(Photo: Mitchell Richtmyre | The Podium Finish)
RICHMOND, Va. — When Cole Custer stepped back into the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2023, he immediately had the expectation to go out and win.
That, however, hasn’t happened.
But Saturday’s ToyotaCare 250 was a step in the right direction. Custer finished fifth, recording his best result of the season for Stewart-Haas Racing and his No.00 team.
“It seems like whenever things are going good, something goes wrong,” Custer said after the race. “We’ve had top-five speed at some point during the weekend every weekend, but just a matter of putting the whole thing together. We were able to do that today and just get a solid finish.”
After rain washed away practice and qualifying Saturday morning, Custer had to navigate his way to the front from 22nd as the rulebook set the starting lineup. With a pit stop during the Lap 35 competition caution, Custer made his way up to fifth at the end of Stage 1 on Lap 75. He finished Stage 2 in fifth, as well.
Outside of the competition caution and stage breaks, the race stayed without incident until 28 to go. Jeremy Clements stalled entering Turn 3 and limped it onto pit road, where he eventually stalled and brought out a yellow.
Five laps after the restart, Custer’s teammate, Riley Herbst, spun with Brandon Jones to bring out another caution. Custer tagged Jones’ quarter panel as he went around, but said he didn’t have significant damage.
“It wasn’t bad at all,” Custer said. “I was more of a short-run car I felt like, so I felt like it was going to work in our favor, but there are a couple of adjustments I wish I said not to do, but it is what it is … thank God we weren’t involved and we were able to get a top-five finish.”
(Photo: Sean Folsom | The Podium Finish)
Another quick caution set up a six-lap dash to the finish, where Custer cruised across with his third consecutive Xfinity Series top five at Richmond. In eight career starts, Custer has never finished outside of the top 15 at “The Action Track.”
Most importantly, Custer maximized a strong points day. His 44 points improved him from 12th to 10th in driver’s points, finishing off his most complete race of the season. But it hasn’t been due to a lack of speed.
Custer started the season with a ninth-place result, but that was previously his only top 10. After having one of the quickest cars at Auto Club Speedway, Custer got sucked back into dirty air and crashed late in the race, finishing 27th.
Custer proceeded to finish 12th in the next three races before a 32nd-place finish last weekend at Circuit of the Americas. He ran toward the front before spinning into a gravel pit at the end of Stage 2.
Saturday’s result is welcomed for Custer heading into an off-week. The Xfinity Series will return on April 15 at Martinsville Speedway. Although Custer enjoys the confidence boost from Richmond, he wishes that there wasn’t an off-week.
“It’s nice to go into an off-weekend and have a solid finish to take into that,” Custer said. “Hopefully we can keep it going … I wish Martinsville was this weekend.”
