HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Daniel Suarez said he thought he had the money needed to keep his seat at Stewart-Haas Racing. The former Xfinity Series champion said he felt strongly he’d be back in the No. 41 Ford next year.
Then he learned team co-owner Gene Haas had a sudden change of heart.
Stewart-Haas Racing said it is replacing Suarez in the Cup Series with Cole Custer, a 21-year-old prospect who races Saturday for the Xfinity championship on finale weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Suarez has now been fired twice because his Cup team needed his seat to promote another driver. Joe Gibbs Racing released him last year to clear space for Erik Jones.
Team co-owner Tony Stewart made it clear that Haas controls the No. 41 team and the driver change was Haas’ choice, but he said the organization supported the move. SHR will also race for the Cup title Sunday, with Kevin Harvick competing against three drivers from Joe Gibbs Racing – Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin.
“Gene actually controls the 41 car, but we are all comfortable with the decision,” Stewart said. “We feel like Cole has done a great job this year and has earned the right to be in the Cup Series. He deserves it. We still want to figure out how to help Daniel – I think he deserves to be in the Cup Series, it’s just a matter of how do you fit it all in?”
Stewart noted that SHR essentially has a feeder system with its Xfinity program and developed Custer, so the promotion is the natural next step. There’s no room in the four-car SHR lineup without getting rid of someone, and Suarez was the fall guy.
“Sometimes you get in scenarios like this where you’ve got more drivers than you have cars,” Stewart said. “We wish we could have five cars, but we can’t, so it puts us in this odd position to have to make a change like that. It’s bittersweet.”
Custer called it a “dream come true,” but Suarez admitted his disappointment. He said he even had Stewart in his corner.
“He was talking to a lot of people and he was pushing very hard for me. Unfortunately the 41 team, and especially the 41, he doesn’t have a lot that he can do with that car because the 41 is not his car,” Suarez said. “It just didn’t work out.”
Suarez won the Xfinity title driving for Gibbs in 2016 and was hastily promoted to the Cup Series the next season after Carl Edwards abruptly retired. He got two years in the No. 20 Toyota before Gibbs needed the slot to fulfill Jones’ contract. Suarez at SHR narrowly missed making the playoffs and goes into Sunday’s season finale at Homestead 17th in the standings – the highest a non-playoff driver can finish.
Stewart said Custer was ready for a promotion and even elevated his racing this season when asked to pick it up a notch.
“We love Daniel, we love what he does, but we also believe in Cole and believe this is the right time and his opportunity, and he’s really made big gains this year,” Stewart said. “We talked to him at the beginning of the season and said we need to see some improvement and see some gains, and not only did he respond to that, he responded with a bunch of wins this year and racing for a championship this weekend. The kid has earned his opportunity to get this ride for next year.”
XFINITY SERIES: Christopher Bell, Cole Custer and Tyler Reddick are moving up the NASCAR ranks, giving the Xfinity Series motto “names are made here” a little more credence.
Each of them has a chance to go out as the champion, too, though Justin Allgaier might have something to say about it.
Bell, Custer and Reddick dominated the feeder series this season, winning a combined 20 of 32 races and locking up three of the four spots in the championship field for the second straight year.
Their success landed each of them a Cup Series ride in 2020.
Bell will replace Matt DiBenedetto in the No. 95 Toyota at Levine Family Racing. Custer will replace Daniel Suarez in the No. 41 Ford at Stewart Haas Racing, and Reddick will replace Daniel Hemric in the No. 8 Chevrolet at Richard Childress Racing.
The trio has one race remaining before advancing to NASCAR’s premier series – and it’s a big one.
They will compete for the Xfinity Series title Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, with Reddick looking to win back-to-back championships. Allgaier is the other contender, having won at Phoenix last week to secure the final spot in the finale.
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