Did Cole Custer Prove That He Is Ready to Return to the Cup Series?

Earlier, the NASCAR Xfinity Series crowned a new champion for the 2023 season. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer triumphed at the Phoenix Raceway to clinch the championship as well. The #00 driver started on the back foot, down in 7th place, but managed to fight his way up the order and win the race. This was great news for SHR and for Custer’s career in the NASCAR arena. With this performance, he could be not so subtly asking for a promotion to the Cup Series.

Custer made his NASCAR Cup Series debut in 2018, competing in three races for Rick Ware Racing. In the 2020 season, he joined Stewart-Haas Racing on a full-time basis, replacing Daniel Suarez in the #41 car. During that same year, he clinched a maiden Cup Series victory. That would be the only Cup win of his career to date, and the only highlight in his three-year Stewart-Haas Racing stint.

Cole Custer was unceremoniously demoted to the Xfinity Series

Ahead of the 2023 campaign, SHR confirmed that he would not return to the #41 Cup car for the season. Instead, he would go down the Xfinity Series, still in the Stewart-Haas stable. Meanwhile, Ryan Preece got a big break with the organization and took over the #41 seat. Since then, Preece has not performed any better with the team, with his best finish being a 5th place at Richmond. On the other end of the spectrum, Cole Custer channeled his disappointment into determination.

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He picked up two wins, Portland and Chicago, to lock in his Playoff berth this year. From there, he just kept his nose clean and did enough to sneak into the Championship 4. Then at the Phoenix Raceway, he qualified in 7th place with a bit of a task on his hands. However, he hustled to finish 2nd in Stage 1, behind championship rival John Hunter Nemechek. After that, he swept the Stage 2 win and went on to win the race and the championship.

Will this title win be a chance for Custer to return to the Cup Series?

Without a doubt, this 2023 Xfinity Series championship triumph is a bold statement. In essence, he is pretty much telling Stewart-Haas Racing that they may have made a mistake, letting him go. Now, the good news for Custer is that there has recently been a vacancy at Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cup team for 2024. This was because Aric Almirola announced that he would not return to the organization for the upcoming season.

In other words, with Kevin Harvick already retiring, there is no real senior driver figure in the organization. Whoever succeeds Almirola will partner Josh Berry, Chase Briscoe, and Ryan Preece. If Custer does clinch that final seat at SHR, will he be able to step up and pick up where Kevin Harvick left off? To be frank, Harvick’s shoes are too big to fill, but someone has to give it a go and lead the team to glory. The 2014 Cup Series champion gave it a very good go for the championship, even though the team has struggled. In fact, he even managed to reach the 2023 Playoffs, despite not winning a single race all year round, though he was eliminated in the opening round.

Cole Custer was really glad to win the Xfinity Series championship

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The 2023 campaign was a truly difficult one for Stewart-Haas Racing, especially in the Cup Series. This was because the organization failed to reach Victory Lane even once. Naturally, Custer’s Xfinity Series title was a godsend for the team. Custer told yahoo sports, “I can’t believe we won that thing after going back to third on that restart. I can’t say enough about these guys. We started the year off and it was a struggle and we had to kind of dig deep with each other, really talk about how to get better and to see how much this group has grown through the year.”

The driver definitely had a massive chip on his shoulder because he had a lot to prove. Sure, being bumped down to the Xfinity Series after a lackluster three years in the Cup Series was disappointing. However, he knew that it was now his job to get his head down and charge, and eventually earn a promotion back up. With Stewart-Haas Racing facing a crisis in driver leadership, could he end up as the knight in shining armor? Given that the 2024 line-up will be the least experienced, would place them on the back foot, compared to their rivals.

There is a spot of bad news though, for his fans

Unfortunately, it now appears that Custer is not thinking of Cup Series graduation just yet. He recently confirmed that he will return to the SHR Xfinity Series outfit for a second consecutive season. His teammate Riley Herbst also announced that he too will continue on in the Xfinity Series for another season. This effectively puts both of them out of the running to replace Aric Almirola in the #10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford.

Currently, recently out-of-favor driver Noah Gragson is the favorite to replace Almirola. The former Legacy Motor Club driver struggled in his rookie season and was unceremoniously booted out mid-season. Because of some off-track drama that led to a suspension, the team subsequently let him go. Now, the big question is whether he will earn a second chance with Stewart-Haas Racing for the 2024 season.

One thing is for sure, the team is heading into the upcoming campaign with the least experienced line-up. The longest-tenured driver is Chase Briscoe, who joined the team in 2021. He was roped in after Clint Bowyer elected to hang up his boots and retire. Meanwhile, Ryan Preece has just completed his first season with the team, and Josh Berry will make his full-time Cup Series debut. Adding in Gragson, who is also not as experienced, will make things very difficult for the organization. However, Cole Custer really believes that he is not ready to return to the top echelon just yet.

WATCH THIS STORY: Stewart-Haas Racing: A Season of Uncertainty