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Ryan Preece

Motorsport

Tyler Reddick now step away to race for the NASCAR Cup season title after an unreal final lap pass win for 23XI at Homestead-Miami 

by Sports Benches

The second of the 2024 NASCAR semi-final races at Homestead-Miami saw a brand new & another bit surprising championship contender for the next fortnight’s finale at Phoenix Raceway as there’s only one to go before the “Final Four” line-up is sorted by the end of next Sunday’s Cup race (Monday AM in Australian time) at Martinsville Speedway.

The driver of the day belongs to Tyler Reddick, who was simply outstanding all afternoon including pole position the other day, having initially passed his boss Denny Hamlin on his way to Turn 1 following the last restart yellow and then Ryan Blaney during the last two corners before he managed shut Blaney down on time towards the checkered flag – what a day for Tyler and his No.45 23XI Racing team right there. 

Tough luck for both Blaney (Defending Champion in the No.12 Ford for Penske) and Hamlin (as a No.11 Gibbs Toyota driver) who fell just short in 2nd and 3rd respectively. Yes, good to see Denny in particular finish 3rd as the best Gibbs Toyota car ahead of always Top 5 finisher Christopher Bell in 4th while he was able to stop by to celebrate with his own driver post-race which was lovely to hear. 

However, it seems that Denny will really need a good race car once more to get out of this must win situation or else he will have it miss out yet again come Martinsville. Don’t have much confidence on him to pull off unfortunately unless all other five Playoff contenders drop out via luck such as a mechanical failure or a crash & Denny gets his way – remember he hasn’t won anything much for a while unlike the regular season leg including the past few Playoff race editions & also this “Paper Clip” short track record that goes way back to 2010 (15 years ago).

If I was going to choose the last two drivers to close off the last semi-final race, then it would be Bell who always does well in the Top 3-5 regardless of this next result & although that last pick looks like to be a very tough one, but maybe Kyle Larson in the 5 Hendrick Chevy will do it with the win as long as he doesn’t crash next weekend.

For now, go celebrate your drivers’ win Denny as Tyler is such a huge talent – who has won 2 x Xfinity Championships in the past – and sure he can make Championship 4 something special should he be the first driver to win one at Phoenix.

Who else other than a strong Top 3-4 Toyota afternoon at Homestead-Miami? There’s AJ Allmendinger in 8th for Kaulig’s 16 Chevy team (racing part-time there for now) and so does the new Rookie of the Year Carson Hocevar who finished 9th also in a Chevy for Spire’s 77 squad. 

And a few Stewart-Haas Racing Fords also filled in & out of the Top 10 when it comes to the next three spots like Ryan Preece (10th – No.41), Josh Berry (11th – No.4) & Chase Briscoe (12th – No.14). Yes, they may not have much time left as SHR are already out of any chances of a season title since Kevin Harvick last won it 10 years ago (2014) but a good Top 10-15 finish is at least a positive thing to hear if you closely follow SHR.

We’re going to miss them dearly at season’s end with Haas set to continue running on his own albeit on a smaller scale and Tony Stewart spending more time with his wife via their drag racing business in the NHRA together.

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NASCAR News Today: Kyle Larson unstoppable in the No.5 Chevy Camaro that wraps up a dominant night for Hendrick Motorsports at Bristol Motor Speedway

by Sports Benches

One word to describe Kyle Larson’s night at Bristol – tremendous. The same will say for Hendrick Motorsports too after a dominant 500 laps of racing for this multi-championship winning organisation with No.9’s Chase Elliott finishing in 2nd when Alex Bowman led the race field from pole but it was Larson who took over and went on to keep the lead with safe hands by sweeping all three stage wins in the No.5 Chevy Camaro. Love the celebration he just had with his son Owen while Owen ran around with the checkered glad when dad Kyle was interviewed by NBC Sports’s Marty Snider in front of the grandstand.

He and the No.5 Hendrick team still has unfinished business ahead for their 2nd championship hunt since his 2021 triumph with the Round of 12 now set to begin at Kansas Speedway next weekend (3pm ET Sunday afternoon/5am Monday AM here). 

