Cole Custer wants to bid farewell to Tony Stewart on a high by defending the Xfinity title
Cole Custer shared his thoughts about the Tony Stewart-led SHR team's NASCAR exit at the end of the season. Custer said he would try to win the championship for Stewart while looking forward to the future in the big league.
Custer is a 26-year-old NASCAR Xfinity Series driver under Stewart-Haas Racing, the team co-owned by Tony Stewart. The Kannapolis-based outfit is set to discontinue following Stewart’s departure from NASCAR. However, the team will remain as Haas Factory Team next year.
During the Championship 4 Media Day, Custer was asked about his thoughts on the changes in the team and possibly winning the championship. The No. 00 Ford Mustang driver said (via NASCAR insider Noah Reed on X):
“We’re trying to end this thing out strong for everybody in that building and it would be really cool to see Tony and Gene’s names end up on top.” [0:38]
“It would be huge. I think it would mean so much to everybody [winning the championship] that’s been in that building,” Custer added. [0:53]
The 2023 Xfinity Series champion concluded:
“I think it’s really exciting to build something new and see what we can do. I think we have a lot of great resources and have an alliance with RFK. Really excited about my crew chief Aaron. So I think just being able to get to work over this off-season and really get a head start on things and see how we can build something great.” [1:17]
The Championship 4 race at Phoenix Raceway is scheduled for November 9. Cole Custer will go up against Austin Hill, AJ Allmendinger, and Justin Allgaier for the title.
The outgoing Stewart-Haas Racing team will be rebranded as Haas Factory Team at the end of the season. The team reduced its charters to two entries in the Xfinity Series secured by Sheldon Creed and Sam Mayer.
Meanwhile, Cole Custer is moving to the Cup Series in 2025 where he will drive the No. 41 Ford Mustang. His father, Joe Custer, will manage the rebranded team, with Gene Haas retaining ownership.
Cole Custer's message for Tony Stewart’s SHR ahead of championship race
Cole Custer took to X (formerly Twitter) to share his ambition to win the Championship 4 race at Phoenix Raceway. The Californian posted a clip from last year when he won the Xfinity Championship stating his intention to go back-to-back.
Custer said last year:
“There’s no reason why we can’t go back-to-back here and have a shot.”
In the latest post, he shared a four-word message for the season finale along with some of his championship-winning moments last year.
“We’re not finished yet," Custer wrote.
Custer is heading to the championship race as the defending Xfinity Series champ and 2024 regular season title holder. So far, the driver has amassed two wins, 14 top-5s, and 22 top-10s this season. He also won pole position the last time out at Phoenix Raceway.