Custer heading back to the Xfinity Series after back-to-back disappointing campaigns for Stewart-Haas.
Stewart-Haas Racing is changing its driver lineup for 2023.
The team is replacing Cole Custer in its NASCAR Cup Series ride with reserve driver Ryan Preece in the No. 41 Ford Mustang after Custer was unable to put the car in the Playoffs the past two seasons.
Custer, 24, made 108 starts for SHR in three years. He won at Kentucky in 2020 to qualify for the NASCAR Cup Playoffs that year, but he’s disappointed the last two seasons, finishing 25th and 26th in the final standings with just five top-10 finishes in 72 starts.
Cole Custer is headed back to the Xfinity Series after three years in the Cup Series.
Sean GardnerGetty Images
Preece, 32, last drove full time in the Cup Series with JTG-Daugherty Racing in 2021, when he finished 27th in the standings with a season-best fourth-place finish at the summer Daytona race.
Preece spent 2022 in the Stewart-Haas camp on team’s simulator, while making the most of limited opportunities in all three top NASCAR Series. He raced twice for Rick Ware Racing in the Cup Series, three times in the Xfinity Series for team owner B.J. McLeod, and 10 races in the Truck Series for David Gilliland Racing.
Preece won a 2022 Truck Series race at Nashville.
“Ryan Preece has been a real asset to our race team this year as we’ve developed the NextGen car. The time and effort he’s put into our program, combined with his real-world racing experience, earned him this opportunity,” said Tony Stewart, co-owner of SHR with Haas Automation founder Gene Haas, in a press release.
Custer will race next year in the Xfinity Series, where he is a 10-time race winner, and be a teammate to Riley Herbst, who returns to SHR for a third season.
“Cole Custer has been a part of SHR since 2017 and we’re glad to have him stay with us,” Stewart said. “Cole’s experience will be invaluable to Riley Herbst as he continues his development in the Xfinity Series.”
With wins in the Truck Series and the Xfinity Series, Preece now hopes to win in the Cup Series and put the 41 car in the Playoffs.
“This is the opportunity I’ve been working for,” said Preece, who won the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship in 2013. “Nothing was guaranteed at the start of this year, but I felt like if I put in the time, whether it was in a race car or in a simulator, that SHR was the place for me. It’s a company built by racers, for racers, and it’s exactly where I want to be.
“I know this season just finished and most people are looking to take a break, but I can’t wait to get going.”
Mike Pryson Mike Pryson covered auto racing for the Jackson (Mich.) Citizen Patriot and MLive Media Group from 1991 until joining Autoweek in 2011.
Keyword: NASCAR Cup Silly Season: Ryan Preece Replacing Cole Custer at Stewart-Haas Racing