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COLE CUSTER – 2017 Bristol II Race Report

Cole Custer Scores Top-10 at Bristol

Haas Automation/One Cure Ford Driver Maintains Sixth-Place Point Standing

Date: Aug. 18, 2017
Event: Food City 300 (Round 22 of 33)
Series: NASCAR XFINITY Series
Location: Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway (.533-mile oval)
Format: 300 laps, broken into three stages (85 laps/85 laps/130 laps)
Start/Finish: 5th/10th (Running, completed 300 of 300 laps)
Point Standing: 6th (533 points, 274 out of first)
 Race Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Stage 1 Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-85):

  • Cole Custer started fifth, finished 11th.
  • Custer kept his Haas Automation/One Cure Ford Mustang inside the top-10 for the majority of the stage while battling tight-handling conditions.
  • At the conclusion of the stage, Custer pitted for four tires, fuel, chassis adjustments and air pressure adjustments.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 86-170):     

  • Started ninth, finished 10th. Earned one bonus point.
  • Custer drove in the top-10 throughout Stage 2.
  • To further correct tight-handling conditions, Custer pitted for four fresh tires, fuel and chassis adjustments at the conclusion of the stage.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 171-300):            

  • Started ninth, finished 10th.
  • During a lap-217 caution, Custer pitted for four fresh tires, fuel and wedge adjustments. He restarted in the eighth position.
  • Custer piloted his Haas Automation/One Cure Ford Mustang to fourth place on the restart.
  • After the final caution on lap 285, Custer pitted for four more tires, fuel and wedge adjustments.
  • Custer restarted in the ninth position and competed in the top-10 for the remainder of the race.

 Notes:                

  • Custer was the highest-finishing rookie in Stage 1.
  • Custer earned his 10th top-10 of the 2017 season and his 12th top-10 in 27 XFINITY Series starts.
  • Eight caution periods slowed the race for 46 laps.
  • Kyle Busch won the Food City 300 to score his 91st career XFINITY Series victory, his fifth of the season and his ninth at Bristol. His margin of victory over second-place Daniel Suarez was 1.181 seconds.

Cole Custer, driver of the No. 00 Haas Automation/ One Cure Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:       

“I’m happy with our day. I think we could have done a little bit better, but the track just changed so much. It was definitely a learning curve for me. It was a lot about restarts and who you were behind and what lane you were in, but we brought a pretty solid Haas Automation/One Cure Ford Mustang. We probably should’ve finished fifth to seventh and I probably could’ve done a little bit better job, but I learned a lot for when we come back the next time.”

Next Up:          

The next event on the NASCAR XFINITY Series schedule is the Johnsonville 180 on Sunday, Aug. 27 at Road America near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. The race starts at 3 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBC.