Date: August 25, 2018
Event: Road America 180 (Round 23 of 33)
Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series
Location: Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin (4-mile, 14-turn road course)
Format: 45 laps, broken into three stages 10 laps/10 laps/25 laps)
Start/Finish: 2nd/4th (Running, completed 45 of 45 laps)
Point Standing: 4th with 833 points (13 points behind leader Christopher Bell)
Race Winner: Justin Allgaier of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Matt Tifft of Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: Daniel Hemric of Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-10):
● Custer started second, finished seventh and earned four bonus points.
● Custer piloted the Haas Automation Ford Mustang in the second and third position for the majority of Stage 1.
● After a lap-seven caution, Custer restarted the one-lap shootout from second place until he drove the Haas Automation Ford hard into Turn 2, resulting in a flat-spotted tire.
● He fell back to the seventh position before the stage ended to earn four bonus points.
● After the stage ended, Custer pitted for four tires, fuel and air pressure and chassis adjustments.
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 11-20):
● Custer started 11th, finished seventh and earned four bonus points.
● Custer powered the Haas Automation Ford into seventh place when the green flag waved to start Stage 2.
● He ran inside the top-10 for the entirety of the stage.
● Custer pitted when the stage concluded for four tires, fuel and adjustments.
Final Stage Recap (Laps 21-45):
● Custer started 13th, finished fourth.
● Custer quickly climbed to eighth place and was promoted to fourth when regular-season championship contenders Justin Allgaier and Christopher Bell made contact in front of him.
● On lap 28, Custer steered the Haas Automation Ford off the track to avoid a multicar spin.
● He pitted for four tires, fuel and air pressure adjustments during the caution period.
● The California native restarted in 15th place and drove to sixth until a lap-37 caution.
● With three laps to go, Custer was promoted to third when the second and third-place cars spun off the track. He fell one position before earning his first top-five at Road America.
Notes:
● This marks Custer’s 19th top-10 of the season and first at Road America.
● This marks Custer’s 9th top-five of the season and first at Road America.
● Custer earned eight bonus points in the Road America 180 at Road America.
● Seven cautions slowed the race for 10 laps.
● Justin Allgaier won the Road America 180 to score his ninth career Xfinity Series victory, fourth of the season and first at Road America. His margin of victory over second-place Matt Tifft was 5.403 seconds.
Cole Custer, driver of the No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing With Biagi-DenBeste:
“We had a car to contend with all day. I’m glad we were able to take away another great points finish after a rollercoaster of a day. Really proud of the team for improving our road-course cars. We’re in a good spot as we get close to the end of the regular season.”
