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Stewart-Haas Racing Aims to Retain Cup Series Line-Up for 2021 After All Four Drivers Make Playoffs

Published 09/01/2020, 9:27 AM EDT

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The NASCAR Cup Series playoffs are here and will give the teams an indication as to where they stand in the race for the top spot. However, one of those teams – Stewart-Haas Racing – can already declare their season as successful with all four of their drivers making the 16-driver playoff cut.

With teams finalizing their 2021 rosters as the current season comes to an end, Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) believes in not fixing that which is not broken.

Greg Zipadelli, SHR’s Vice President of Competition, said that the organization aims to retain all four drivers through the next season.

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An impressive season for Stewart-Haas Racing

Regular season Championship leader Kevin Harvick will continue next year. Rookie of the Year-elect Cole Custer will also most probably stay. Aric Almirola and Clint Bowyer are the other two drivers. Their contracts are said to expire after this season. But Zipadelli said they plan to retain the two drivers.

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Where we are is kind of one of those things that we kind of keep our laundry in-house, working on them,” Zipadelli said in a recent interview.

“Yes, I do anticipate and excited to hopefully have the same lineup that we do this year back. I know one is very close to done, and we’re working on the other one,” Zipadelli added.

He appreciated the efforts of all four drivers this season. He said that Harvick, Almirola, and Bowyer have helped Custer in his rookie season.

On Chase Briscoe’s Cup Series move

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Another Stewart-Haas Racing driver, Chase Briscoe, is in fine form this year. He leads the Xfinity Series and has six wins. Zipadelli did not rule out Briscoe’s inclusion in the Cup Series scheme of things for the next year.

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However, he expects Briscoe to continue with them in the Xfinity Series next year. A Cup Series move in 2022 is more likely, as per Zipadelli.

“I don’t think it would hurt him to run another year of Xfinity. I don’t know, kind of dependent on how the schedules and what the races are if it helps him a bunch or not,” Zipadelli said.

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“But right now, we’re trying to weigh out all those options,” he continued.

SHR’s star driver this year, Harvick, is the favorite heading into the playoffs. So is Briscoe in the Xfinity Series. The first Cup Series playoff race is on Sunday night at the Darlington Raceway. Are you as pumped as we are?

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Written by:

Aayush Majumdar

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Aayush Majumdar is a NASCAR content strategist, a Tennis Writer, and a sports analyst at EssentiallySports. He is well-tenured as a tennis and NASCAR writer, with over 900 articles across both sports. After pursuing a Post Graduate program in Sports Management, Aayush explored various roles in Sports Media, including a Sports Reporting role at a leading English daily.
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