MARTINSVILLE, Va.: Cole Custer quite possibly had the best NASCAR Cup Series car since he won at Kentucky Speedway in 2020 during Saturday night’s Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway but a penalty at the end of Stage 2 thwarted the opportunity to earn his first top-10 finish of the 2022 season.
On Friday afternoon, Custer qualified his No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang third and showcased the capabilities of his race car in Stage 1 where he kept his Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang within sight of the two Hendrick Motorsports cars of William Byron and Chase Elliott.
Custer finished Stage 1 in third, the top car from the organization and utilized the break to pit for tires, fuel and adjustments to set him up for a lengthy stint in Stage 2.
With the field assembled in a conga line for much of Stage 2, Custer would continue his presence at the front of the field battling with his Ford Performance teammates of Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney.
Collecting fifth place at the end of Stage 2, Custer would again be the top-running Stewart-Haas Racing machine and looked at his second pit stop of the night as an opportunity to keep him in contention for his second career Cup Series victory.
Unfortunately, during the stop, Custer’s crew let a Goodyear tire escape their pit stall which forced NASCAR to make an uncontrolled tire penalty on the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang which sent Custer from the front of the field to the rear.
Throughout Stage 3, passing continued to be come increasingly difficult and with leader William Byron continuing his dominance of the race, the Ladera Ranch, Calif. native would eventually fall one lap down and spend the rest of the race chasing the free pass.
At the end of the 403-lap race, Custer would finish 21st, the second car one lap down and the lowest of the SHR conglomerate.
“Heartbreaking night running top-five in the first two stages, but an uncontrolled tire bit us,” said Custer. “Win as a team, lose as a team though! The guys brought a fast car, our time will come when everything falls into place.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
