Custer Finishes Fifth at Pocono

Race 12 of 23: Pocono Mountains 150 at Pocono Raceway

Track Specs: 2.5-mile oval / 60 laps

Weather: Partly cloudy, 78 degrees

Race Winner: William Byron

Custer’s finish: 5th     

Cole Custer

Pocono Raceway is a momentum track, and Cole Custer and the Haas Automation team from JR Motorsports now have some after Custer drove his Chevrolet Silverado to a top-five finish in the Pocono Mountains 150. Saturday’s race for NASCAR Camping World Truck Series machines also gave Custer a big boost toward a qualified Chase position with four races remaining.

Custer was seventh on the final restart with four laps remaining, but got past Rico Abreu on the final lap to claim his third top-five and fifth top-10 finish of the season in 12 races. Prior to that, his race was an exercise in patience. Starting 16th, the 18-year-old from California picked off five spots on the opening lap to give himself some track position.

All that vanished on lap 13 when Custer spun exiting Turn 2. Running the low line next to Ben Rhodes, Custer’s black-and-red Haas Automation Chevrolet twitched and came around, sliding toward the outside wall. He kept it off the wall and out of trouble, though a tire went flat during the slide. Hitting pit road, crew chief Marcus Richmond called for right-side tires and sent him back out in 22nd position.

After a couple of brief caution flags, Custer seemed to find the handle and began picking off positions. He stayed around there until the fourth caution came out. He hit pit road again, this time for four tires, a wedge adjustment and fuel to the end. The Haas Automation team got him three spots on pit road, and he restarted seventh on lap 28. That nearly proved disastrous, as the BKR duo of Daniel Hemric and Tyler Reddick crashed off Turn 1, nearly collecting Custer’s Chevrolet in the process.

Over the final 30 laps, Custer was in the top 10 and moving forward. Restarts were problematic, as he rarely was on the outside line for them. The outside line had momentum and took off well, and Custer had to fight from the bottom on numerous occasions.

The final restart of the day, with four laps to go, allowed Custer to get the jump he needed. Battling with Abreu, Custer made the pass on the final lap and held it to the finish to earn his second straight top-10 result.

William Byron won the race, his fifth triumph of the season. He was followed by Cameron Hayley, Brett Moffitt, Timothy Peters and Custer.

Custer remained 11th in the series point standings, but cut nine points from his deficit to Hayley, the eighth-place driver. Custer trails Hayley by just five points for the final position in the inaugural NCWTS Chase. Just four races remain until the Chase field is set.

Cole Custer, driver No. 00 Haas Automation team

"It was a little crazy out there on restarts, but we were able to keep the Haas Automation Chevrolet Silverado in one piece. We just couldn’t get a restart on the outside when we needed one. The outside line would roll, and if you were on the inside, it got really loose. It was another good points day, we carried the momentum from Eldora and we are five points out of the Chase with four races to go. All in all, it was a great weekend for me, Marcus and the team.”

JRM Press Release.