Other than Kyle, looks like we will have to say goodbye unfortunately to the bottom four Playoff drivers as neither of them couldn’t get away with a must-win situation (or a Top 5 finish via luck). We begin with Ty Gibbs following an inconsistent 1st Playoffs round results down the middle of the race field (15th – No.54 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing), so does team-mate Martin Truex Jr. due to an untimely pit road speeding penalty from 2nd to 24th (19th Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing), Brad Keselowski (26th – No.6 Ford for RFK Racing) & Harrison Burton (35th in the No.21 for Wood Brothers Racing over a steering issue).

As said, any four of them can win the remaining few races of this year (see Chris Buescher’s win last weekend at Watkins Glen in the No.17 Ford for RFK Racing despite missing the initial Top 16 cut) but doesn’t mean they can all get back into Playoffs contention now that the first Round of 16 is over. After Kansas, we will have Talladega once again on the high banks oval in Alabama before the second Round of 12 Playoffs will finish on the roval (both left/right turns) at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

What else? Great to see Bubba Wallace in 3rd ahead of his boss Denny Hamlin (No.11 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing) following a busy last few days like his contract extension at 23XI Racing. He too had a great night all inside the Top 10  thanks to his functioning No.23 Toyota Camry machinery From 11th to 10th in Stage 1 followed by 6th in Stage 2 & 3rd overall. Yes, he may have missed the Playoffs this year (19th) but there’s a lot more to come from Bubba at Denny & Michael Jordan’s co-owned race team.

Speaking of Denny, he’s relieved to stay alive in the Playoffs race ahead of the next round in Kansas. Sure, he may not been able to quite close in on Larson when it comes to the race lead. However, he knows what it takes to bring these fast race cars home where Denny has been there and done that before with a couple of semi-final and Championship 4 Finishes under his belt. He still really wants to finally win his first championship so bad as a driver and let’s hope he can stay upfront all day long where he’s currently 6th in Playoff Points, so he doesn’t fall short outside the semi-finals like it was over the last two years. 

Meanwhile, Christopher Bell doesn’t disappoint in 5th (No.20 Toyota for Gibbs) as he’s sitting comfortably in 2nd on drivers’ points. Plus, the No.41’s Ryan Preece posts another Top 10 finish in 8th behind team-mate Chase Briscoe in the No.14 for Stewart Haas Racing (Ford), who continues to prove his talent whenever he can possible. And even though someone may have finished well against the rest when being a lap down, Michael McDowell steered his No.34 Ford home in 11th for Front Row Motorsports following his 7th-placed run last week (in his specialist road course ringer discipline) at Watkins Glen.

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NASCAR Race Review: Chris Buescher def. Shane Van Gisbergen on what has been a signature road course race finish with the win for Ford’s RFK Racing team at Watkins Glen

by Sports Benches

Plenty of twists and turns with some stunning side-by-side racing including that last lap on overtime from Watkins Glen International in New York where it was full of race/pit strategy as well as a mix of mechanical and contact drama into the wall. The winner you’re looking right now at is Chris Buescher from the No.17 Ford Mustang for RFK Racing even though he may have missed the Playoffs bubble by 1-2 spots when the regular season finale ended at Daytona a few weeks ago.

Haven’t heard much from him earlier on from 24th but he’s been flying high when he restarted in Top 7-8 at the start of Stage 3. From there, Buescher got a real sniff up front for the whole time alongside a good pit strategy thanks to another early Stage 3 yellow including the race lead off Joey Logano with 17 laps to go. 

Despite having go through a series of late yellows, Chris Buescher successfully fought off Shane Van Gisbergen on the run home that signalled the best of road course racing so far in 2024 of NASCAR at The Glen – congrats to Chris & the No.17 RFK crew. Commiserations to SVG for the runner-up spot but he too had a great day out up front for Kaulig Racing (No.16 Chevy) as sure we’ll see more of him right now at Xfinity level as well as Cup full-time next season with Trackhouse (3rd car).

