The NASCAR Cup Series’ Next Gen car has let some drivers who haven’t really been contenders in previous years become contenders.
For other drivers, they’re struggling to adapt to the changes in the car, which is OK, given that everyone is still adjusting, regardless of how good they are.
But there’s one driver in the Stewart-Haas Racing camp who might be on his way out if he can’t contend. And no, it’s not Kevin Harvick, despite his lengthy career to date.
Cole Custer has struggled to produce results in his No. 41 that he took over from Daniel Suarez in 2020. The Next Gen car should theoretically be a big help to him, but it hasn’t been. In fact, Custer’s results have not improved much since taking over the No. 41, even before the Next Gen car.
In 2020, he finished 16th in points and won the Rookie of the Year award, but it was pretty much by default. He surprised the field with a win at Kentucky Speedway on a daring four-wide move, and he made the playoffs because of it. But because he was the only rookie to win a race that season, he was guaranteed to be the highest-finishing rookie, winning the rookie title 10 races before the season ended. He wasn’t a threat for the championship, let alone moving past the opening round, and finished last in points among playoff drivers.
That Kentucky win is the highlight of an otherwise unimpressive resume for Custer in the Cup Series. Custer has 91 starts in the top echelon of NASCAR, but let’s call it 88 for the sake of equality in stats – his first three career starts came two years prior in 2018, driving Rick Ware Racing’s No. 51 (in an alliance with SHR) to get him seat time in a Cup car. In those 88 starts, Custer has just nine top-10 finishes and one pole to his credit. For reference, his other two rookie competitors in 2020 outnumber him in both stats.
Tyler Reddick has competed 90 times in the Cup Series, one less than Custer. Again, for the sake of equality, let’s throw out his first two starts that were given to him for seat time in 2019 (although one of them was a top 10). In 88 starts, he has accumulated 31 top 10s and three poles. Christopher Bell, the other major rookie contender that year, has finished in the top 10 32 times, though he has the same number of poles and wins as Custer, with one.
Custer’s stats are so far off Bell’s and Reddick’s, even though their win columns are similar to Custer’s. Custer failed to win in 2021 yet had almost the same year as he…
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