COLE CUSTER | RILEY HERBST
Kansas NASCAR Xfinity Series Advance
NASCAR Xfinity Series Overview
- Event: Kansas Lottery 300 (Round 26 of 33)
- Date: Saturday, Sept. 9
- Location: Kansas Speedway in Kansas City
- Layout: 1.5-mile oval
- Time/TV/Radio: 3 p.m. EDT on NBC/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Cole Custer Notes of Interest
- Cole Custer heads to Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series regular-season finale at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City ready to chase a win and gain more playoffs points before the No. 00 Haas Automation driver kicks off his championship run in the playoffs. Two weeks after the NASCAR Cup Series concluded its regular season Aug. 26 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, the Xfinity Series will wrap up its regular season at the 1.5-mile intermediate track in the Heartland. Custer has had a strong two weeks with a fifth-place finish at Daytona and a fourth-place result last weekend at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, and he looks to continue the strong run this weekend. While his history at Kansas has been a bit of a roller coaster, Custer has been a contender on intermediate tracks this season. Of the 11 intermediate-track starts, he has finished in the top-10 five times with a best finish of third earned May 13 at Darlington and May 29 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway.
- Heading to the final race before the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs commence Sept. 15 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, Custer sits fourth in the driver standings and is locked into the postseason via his two victories this season – June 3 at Portland (Ore.) International Raceway and July 2 in the Inaugural Chicago Street Race. He’s accumulated 17 playoffs points thus far, courtesy of his race wins and stage wins this season.
- Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 will mark Custer’s fifth career Xfinity Series start at Kansas. His best Kansas finish is 11th, earned in the October 2019 race when he led 85 laps before ultimately falling back. He has an additional seven starts outside of the Xfinity Series at Kansas – one in the NASCAR Truck Series and six in the NASCAR Cup Series. He finished seventh in his lone Truck Series start in May 2016, and a best finish of 18th in the September 2021 Cup Series race at the track.
- Custer will be pulling double duty once again this weekend as he’ll also be back behind the wheel of the No. 51 Ford Mustang for Rick Ware Racing (RWR) in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400. It will be his sixth Cup Series start of the season with RWR, the previous five coming July 9 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, July 17 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, July 23 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, Aug. 7 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, and Aug. 20 at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International.
Riley Herbst Notes of Interest
- Riley Herbst is defending his spot in the 12-driver 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs as the series heads to its regular-season finale in the Kansas Lottery 300 Saturday at Kansas. After two weeks of bad luck and mechanical issues Aug. 19 at Watkins Glen and Aug. 25 at Daytona, the driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) dropped from 11th to 13th and was on the outside looking in for the playoff standings. But his sixth-place finish last Saturday at Darlington eliminated his 20-point deficit to 12th-place Parker Kligerman to a one-point advantage over Kligerman for the final playoff position. Herbst ran in the top-10 for a majority of the day at Darlington before his sixth-place finish and looks to lock himself into the playoffs for the fourth year in a row with another strong run Saturday at Kansas.
- Saturday’s race will mark Herbst’s fifth career start at Kansas. In his four prior starts, Herbst earned a best finish of ninth in his rookie 2020 season after starting eighth. He has finished outside of the top-16 just once in his Xfinity Series career at the 1.5-mile track. The Las Vegas native has an additional six starts outside of the Xfinity Series at Kansas – four in the ARCA Menards Series, all top-10 finishes, and two in the NASCAR Truck Series. He has a best finish of third in his July 2020 ARCA start after starting on the pole. Best of his two Truck Series starts was a ninth-place run in May 2019.
- While Herbst is seeking his first career Xfinity Series win, the No. 98 team has already earned a victory at Kansas, when Chase Briscoe led a race-high 159 laps and beat runner-up Daniel Hemric by 1.199 seconds in the October 2019 race. In the NASCAR Cup Series, SHR owns three Kansas wins – one by Tony Stewart in October 2009, and two by Kevin Harvick in October 2016 and May 2018.
Cole Custer, Driver of the No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang
The Xfinity Series is heading to Kansas for the first time in 2023 as you had an off weekend when the Cup and Truck Series visited the track in May. How are you preparing for the final race of the regular season?
“Overall, there are going to be guys who are a little bit desperate going into the Kansas race. It’s the final race of the regular season and the final playoff spots are so close in points. They’ll be racing extremely hard, and we want to play it smart as to not put ourselves in a bad situation. At the same time, though, we have to go out there and try to win. It will help make us more solidified in the playoffs and give us more playoff points. We can’t back down and ride around just because we’re locked into the playoffs. Every weekend we show up ready to race for a win, and that’s just what we’ll do this weekend.”
We’re one race away from the NASCAR Playoffs where the real race for the championship begins. What do you need to win a championship this season?
“I think it’s a lot about not making mistakes in the playoffs. You’re going to have a few teams that take themselves out with mistakes and you never want to be that team. We have to be able to put some solid races together to make it through each round. There are only three races per round, so a mistake could cost you a chance to advance. From there, you still have to have solid speed and a smart strategy. The entire field resets and you’re all kind of on equal ground. It’s why those playoff points are so important. We have to be smart and fast. I know that this No. 00 Haas Automation team can get it done, though.”
Riley Herbst, Driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang
You’re heading to the regular-season finale at Kansas this weekend and, after a strong effort at Darlington, you’re back above the cutline in the 12th and final playoff spot. What do you have to do this weekend to not only defend your spot in the playoffs but also be competitive enough to go for the win?
“At the end of the day, we show up at the racetrack each and every weekend to contend for the win. It’s cool to be back in the playoffs at the moment, and I’m hoping we can keep ourselves in contention. We never wanted to be in this position with how solid we were at the beginning of the year, but I know that we can bounce back from this. My hope is that we can go out, contend for the win and lock ourselves in the playoffs with a victory, but we’re also going to be conscious of the points. We’re in the better position right now above the cutline, so it’s about finding that balance.”
Kansas has been a solid track for you in the past – especially in the Truck Series and ARCA Menards Series. What do you like about the track?
“I love this track. Kansas is probably one of my favorite intermediate tracks just because I have some solid history there in Trucks and ARCA. Even in the Xfinity Series, we’ve been decent there. There’s a lot that can transfer over from those starts to the Xfinity Series, but ultimately seat time helps you learn the track. We’ve had fast Ford Mustangs each and every week, so now it’s just about leaving the bad luck behind us and making no mistakes. I want to be able to park the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang in victory lane, and Kansas seems like a good place to do it.”
