COLE CUSTER | RILEY HERBST
Charlotte Roval NASCAR Xfinity Series Advance
NASCAR Xfinity Series Overview
- Event: Drive for the Cure 250 presented by BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina (Round 29 of 33)
- Date: Saturday, Oct. 12
- Location: Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval
- Layout: 2.28-mile, 17-turn road course
- Time/TV/Radio: 4 p.m. EDT on CW/PRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Cole Custer Notes of Interest
- Cole Custer enters Saturday’s Drive for the Cure 250 on the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval with high hopes as he sits second in the points standings and third in the playoffs standings as the series heads to the Round of 12 finale. After the first two playoff races, Custer sits 37 points above the Round of 8 cutline due largely to his solid second-place finish Sept. 28 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City. Last week on the Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway oval, Custer drove to a 27th-place finish that normally would not bode well for his championship hopes, but he banked 13 valuable playoff points by virtue of his two race wins and three stage wins, as well as a 15-point bonus for winning the regular-season championship. Custer arrives at Charlotte tied for second in the standings with Austin Hill, 27 points behind leader Chandler Smith. Barring a disastrous result Saturday, Custer is in position to advance to the Round of 8 on points. A win would to lock him into the next round and earn an additional five playoff points. Custer has made the playoffs in all five of his fulltime Xfinity Series seasons, advancing to the Championship 4 in all but his rookie season in 2017, when he missed it by one position. As he eyes back-to-back championships, Custer knows that if he can make it out of the Round of 12, the team will hit its sweet spot of racetrack combinations in the Round of 8 – Oct. 19 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Oct. 26 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and Nov. 2 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
- The Drive for the Cure 250 marks Custer’s fourth Xfinity Series start at the road course that incorporates portions of the Charlotte Motor Speedway oval. He made his first start in the inaugural Roval race in September 2018, when he finished seventh and led five laps. He followed that with an eighth-place finish in September 2019 after starting sixth. In last year’s race, Custer looked to be on his way to another road-course victory in the final laps when Sam Mayer passed him for the lead. Custer emerged with his best Roval finish of second. This weekend, he’s looking for redemption. Custer has an additional three starts outside of the Xfinity Series on the Roval, all coming in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2020 to 2022 with a best finish of ninth in October 2020.
- Custer has excelled on road courses since his return to the Xfinity Series at the start of the 2023 season, finishing in the top-10 in every race but four when turning right and left. In nine road-course and two street-course starts since 2023, Custer has earned two victories and nine top-10s. Custer’s history on road courses suggests he’s a silent road-course ringer. He followed up his June 2023 victory at Portland (Ore.) International Raceway with another win in the inaugural Chicago Street Race in July 2023. Custer has finished in the top-10 in 20 of his 24 career road-course outings. This past March 24, he finished fourth on the 3.426-mile, 20-turn Circuit of the Americas (COTA) layout in Austin, Texas. He followed that up with a sixth-place finish June 1 at Portland and a ninth-place result June 8 at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway.
- Custer will sport the bright and vibrant colors of Andy’s Frozen Custard once again this weekend in the company’s third and final race as primary partner in 2024. Founded in 1986 in Osage Beach, Missouri, by Andy Kuntz’s parents John and Carol Kuntz, Andy’s Frozen Custard has been providing the freshest frozen custard in the business for 38 years, giving ice cream the “cold shoulder” by scooping, mixing and presenting handcrafted frozen custard treats with speed and a smile. Since the beginning, the family members have had one dream: to share what makes them happiest with everyone else, and to warm hearts one scoop of frozen custard at a time. With a focus on product quality, customer service and community involvement, Andy’s has grown into the nation’s largest frozen custard-only business, with 150 stores across 15 states proudly serving the World’s Finest Frozen Custard. Andy’s has been committed to supporting developing drivers of all ages from their first race throughout their racing career for more than 30 years, an extension of the family’s lifelong commitment to motorsports. Andy’s is the “Official Frozen Treat” of Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, where fans can enjoy Andy’s on-site through branded kiosks, treat trucks and in suites.
Riley Herbst Notes of Interest
- Riley Herbst heads to the final race of the Round of 12 of the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs focused on making it to the Round of 8 for the first time in his young career. The driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang Dark Horse enters Saturday’s Drive for the Cure 250 on the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval seventh in the playoff standings, 20 points above the top-eight cutline. While he has been open about expecting to struggle in the first round, Herbst knows that if he can make it to the Round of 8, he’ll have a good shot at fighting for a spot in the Championship 4. The Round of 8 includes the intermediate tracks of Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway, plus the short track of Martinsville (Va.) Speedway – all of which Herbst has excelled at in his career. The three tracks could be considered Stewart-Haas Racing’s “bread and butter” as the team owns wins at two of the three tracks in the Xfinity Series. Herbst finished the best of the Stewart-Haas Xfinity Series Ford Mustangs in all three races of the Round of 8 last season with his win Oct. 14 at Las Vegas, runner-up finish Oct. 21 at Homestead-Miami, and fourth-place result Oct. 28 at Martinsville. He scored more points than any driver in the Round of 8 and, had he been in the playoffs, he would’ve advanced to the Championship 4. Herbst hopes to repeat that feat this year and officially make the field for the championship race. First, he has to survive and advance Saturday on the Roval.