What else? Spire Motorsports also had a terrific afternoon with all three (Chevy) cars in the Top 10. We begin with the No.77 of Carson Hocevar (3rd) followed by No.71’s Zane Smith (5th – even though Michael McDowell was upset with him post-race who finished 7th in the No.34 Ford for Front Row Motorsports) & No.7’s Corey LaJoie (8th). Gotta say future is bright indeed thanks to their big money investments over these past 12 months.

So does the No.41 Ford of Ryan Preece who posted a Top 10 finish in a while & his third overall of 2024 since Nashville back in late June in 9th for Stewart-Haas Racing. And despite losing his way when he was stuck on the gravel late in Stage 2, Daniel Suarez is well and truly safe into the Round of 12 (currently 5th on Drivers’ Playoff points) after he managed to rebound through a couple of Stage 3 yellows in 13th for the No.99 Trackhouse Chevy team. All he has to do is keep up the good faith & Daniel will probably see some good breakthrough moments like racing in the semis & even the Final ASAP.

Other than Daniel, the next Cup race this weekend (a night race) at Bristol Motor Speedway on the short track will be the last chance for those languishing outside the Top 12 Playoffs bubble. With the likes of Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr. & Harrison Burton — they are all stuck in a must-win situation or else be eliminated & have try again next season when the 3 x Round of 12 events begins towards the end of this month in Kansas.

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More on the RFK Racing 3rd charter hunt this week this time on Rick Ware Racing

by Sports Benches

There’s a bit more to it in RFK Racing’s 3rd charter venture this week since they will be expected to get a significant sponsorship and financial boost from Kroger any minute from now, with Tad Geschickter also expected to leave JTG Daugherty Racing as part-owner at season’s end who is currently sponsored by them right now thanks to Tad’s business links. 

Should RFK purchase a 3rd charter regardless of the sport’s new charter model from 2025-31, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Ryan Preece is the primary candidate to fill in the newly-created RFK 3rd Cup car for Ford full-time. 

He too is currently without a job for next season once SHR shuts down come November with three of his other SHR Cup team-mates already secured new rides elsewhere, such as Josh Berry at Wood Brothers, Noah Gragson at Front Row and Chase Briscoe at Joe Gibbs Racing. Yes, his race results here at Cup haven’t exactly set the world alight since he first replaced Cole Custer in the No.41 Ford Mustang last season, but then that’s more a team issue who is on its last legs ahead of SHR’s shutdown as we know it.

The question is though where they could purchase that 3rd charter from? They can use the Kroger money to fulfil that expansion worthwhile if this sponsorship deal comes out true.

One would say Kaulig Racing when the team’s owners look to buy 51% stake of Richard Childress Racing but that’s for Richard to consider since he’s 78 right now while we don’t know what JTG will look like despite Ricky Stenhouse Jr. recently signed a contract extension there when Tad walks out the door.

If it wasn’t for these two teams, why not enter Rick Ware Racing?

Rick Ware Racing

First of all, they’re currently happy running two Ford Mustang Cup cars right now with Justin Haley currently in the No.51 alongside Kaz Grala and the returning Cody Ware sharing in the other No.15 team. 

With Haley onboard, RWR has grown so much so far in 2024 and you gotta thank him for fulfilling the team’s much-needed potential. But Haley is also in demand with the likes of Spire and even Hendrick & it would be very difficult for him to say no going into next year as Haley is expected to replace Corey LaJoie in the No.7 Chevy alongside the chance to work with veteran crew chief Rodney Childers.

With that being said, RWR could not only take a significant financial package from Spire or Hendrick for Haley but also give the one charter away to RFK under a season-long lease for 2025. 

Good for them to get even more $$$ but how are they going to use it? The plan for RWR would be is run one full-time car (The No.51) while the 2nd car likely to be scaled back on a part-time basis. Not even the return of Grala is a guarantee since he doesn’t have the same calibre as Haley & neither does Rick’s son Cody as the best possible scenario is to get a good enough replacement for Haley in LaJoie. 

Then come 2026, RWR could either get it back or see themselves get a significant new partner involved like Gordon Smith & Brad Daugherty or Haas if RFK wishes to purchase one permanently without them having to pay $40 million to get a completely new second charter.

