Although SHR has not picked up the option on the 2017 Daytona 500 winner and 2004 Cup champion yet, Tony Stewart expects Busch to remain with the organization.

On Tuesday, Stewart discussed the driver vacancies in the #10 and 41 teams on NBCSports' NASCAR America.

"We don't know exactly who is going to be in the 10 car yet - but we're working on it," Stewart said of potential replacements for Danica Patrick. "We have a new partner with Smithfield that we're excited about. They've been great to work with so far, and I'm really excited about that partnership.

"The 41 car is kind of still in the air. The reason we didn't exercise Kurt's option wasn't because we don't want him there. We fully intend on having him next year, but it's obviously dictated on sponsorship. These cars don't run themselves, and it costs a lot of money to do it. We need to make sure we have sponsorship for that car before we commit to him for next year.

"But our plan at Stewart-Haas is to have Kurt in that car next year with Monster and Haas Automation."

Stewart was not able to reveal which driver would replace Patrick in the #10 car. The former three-time NASCAR champion and current co-owner of SHR said the company's decision depends on timing.

"So we're looking at options as who is available. You're trying to find out whose contracts are up, when they're up. So a lot of it is timing. Timing is everything in this scenario."

--- Motorsport ---