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COLE CUSTER – 2018 Texas Race Report

Event: My Bariatric Solutions 300 (Round 6 of 33)
Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series
Location: Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth (1.5-mile oval)
Format: 200 laps, broken into three stages (45 laps/45 laps/110 laps)
Start/Finish: 10th/4th (Running, completed 200 of 200 laps)
Point Standing: 6th with 181 points

Race Winner:    Ryan Blaney of Team Penske (Ford)
Stage 1 Winner: Ryan Blaney of Team Penske (Ford)
Stage 2 Winner: Brandon Jones of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-45):

  • Cole Custer started 10th, finished seventh. Earned four bonus points.
  • Custer piloted the Thompson Pipe Group Ford inside the top-10 for the majority of the stage.
  • He noted tight-handling conditions throughout the stage.
  • Custer pitted at the conclusion of the stage for four tires, fuel and air pressure adjustments. He gained five positions on pit road.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 46-90):

  • Custer started second, finished 14th.
  • Custer maintained his car inside the top-four until he was caught behind a loose-handling car on a lap-74 restart.
  • During a lap-84 caution, Custer pitted for four tires and fuel along with the majority of the cars in the top-10. He restarted 17th.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 91-200):

  • Custer started fourth, finished fourth.
  • He continued to run inside the top-five, but noted tight-handling conditions during the first half of the stage.
  • Crew chief Jeff Meendering radioed Custer to the pits on lap 142 for four tires and fuel. He was in the third position.
  • After green-flag pit stops cycled through, Custer was scored in fourth place.
  • Custer battled the Thompson Pipe Group Ford Mustang in the top-five for the remainder of the race and qualified for the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus at Bristol Motor Speedway next weekend.

Notes:              

  • This marks Custer’s third top-five at Texas, first top-five of the season and fourth straight top-10 of the season.
  • This was Custer’s third straight top-five at Texas.
  • This was Custer’s best Xfinity Series finish at Texas.
  • Custer earned four bonus points in the My Bariatric Solutions 300.
  • Only 10 of the 40 cars entered into the race finished on the lead lap.
  • The race featured eight cautions for a total of 42 laps.
  • Ryan Blaney won the My Bariatric Solutions 300 to score his seventh career Xfinity Series victory, first of the season and first at Texas. His margin of victory over second-place Christopher Bell was 2.327 seconds.

Cole Custer, driver of the No. 00 Thompson Pipe Group Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing With Biagi-DenBeste:          

“I was happy with our day. We were definitely a top-three car today. Our Thompson Pipe Group Mustang just ran solid all day. It is pretty amazing to be able to compete in the Dash 4 Cash prize at Bristol and it’s a really awesome thing that Xfinity does for the series. You get to race hard and race for a lot of money. We are going to get after it. We have been good there in the past and I’m looking forward to going there and try to win $100,000 for our team. That would be pretty awesome.”

Next Up:          

The next event on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300 on Saturday, April 14 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. The race starts at 1 p.m. EST with live coverage provided by FS1.