Although I wouldn’t be too surprised if RWR chooses to leave altogether at some point – should they make that RFK charter lease as a permanent sale while they sell the other remaining charter like to Haas or some other new Cup team. 

Post-Notes

RFK Racing is high flying once again with two Cup cars under co-owner Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher but they would still like to wish more success and a third charter with a third full-time Cup car is the perfect next step to bridge their way back up front like it once was before.

Another new big sponsor will be a great get with Preece set for one last opportunity to prove himself in a more good Ford Mustang race car being provided by Roush & Keselowski unlike SHR. 

For now, that mystery 3rd charter seller or leaser for RFK remains to be seen with the Kroger money.

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NASCAR Top 3 News this week: Erik Jones stays in the No.43, AJ Allmendinger now back at Cup for Kaulig & a huge shake up within the Ford camp for Gene Haas and RFK Racing

by Sports Benches

We’re currently in the middle of August with three regular season rounds to go at Michigan this weekend before Playoffs time and the silly season rumor talk is also halfway if not 2/3rds there as well to see which drivers will stay or go come 2025.

Erik Jones stays on at Legacy Motor Club

Good to hear that Erik Jones will be back in the famous No.43 for another few years at least until 2026, even though he’s yet to score a Top 10 since this year’s Daytona 500 in 8th. Okay, when LMC switched to Toyota this year, things weren’t that good mightily so far this year but they had some Top 10s though as still too early to judge at this stage. Although you can tell Jimmie Johnson has made another round of wholesale changes recently off the back of the team’s poor performances. 

Forget about trying to win for the next three remaining regular rounds, what LMC needs to do is provide the Jones the best race car possible, so they can catch up to other good Toyota teams soon enough like Joe Gibbs Racing and 23XI Racing.

Things take time as we’ve seen with Bubba Wallace when he first drove for 23XI back in 2021 and fast forward to today, he’s doing really well  – despite no recent race win but continues to finish consistently in the Top 10 alongside a great team-mate in none other than the No.45 of Tyler Reddick. With 23XI expected to expand into three cars going into 2025, I’m sure they’ll go even better where one of their race cars could be in the Championship 4 soon enough.

The same could be the same for LMC as long as they’re are on the same page but again still too early to say since they are now a Toyota team rather than a Chevy team, which hasn’t changed a lot when Richard Petty was still running the No.43 show over the last 5-10 years until Jimmie Johnson was onboard since the start of last season.

AJ Allmendinger is back at Cup next year what does it mean for SVG and Zane Smith?

He may not be racing Sundays right now since he is currently racing Xfinity full-time on Saturdays, but AJ has now changed his mind yet again and he will be back in the No.16 Kaulig Racing Chevy Cup machine after all next year. Maybe that’s something to do with Kaulig not being good without him at the top flight and AJ is the man to steer that ship once again until he retires once more before they can find a decent long-term replacement once AJ retires by then. Looks like Kaulig isn’t going away from this anytime soon following talks of them selling charters or even merge with Trackhouse to leave the sport.

So neither New Zealand’s Shane Van Gisbergen nor Zane Smith will be filling in the other full-time Kaulig Cup cars alongside AJ, with Daniel Hemric staying on in the sister No.31 team since he has his own sponsorship to help keep the team’s operations afloat.

As it stands as to who will be driving the 3rd Trackhouse car for next year, I would’ve personally like to see Zane Smith get the nod over SVG. But with Trackhouse admiring SVG so much since he’s a proven race winner mainly on road courses this season in Xfinity including his debut Cup win at Chicago last year, he would like to be there sooner rather than later & that is certainly bound to happen rather than SVG having to wait another year outside the top level. He’s won so many Supercars races and championships before including the Bathurst 1000 and there’s no way SVG wants to be left out of the cold by Trackhouse.

It’s a shame that Smith is going to be left out; not even a rare P2 finish from Nashville Superspeedway back in late June isn’t even enough to make Trackhouse and also Spire change his mind. Maybe he needs to step down to Xfinity and swap places with SVG & if Smith does well there to bring home a championship like he did at Trucks level two years ago with Front Row Motorsports, then Trackhouse would be more than certain not to get rid of him.

