Cole Custer Finishes Fourth at Iowa
Haas Automation Driver Earns Fourth Straight Top-Five
Date: June 17, 2018
Event: Iowa 250 Presented by Enogen (Round 14 of 33)
Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series
Location: Iowa Speedway in Newton (.875-mile oval)
Format: 250 laps, broken into three stages (60 laps/60 laps/130 laps)
Start/Finish: 5th/4th(Running, completed 250 of 250 laps)
Point Standing:2ndwith 500 points (Four points behind leader Elliott Sadler)
Race Winner: Justin Allgaier of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Justin Allgaier of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: Justin Allgaier of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-60):
- Custer started fifth, finished fifth and earned six bonus points.
- Custer noted tight-handling conditions at the beginning of Stage 1 and fell outside of the top-10.
- He piloted the Haas Automation Ford back to fifth place before the stage concluded.
- Custer pitted for four tires, fuel and adjustments. He gained two spots on pit road at the end of the stage.
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 61-120):
- Custer started third, finished fourth and earned six bonus points.
- Custer battled in the third position for the majority of Stage 2.
- He raced hard for second place, but said his Haas Automation Ford needed adjustments to turn better in the center of the turns.
- He pitted for four tires, fuel and adjustments. He gained three spots on pit road to take the lead.
Final Stage Recap (Laps 121-250):
- Custer started first, finished fourth.
- Custer led the first six laps in the final stage.
- During a lap-199 caution, Custer pitted for four tires and fuel to regain the lead.
- A final caution was brought out on lap 232. Custer did not pit and restarted from the third position.
- He held the Haas Automation Ford inside the top-five before the checkered flag waved.
Notes:
- This marks Custer’s second Xfinity Series top-10 at Iowa and 11thtop-10 of the season.
- This marks Custer’s second Xfinity Series top-five at Iowa and fifth top-five of the season.
- Custer earned 12bonus points in the Iowa 250.
- Custer led a total of six laps.
- Five cautions slowed the race for 31laps.
- Only 18of the 40drivers finished on the lead lap.
- No Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers were entered in the Iowa 250.
- Justin Allgaier won the Iowa 250 to score his seventh career Xfinity Series victory, second of the season and first at Iowa. His margin of victory over second-place Christopher Bell was .745 of a second.
Cole Custer, driver of the No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing With Biagi-DenBeste:
“We had a good day, but just couldn’t keep the Haas Automation Ford up front. I’m so proud of the consistency we are bringing to the track every weekend. I was really hoping we could put it in Victory Lane on Father’s Day, but we’ll move on to Chicagoland and see if we can make it up.”
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the Overton’s 300 on Saturday, June 30 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, I. The race starts at 3:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBCSN.