile teams making a splash in the driver market.

Following announcements by both Kaulig Racing and Spire Motorsports, there are just three teams which do not have any confirmed drivers for next year: Front Row Motorsports, Rick Ware Racing, and Live Fast Motorsports.

One other team, Joe Gibbs Racing, has an open seat, that being the #18 Toyota, but it has become blatantly obvious that Joe Gibbs’s grandson Ty is set to replace the Richard Childress Racing-bound Kyle Busch behind the wheel of that car.

However, a seat that not many expected to open up has reportedly opened up at a top team, though there are only two candidates being considered.

While his performance has been less than stellar since joining the team as a rookie in the 2020 season, Cole Custer has been seen as somewhat of a shoo-in to remain the driver of the #41 Ford for the foreseeable future.

Cole’s father, Joe Custer, is a Stewart-Haas Racing team executive, and team co-owner Gene Haas would like for the 24-year-old Ladera Ranch, California native to remain in his seat for a fourth season.

But if it were up to team co-owner Tony Stewart — which it might be — Ryan Preece would get the #41 Ford next year.

Preece signed with the team as a reserve driver ahead of the 2022 season, and he has made select starts for various Stewart-Haas Racing-affiliated teams in the Truck Series, Xfinity Series, and Cup Series throughout the year.

When Aric Almirola announced that the 2022 season would be his last, Preece was seen as the obvious replacement. But then Almirola changed his mind and signed a multi-year extension to remain the driver of the #10 Ford.

Will Preece end up replacing Custer and thus landing a 2023 Cup opportunity anyway?

This particular situation is seen as even more important than it ordinarily would be, considering the fact that it is unlikely that Kevin Harvick will sign an extension to remain with the team beyond the 2023 season, and there is still a good chance that Aric Almirola will decide to retire after the 2023 season, despite having signed a multi-year deal.

Such a scenario would literally leave the four-car team with Chase Briscoe and only Chase Briscoe heading into 2024, and that is a scenario they would like to avoid.

A need to replace Custer post-2023 instead of post-2022 would leave them in that exact scenario, so is the smart move — the move to better prepare for the future — to demote him back to the Xfinity Series now and put Preece in the #41 Ford next year?