Haas Factory Team set to complete their Xfinity Series line this weekend for 2025 with Kroger set to join RFK Racing

Haas Factory Team is set to complete their 2025 Xfinity Series line-up this weekend at Michigan with two rides up for grabs. We don’t know who could that be with Cole Custer already confirmed for a return to Cup within the same newly-created organization. One would definitely say Hallie Deegan despite her recent dismissal from Ford-affiliated AM Racing team over her poor performances as she’s still tied under the Ford Development team, while another could either be Ryan Preece, Harrison Burton or Sheldon Creed.

Gotta say Burton or Creed will get the 2nd ride since they both had some success at this level and can also cover some of their own money as well. Yes, Preece would right be in there as don’t think Gene Haas fancies him well unlike Tony Stewart who brough him there & his performances there didn’t exactly work out well for the most part but then it’s more of an team issue than himself with Stewart-Haas Racing is set to shut down at season’s end.

If Preece was to find a new home post-SHR, he could turn up at RFK after all thanks to Kroger – who is expected to now join them over Joe Gibbs – with one of JTG Daughterty Racing’s co-owners Tad Geschickter also set to leave at season’s end. Considering the big financial boost RFK is gonna get from Kroger, this could allow RFK to expand into three Cup cars by purchasing another charter and then they will look to have Preece onboard.

The question is where they are going to get the third charter from with that Kroger money? Maybe JTG Daugherty Racing is gonna be shut down since Spire Motorsports seems to be Hendrick’s main affiliate partner for Chevy & Trackhouse builds their own cars. What about Kaulig? Could they go back to one Cup car? Maybe as don’t think they will talk away anytime soon with two cars but then they might be interested in buying half of Richard Childress Racing’s assets with the boss getting old at age 78, which would mean they would get three Cup cars with a fourth would likely be be sold to another team.

And while we would like to see Haas and RFK team up together to make it three cars without RFK having to buy a charter but then Haas would like to be on their own, so therefore not an option when Gene Haas wanted to keep just the one Cup charter for himself so he can keep on promoting his own Haas Automation engineering business. Watch this space for RFK looking to expand into three full-time Cup cars by knocking into Kaulig or JTG’s door for a charter using Kroger’s sponsorship money.

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Motorsport News, NASCAR: Ryan Preece to stay in the No.41 Ford Mustang at Stewart-Haas Racing for another year next season

by Sports Benches

Image Reference: TaurusEmerald via Wikipedia, CC BY 4.0 International

Ryan Preece has received a confirmation from Stewart-Haas Racing today during a radio interview with Dave Moody and he will be back for another year in the No.41 Ford Mustang, even though things were slow and difficult for him this season other than the 5th placed finish at Richmond Raceway back on July 30th in Virginia.

So things will still need more time for him to make a more consistent impact as he’s currently 25th on drivers points right now, with three places behind team-mate Aric Almirola in the No.10 car & five places up of another team-mate Chase Briscoe in the sister No.14 car. All in all, it’s hard to see him be at Ross Chastain’s level, whom they’ve both raced not just on the dirt tracks but also showed some talent on these low-budget race cars via Xfinity Series level in the past. However, the results is just not there right now where Ryan can hopefully turn things around starting with these Top 10 results in 2024.

If not, we’ll have to wait & see what happens as SHR is open to selling up to 2 charters. I don’t think the fire sale will happen just yet for at least another year when you got the experienced veteran Aric Almirola holding the glue as Kevin Harvick will step away for good at season’s end in November at Phoenix, with Josh Berry replacing him in the No.4 team soon.

I also don’t think Almirola will retire just yet as well when he initially announced his retirement at the end of last season but then he changed his plans & continued to race for SHR under a multi-year deal where he will want to stick around for one more year, then retire this time for good.

That way, it would be perfect timing for the team to sell the No.10 charter to Richard Childress Racing for Austin Hill as well as the No.41 charter if the results still not good to any one of the current two-car teams ahead of the next TV rights contract to start from the 2025 season.

