Custer Earns 16th-Place Finish at Pocono

Race Winner: Kevin Harvick of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)

Stage 1 Winner: Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford)

Stage 2 Winner: Aric Almirola of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)

 

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-25):             

● Cole Custer started 28th and finished 18th.

● Early in the race, Custer reported his HaasTooling.com Mustang was tight while running 27th.

● Custer stayed out during the competition caution on lap 12 and restarted 14th.

● Shortly after the green flag, the caution flew again with the Californian in 13th.

● The 22-year-old restarted 13th on lap 20.

● Custer ended the stage in 25th and was happy with his Mustang’s handling. He visited pit road for fuel and four tires.  

 

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 26-77):

● Custer started in 27th and finished 19th.

● On lap 53, Custer reported the HaasTooling.com Mustang was starting to get a tick tight while running 22nd.

● Under caution on lap 63, the Ford driver pitted from 13th for fuel and four tires. He restarted 19th.

● Caution was back out on lap 71 with Custer 24th. He pitted for fuel and tires, and restarted 23rd.

● During the stage break, the Ford driver stayed on the track in the 19th position.

 

Final Stage Recap (Laps 78-130):

● Custer started 17th, finished 16th.

● “Just a little tight,” Custer radioed on lap 91 from 17th.

● The rookie driver made a scheduled green-flag pit stop on lap 97 for right-side tires and fuel. Rejoined the field in 23rd.  

● As the remainder of the race ran under green, Custer worked his way forward and finished 16th in his second Cup Series start at Pocono.  

 

Notes:

● Custer made his 17th career NASCAR Cup Series start and his second at Pocono.

● Custer’s 16th-place result bettered his previous best finish at Pocono – 26th, earned in June 2018.

● There were six caution periods for a total of 21 laps.

● Twenty-one of the 40 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.

● Kevin Harvick remains the championship leader after Pocono with a 29-point advantage over second-place Ryan Blaney.

 

Cole Custer, Driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“Solid day for us today. We ended up 16th and at the end, I felt we were fast enough to run up front. It’s just trying to get track position and I think I can get my restarts better for tomorrow. It was a solid day, which is what we needed. We can improve on it tomorrow. I think we have a good car and I cannot thank my guys enough. Looking forward to improving on it all, tomorrow.”

 

Next Up:

The second event of the NASCAR Cup Series doubleheader at Pocono is the Pocono 350 on Sunday, June 28. The race starts at 4 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

 

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