- The Las Vegas native looked to be on his way to his second win of the 2024 season last Saturday at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. He started sixth and quickly found himself in the front of the field. He finished the first stage just outside the top-10 and sixth in the second stage. In total, Herbst led six times for a total of 22 laps throughout the day. With no drafting help at the end of the race, Herbst was forced to settle for a third-place finish, his second straight top-three at Talladega after his runner-up finish in April. While he wasn’t able to capture the win, he was able to secure a solid points day for the No. 98 team in the championship battle.
- The Drive for the Cure 250 will be Herbst’s fifth career Xfinity Series start on the Charlotte Roval. Herbst had a strong outing in his first start there in 2020 during a torrential downpour. He ran up front and led seven laps en route to a 12th-place finish, best among that year’s rookie class. In October 2021, Herbst started ninth and was holding his position in the top-10 during the final stage before a suspension issue ended his race seven laps from the finish. In 2022, Herbst started 11th and led a lap before an accident ended his bid five laps from the finish. His best finish of fourth was earned last October in his first of five straight top-five finishes to end the 2023 season after narrowly missing the playoff field.
- Herbst is driving for a team that knows how to win on the Roval. SHR’s No. 98 team won the inaugural Xfinity Series race there in Sept. 2018 with driver Chase Briscoe. It was Briscoe’s first career Xfinity Series victory. He led twice for 33 laps to beat Justin Marks by 1.478 seconds.
Cole Custer, Driver of the No. 00 Andy’s Frozen Custard Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Talladega didn’t quite go how you would’ve liked, but you’re still in a good spot to make the Round of 8, 37 points above the top-eight cutline. How are you approaching this weekend knowing that you’ll still have to continue watching the points situation?
“Talladega was just rough. There wasn’t anything we could do to avoid that wreck and it just killed our day, unfortunately. Still, I’m confident going into this weekend. We’re 37 points to the good of the cutline and should be in a good spot if we can just finish the race. After finishing second last year, I think we’ll have a chance to go for the win, too. We’ve had fast cars on road courses, but it’s always hard when you have guys like Shane Van Gisbergen and AJ Allmendinger in the field. They’re the ones you have to beat to win on this style of track. I think we’ll be in contention, though, and find ourselves in the Round of 8 once again.”
You’ve had solid runs on the Charlotte Roval in your previous starts there, earning back-to-back top-10s in 2018 and 2019, plus the runner-up finish last year. Do you feel like this is a solid track for you and the team, and what are your thoughts heading into the weekend?
“I think the Roval has been a good track for us throughout my career at Stewart-Haas Racing, and you even saw that in my return to the series last year. Road courses in general have been strong for us and we’ve been silent contenders almost every race. Our road-course cars have been really good this year, even if we haven’t always gotten the results. We scored two victories on road courses last season, but I have a good history at them, in general. Hopefully, we can continue to keep that up and secure our spot in the Round of 8 this Saturday. I think the Roval will be a good race for us even with some solid road-course aces in the field. We’ve always been able to compete with them and I think we’ll be able to do that again. We just need to have a fast car and not make mistakes to keep ourselves in the game at the end to easily advance.”
Riley Herbst, Driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Saturday’s race marks the last race of the Round of 12 of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs. Currently, you’re 20 points above the top-eight cutline in seventh. With the Roval being labeled a wild card, what’s your thought process heading into the weekend?
“I mean, 20 points to the good is better than being below the cutline. It puts us in a better position than we’ve been in during the past when heading into this race. I have yet to advance out of the Round of 12 in my career, so that’s ultimately the goal this weekend. We have to be smart and not put ourselves in bad situations, but we also have to be aware of that points battle. The No. 98 Monster Energy team had a good run there last year and finished fourth, but the Roval has been a track that I’ve struggled at. I don’t really enjoy it, so if we can make it out of this clean and into the Round of 8, that’ll be a good day for us. Obviously, there’s the unknown of the new turn seven, but we have a 50-minute practice session on Saturday morning to hopefully figure it out.”
The Charlotte Roval has been a difficult track for you in the past, but you’ve also never been in this situation where you have a 20-point cushion going into a playoff cutoff race. How are you approaching this weekend?
“To be honest, this is one track that I haven’t been able to wrap my head around. I don’t enjoy it as a driver, but every driver has tracks like that. It’s not that we haven’t run decent there in the past, but I think I was just at a disadvantage because I never had a full practice session on this track. Road courses have always been a struggle for me, but then you take an oval and make it into a road course, and it just isn’t my strength. The first two years at SHR, we had such bad luck there and didn’t finish either race. Then last year, we didn’t have the pressure of the playoffs and we finished fourth. We’re trying to keep that same mindset we had last year, but there’s still a playoff battle. None of us are sure about what to think about this new configuration, but at least we’re all in the same boat there. Hopefully, we can have another strong weekend as a team and have both us and the No. 00 team advance to the Round of 8.”
