NASCAR: Driver change coming at Stewart-Haas Racing?

Following an offseason of no driver changes, could Stewart-Haas Racing look at least a little bit different in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season?

Entering the offseason between the 2021 and 2022 NASCAR Cup Series seasons, Stewart-Haas Racing hadn’t had an offseason without a change to their driver lineup since the offseason between the 2015 and 2016 seasons.

A driver change did end up being announced over the offseason, but for the 2023 driver lineup, not the 2022 driver lineup.

Aric Almirola, who joined the team in 2018 from Richard Petty Motorsports as the replacement for Danica Patrick behind the wheel of the #10 Ford, announced that he would retire after the 2022 season, his 15th season in the Cup Series. But he has since changed his plans and signed a multi-year contract extension with the team.

So there is no longer a guarantee that there will be a change at Stewart-Haas Racing for the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season.

In 2022, all four of the team’s drivers returned from 2021, with Almirola behind the wheel of the #10 Ford, Kevin Harvick behind the wheel of the #4 Ford, Chase Briscoe behind the wheel of the #14 Ford, and Cole Custer behind the wheel of the #41 Ford.

It marked the first time all four returned since 2016, when Harvick, Patrick, Tony Stewart, and Kurt Busch all came back from 2015.

With Almirola no longer out after 2022, could there still be a change next year?

Harvick is under contract through 2023, and Briscoe isn’t going anywhere either. But there has been recent speculation surrounding the future of Custer, who, aside from claiming a win during his rookie season in July 2020, has struggled mightily, specifically relative to his teammates.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s struggles since the end of the 2020 season have been well-documented, but even since that time, all three of Custer’s teammates have found victory lane. Custer hasn’t found the top seven.

During the team’s recent five-year streak of lineup changes, they never made more than one change each year, so with Almirola now set to return, Custer being replaced after 2022 wouldn’t change that.

But Custer is the son of Stewart-Haas Racing team executive Joe Custer, and many have used that to suggest his seat is safe. The team indicated over the summer that this is the case, but they stopped short of a formal confirmation, which could prove significant, especially after a recent development.

Gene Haas wants Custer back for a fourth season behind the wheel of the #41 Ford, but if it were up to Tony Stewart — which it might be — then Ryan Preece will be the man who gets the seat next year. So will the team’s new lineup feature three or all four of their drivers from 2022?

Preece signed with the team ahead of the 2022 season to become their official reserve driver, and many had him penned in as Almirola’s replacement when it was believed that Almirola was going to be hanging up his firesuit after the 2022 season. Could Preece land a Cup opportunity in 2023 after all, but in the #41 Ford instead of the #10 Ford?