Cole Custer

Cole Custer

Custer at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2015
Born (1998-01-23) January 23, 1998
Ladera Ranch, California
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
5 races run over 1 year
Car no., team No. 00 (Stewart-Haas Racing)
2016 position 100th
Best finish 100th (2016)
First race 2016 Toyota Care 250 (Richmond)
Last race 2016 Ford EcoBoost 300 (Homestead)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 2 0
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
42 races run over 3 years
2016 position 10th
Best finish 10th (2016)
First race 2014 Kroger 250 (Martinsville)
Last race 2016 Ford EcoBoost 200 (Homestead)
First win 2014 UNOH 175 (Loudon)
Last win 2015 American Ethanol Presents the Drivin' for Linemen 200 (Gateway)
Wins Top tens Poles
2 24 5
Statistics current as of November 19, 2016.

Cole Custer (born January 23, 1998) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 00 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing.

Racing career

Custer began racing quarter midgets at age four. In 2011, Custer won the USAC National Focus Young Guns Championship. The following year, Custer began racing late models, winning ten races and earning Rookie of the Year honors.[1]

Touring series

Custer's No. 00 Pro Series East car at Richmond International Raceway in 2013

In 2013 Custer joined the K&N Pro Series East, making his debut at Bristol Motor Speedway[1] for Ken Schrader Racing. During the season at Iowa Speedway, Custer won the pole position, led every lap, a record for a combination race, and won, becoming the youngest race winner in K&N Pro Series history at age 15, beating Dylan Kwasniewski's record by six months.[2][N 1] Custer would win again at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, also from the pole.[5][6] He finished eighth in the series standings.[7] Custer later ran in the K&N Pro Series West's season-ending race. Custer led every single lap, but was turned by Gray Gaulding on the final lap, and finished sixth.[7]

In the 2014 season, Custer won the Pro Series West opener at Phoenix International Raceway, holding off Greg Pursley and Brennan Newberry on the green–white–checker finish.[8]

Camping World Truck Series

In 2014, Custer joined Haas Racing Developments to run nine races in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, making his debut in the Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway.[7] Custer started the race 9th, and finished 12th.[9] In qualifying for the Drivin' for Linemen 200 at Gateway Motorsports Park, Custer set the track record with a 136.426 miles per hour (219.556 km/h) lap speed, becoming the youngest pole winner in NASCAR history.[10]

At New Hampshire Motor Speedway on September 20, 2014, Custer won the Camping World Truck Series' UNOH 175 from the pole, becoming the youngest winner in the history of NASCAR's national touring series at 16 years, 7 months and 28 days.[11][N 2]

On January 12, 2015, JR Motorsports announced that Custer would drive a truck for them in ten races in 2015.[12] On June 13, Custer won the Truck race at Gateway Motorsports Park, holding off the No. 23 truck of Spencer Gallagher, after the dominating trucks of Erik Jones and Matt Crafton were involved in two wrecks at laps 142 and 152.

When he turned 18 years old in 2016, JR Motorsports began fielding the No. 00 truck for Custer full-time, competing for the Rookie of the Year title. At Canadian Tire Motorsport Park during the Chevrolet Silverado 250, John Hunter Nemechek and Custer were battling for the lead when Nemechek bumped Custer before running both Custer and himself off-road, pinning Custer to the wall. Before the winner was declared, Nemechek was tackled by Custer; Nemechek would be named the winner.[13]

Xfinity Series

In 2016, Custer made his Xfinity Series debut for JR Motorsports at Richmond International Raceway, driving the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro.[14] He drove the No. 88 for JR Motorsports to a best career fourth-place finish at Charlotte in the Hisense 4K TV 300.

On September 16, 2016, Stewart-Haas Racing announced that Custer would drive the No. 00 Ford Mustang full-time in 2017, with Haas Automation as the primary sponsor.[15]

Personal life

Born in Ladera Ranch, California, Custer is the son of Joe Custer, who is the executive vice president at Stewart-Haas Racing and chief executive officer of Haas F1 Team.[16] SHR co-owner Gene Haas' company, Haas Automation, sponsors Custer.[1] He attended Ladera Ranch Middle School and Tesoro High School.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Xfinity Series

Camping World Truck Series

1 Ineligible for series points

ARCA Racing Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points

References

Notes
  1. ↑ The current youngest K&N Pro Series winner is Gray Gaulding, winning at Phoenix International Raceway at 15 years, 8 months and 30 days.[3][4]
  2. ↑ NASCAR's "national touring series" include the Sprint Cup Series, Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series; some include the 1972–1973 Grand National East Series as well.
Citations
  1. 1 2 3 Edwards Staggs, Brooke (May 13, 2013). "Ladera 15-year-old hits NASCAR circuit". Orange County Register. Retrieved March 30, 2014.
  2. ↑ Associated Press (August 3, 2013). "Fifteen-year-old Cole Custer breaks record in NASCAR K&N race". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved March 30, 2014.
  3. ↑ Hardin, Ed (February 7, 2014). "Gaulding, 15, ready to go racing". News & Record. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Gray Gaulding". NTS Motorsports. March 2014. Retrieved 2014-09-20.
  5. ↑ Kerchner, Mike (September 22, 2013). "Short-Track Roundup: Cole Custer wins second NASCAR K&N Pro Series race". Autoweek. Retrieved March 30, 2014.
  6. ↑ Remillard, Jason (September 21, 2013). "Cole Custer wins NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway". The Republican. Retrieved March 30, 2014.
  7. 1 2 3 Spencer, Lee (January 20, 2014). "Custer, turning 16 this week, to run limited Truck schedule". Foxsports.com. Retrieved March 30, 2014.
  8. ↑ Sbarra, Shon (February 27, 2014). "Custer Finally Gets Phoenix Win". NASCAR Home Tracks. Retrieved March 30, 2014.
  9. ↑ "2014 Kroger 250". Racing-Reference. Retrieved March 30, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Cole Custer sets track record, wins 21 Means 21 Pole Award". NASCAR. June 14, 2014. Retrieved June 14, 2014.
  11. ↑ "16-year-old Cole Custer becomes youngest to win Truck Series race". Sporting News. September 20, 2014. Retrieved 2014-09-20.
  12. ↑ "JR Motorsports to run select NCWTS races with Cole Custer". Foxsports.com. January 12, 2015. Retrieved January 12, 2015.
  13. ↑ "JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK BATTLES CUSTER TILL END FOR WIN AT CANADA". NASCAR. September 4, 2016. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
  14. ↑ White, Heath (February 5, 2016). "JR Motorsports and Cessna Announce Partnership". JR Motorsports. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  15. ↑ "Stewart-Haas Racing Names Cole Custer as its 2017 Driver for NASCAR XFINITY Series Team". Stewart-Haas Racing. September 16, 2016. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
  16. ↑ "Haas F1 Team lures Anheuser-Busch executive to head marketing effort". Autoweek. October 28, 2014. Retrieved February 21, 2016.

External links

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