David Stremme appeared surprised by an internet report that he would be out of the Swan Racing Toyota after Richmond International Raceway.
Swan Racing team owner Brandon Davis confirmed the story late Friday morning.
Earlier, however, Stremme appeared taken aback by the news.
“I’ll be honest, I don’t know what the hell is going on,” Stremme said by phone Friday morning. “No one has told me anything. I thought was going to Chicago (next week).”
Stremme, 36, has competed in the Sprint Cup Series since 2005. He competed in eight races for Davis, who took ownership of the No. 30 car at this race last year and in every event except the Daytona 500 in 2013.
Stremme is currently 31st in the point standings. His best finish of the season was 12th at Talladega in May.
When FOXSports.com asked Stremme if he had ownership in Swan Racing, he elected not to comment.
Davis also confirmed by text the report by PopularSpeed.com said Cole Whitt would replace the veteran next week at Chicagoland but added, "We are planning to try a bunch of different young guys. Looking for the driver for our future."
Whitt competed for JR Motorsports last year and finished seventh in the Nationwide Series standings as a rookie. The 22-year-old Alpine, Cal.-native currently campaigns for TriStar Motorsports in NNS. Although Whitt has made seven Sprint Cup starts, six were start-and-parks. In his Cup debut, Whitt ran the fall race at Phoenix and finished a career-best 25th.