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NASCAR News Today, looking at potential buyers as Stewart-Haas Racing is the next team to potentially sell 1-2 charters as well as downsizing them at the same time

by Sports Benches

Image Reference: TaurusEmerald via Wikipedia, CC BY 4.0 International

After the big charter sale by Live Fast Motorsports the other day which went to Spire Motorsports for a whopping $40 million, it looks like the next team who would be looking to sell them is Stewart-Haas Racing. They currently run Ford Mustangs at the moment as a four-car team which ran since 2017 from Chevys with initial success, but it hasn’t been the same that way sadly in the last few years.

I guess Aric Almirola would want to stay for at least one more year in 2024, then bow it out on a high alongside Smithfield Foods in the No.10 team. That way, this could be perfect timing for Richard Childress Racing to buy the No.10 charter & expand to three cars for Austin Hill ahead of 2025, who is currently driving for them at Xfinity level, regardless of price.

So that is one charter SHR is open to selling, there’s also another charter they would like to put on the shop window which is the No.41 team. Since Kurt Busch left at the end of 2018, the team’s momentum has done way downhill over time off the back of Daniel Suarez for one year followed by Cole Custer & now Ryan Preece. The first year here is always tough for Preece, especially when he impressed in Xfinity and Trucks level last year after a few years beforehand at JTG Daugherty Racing. Now he might be back for another year in 2024 which is good news, but if he doesn’t do so well again then it would be no surprise that SHR is gonna close down the No.41 team as well. The problem is which team is gonna take it from there?

RFK Racing would be a great shoutout as long as SHR makes it available. I’m not so sure about Trackhouse but I think they will eventually purchase a charter off Spire & expand to three cars with Zane Smith onboard next year – so don’t think they will need another one. The same goes to Spire as I think they will want to make a small profit off Trackhouse & use the potential sale to improve their equipment eventually back as a two-car team. Maybe 23XI Racing perhaps to let a Toyota Racing talented driver to hone his skills for the first year or two before making the step up at some point to Joe Gibbs Racing? They wouldn’t be against the idea of expanding to having three full-time Cup cars, even though the rumour of 23XI racing under Ford Mustangs has been gone lately thanks to Denny Hamlin staying at JGR.

And I think unless Legacy Motor Club can improve their on-track performance next year with Erik Jones & now John Hunter Nemechek, I don’t see them spending $50 million on something that can guarantee them to race days following their recent switch to Toyota that will begin next year. So there you have it, we expect the No.10 charter to be sold off to Richard Childress Racing come 2025 following the retirement of Aric Almirola. And I guess we will have some competition amongst two-car teams for the No.41 charter, should Preece continue to flop next season.

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Thoughts on Stewart-Haas Racing replacing Cole Custer with Ryan Preece in the No.41 Ford Mustang from next year

by Sports Benches

It’s good to see Ryan Preece being given the chance to prove himself in a top-notch race car by Stewart-Haas Racing, where he will replace Cole Custer in the No.41 Ford Mustang from next season. 

There has been division for some time between the co-owners – Gene Haas & Tony Stewart – about choosing Custer or Preece for the best driver to drive the No.41 team next year – but Custer had his ample chances over the last three Cup years with mostly average results despite the one regular-season win that earned him both a Playoffs spot (finished 16th in points) and the Rookie of the Year award back in 2020 – as SHR demoted Custer down back to their Xfinity team in the No.00 alongside No.98 of Riley Herbst. 

Although, I would’ve liked to see Custer help out Rick Ware Racing as SHR’s satellite team and get them up to speed on-track, but then he will most likely be racing for them part-time in the No.15 Cup machine. Sadly, there is nothing much RWR can do other than keep running multiple drivers in the No.15 unless they can find a driver that can cover full season sponsorship, while Rick’s son Cody will always be driving full-time in the No.51 with Nurtec ODT backing.

Meanwhile, on the flip side, this is Ryan’s chance now to turn the No.41 around as a regular front-runner again, which hasn’t really been the case after Kurt Busch last drove for SHR back in 2018. His replacements, Daniel Suarez (2019) and Cole Custer (2020-2022) couldn’t replicate to Kurt’s level on the race track ever since.

