CONCORD, N.C. – If Cole Custer is giving us a glimpse of his future in the NASCAR XFINITY Series, it’s bound to be exceptional.
The JR Motorsports full-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver finished fourth in Saturday’s Hisense 300 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, earning his second top-10 finish in as many starts.
And in a race mixed with a stout list of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regulars, Custer kept his composure, raced hard and utilized a caution with two laps remaining to put himself in position to win.
While Custer didn’t come away with the checkered flag, his fourth place finish earned the Haas Racing development driver some bragging rights, but more importantly gives the NASCAR Next alumnus some momentum moving forward.
“I ended up really happy with where we ended up there, we had a good call there at the end taking two tires and kept some our track position,” said Custer. “We were just able to make some things happen on the last restart. They brought a great car here. I can’t thank all them enough. The day didn’t start out that great, we got some damage on pit road, but was able to work our way back up there and it ended (up) pretty well.”
Last month in his XFINITY Series debut, Custer finished sixth and drew immediate accolades from race winner and boss Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Eyeing to move up the ladder with a potential full-time responsibility in the XFINITY Series next season, Custer felt like his opportunity wasn’t necessarily an audition, but an opportunity to not only gain more experience in the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro, but also the potential to win.
“I think definitely always trying to compete with all the Cup guys and everything, you really learn a ton from them,” added Custer. “Just proving and trying to gain some respect. Trying to know that you can race with them and (just) trying to just get better with every race.”
With two races down and three to go in a part-time XFINITY gig Custer will return to JRM Motorsports’ XFINITY program at the newly repaved Kentucky Speedway on July 8 before coming back to Charlotte in the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro October 7 then wrapping up a five-race deal at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway November 19.
“I know they’re going to bring some great cars to the track, so I’m going to try my best to do my job,” added Custer.
Without question, any of those races could see the unexpected. Cole Custer has proven himself a winner in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, the youngest winner ever, but he has the mentality, the talent and the sneakiness of showing up when it counts the most that could prove to set the tone for what lies ahead.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