If Preece can show that he is capable of winning races in a top-notch car, then it looks like that SHR will have their own Ross Chastain, who had an unreal 2022 campaign finishing 2nd behind champion Joey Logano (No.22 Team Penske Ford) in the No.1 Chevy Camaro ZL1 at Trackhouse. 

And as for Custer, going back to Xfinity will help him get used to running upfront again and winning races which hasn’t happened a lot for the majority so far at Cup level. But I’m sure Custer will be ready to go back to Cup again at some point either in the No.10 car or even the No.41 again, with Preece moving to the No.4 team in place of Kevin Harvick after his expected retirement at the end of 2024. 

Now we will have to see what Almriola has to say about his long-term future after 2023, especially when he reversed his retirement plans a few months ago. If he does decide to retire this time, then it will be up to Herbst if Custer’s presence will benefit his on-track improvements at last next season. Otherwise, SHR will have to find elsewhere and pluck someone from another team like Erik Jones or Noah Gragson at Petty GMS.

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Thoughts on Stewart-Haas Racing’s No.41 car plans for 2023 between Ryan Preece or Cole Custer, as well as their long-term outlook for the No.4 & 10 cars

by Sports Benches

I’d like to see Preece being given a go at Rick Ware Racing full-time in the No.15 first next year if SHR chooses to keep Custer in the No.41 for another year; as long as SHR can help RWR a bit more with technical support on their equipment & hopefully post some good results on-track in order to avoid charter repossession by the sport.

When it comes to the long-term makeup though at SHR, I think Harvick will get a one-year extension in the No.4 car going into 2024 and then retire in time for the next TV rights deal in 2025 & be an analyst with Clint Bowyer & Mike Joy/Adam Alexander (if Joy retires) during the first half of the season for FOX/FS1.

His replacement? I know Hailie Deegan did so well on her Xfinity debut at Las Vegas last week but we’ll wait and see if Ford will give her a full-time Xfinity opportunity next year & try to post more Top 10-15 results on a regular basis after two full years at Trucks level.

Meanwhile, Riley Herbst still needs more time to challenge upfront every week in order to boost his chances of winning races in the No.98 SHR Xfinity car. Now he may have sponsorship but his average/inconsistent results tells me that he is not ready to take the mantle from Harvick or Almirola at this stage and then hope for the best because SHR is a top-notch team wanting to challenge for the championship. So another two years at least would hopefully see Herbst be on the same standard as Custer and Briscoe when they were racing Xfinitys really well at the time before it’s safe to say that he can finally proceed to Cup racing.

Although I do see him as a like-for-like replacement for Aric Almirola in the No.10 car, who also brings similar strong sponsorship packages like Herbst as he’s also into his 40s like Harvick; but again, consistent results will be his major issue to solve over the next year or two, otherwise he will have to try his luck elsewhere.

Now who would be the best person to step up into Harvick’s No.4 car if Deegan is either not ready, gone into Almirola’s No.10 car instead of Herbst or is poached by Toyota or Chevy? Maybe convince Erik Jones to join SHR? He too is doing so well at Petty-GMS with a win last month that ended a long-running drought of eight years for the No.43 team in victory lane, despite missing the playoffs. He brings so much talent to deliver top-half finishes with the right equipment where he was well treated by Toyota Racing during his earlier days with a Truck Series title at Kyle Busch Motorsports, as well as finishing 2nd in Xfinity level back in 2016 and also won a couple of Cup races here and there at Joe Gibbs Racing before he was replaced by Christopher Bell last year. Now Erik may have signed another contact extension with Petty-GMS lately but should Harvick retire, then I wouldn’t be surprised to see SHR throwing out some money to get him onboard.

And although Ross Chastain would be a good get from Trackhouse who is doing outstanding right now, but again SHR can develop their own Ross in Ryan Preece & help him find a full-time ride with vaulable equipment, while Custer will still be driving Cup cars for long time regardless of where he will end up either in the No.41 car for a fourth straight season or being shipped to their satellite team alongside Cody Ware at RWR.

All eyes on the long-term futures of the No.4 and No.10 Stewart-Haas cars going into 2024 and 2025, as the team prepares for life without Kevin Harvick and Aric Almirola once they both hang up their racing career.

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