Custer Earns Career-Best 5th-Place Finish in Cup Series at Talladega
Creed, Mayer Collected in Early Talladega Crash; Must-Win Scenarios Ahead at Martinsville
TALLADEGA, AL (October 19, 2025) – Haas Factory Team’s (HFT) weekend at Talladega Superspeedway was led by Cole Custer, who earned a career-best 5th-place finish in Sunday’s Cup Series race. In Saturday’s Xfinity Series race, Sheldon Creed and Sam Mayer both showed early promise before being caught in a lap-15 crash, ending their days early.
Cup Series
41 Cole Custer
Cole Custer delivered a strong performance at Talladega on Sunday, finishing 5th in the Sysco / RaceTrac Ford Mustang—his career-best result at the track and second top-five finish of the 2025 season. After starting 12th, which matched his best-ever Talladega qualifying effort, Custer and the No. 41 team executed a patient, fuel-conscious strategy throughout the 188-lap event.
In the early stages, Custer ran in the second pack to conserve fuel, with pit strategy playing a key role throughout the day. He pitted late in Stage One and again during Stage Two for fuel-only stops, riding in the back for much of the race before methodically working his way forward. Late cautions in the final stage reshuffled the field, and a two-tire stop on lap 165 positioned Custer to challenge inside the top 10 in the closing laps.
A late caution with two laps remaining set up a green-white-checkered finish, presenting Custer with a final opportunity to advance. Restarting just outside the top 10, he executed a calculated charge through the draft, gaining several positions in the closing laps to secure a 5th-place finish—marking his career-best result at Talladega.
“It was awesome. We’ve been really good at the speedways this year, and we just bought our time and were there at the very end, trying to be smart. Our guys have brought a really fast Ford Mustangs to the track,” Custer said. “It’s been fun and so awesome to have Sysco on the hood this weekend at the racetrack and giving them a good run. We wish we were five spots better, but it was definitely a great way to get a solid finish here and hopefully carry that momentum into Martinsville.”
Xfinity Series
00 Sheldon Creed
Sheldon Creed showed early speed in Saturday’s Xfinity Series Playoff race at Talladega, driving the No. 00 Road Ranger Ford. Starting 16th, Creed charged into the top five by lap five while leading the third lane in a three-wide pack, as the intensity in the field began to build.
After slipping back when the top line stalled, he moved to the bottom groove and worked his way back into the top 10. While battling inside the top five on lap 15, Creed was swept up in a multi-car crash in the tri-oval, cutting his promising run short and relegating the No. 00 Ford to a 34th-place finish.
“(Martinsville) becomes a must-win race now. We were hoping to have a good day because our car was fast, and we had a chance to be in all three lanes there and get close to the top five,” Creed said. “I hate that we didn’t get to fight for the rest of the day and at least give ourselves a chance of winning.”
Entering the final race of the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs at Martinsville, Creed is in eighth place in the standings with 3032 points, -41 below the cutline.
41 Sam Mayer
Sam Mayer’s day at Talladega came to an early end after a multi-car crash on lap 15, cutting short his run in the No. 41 Audibel Ford. Mayer started 13th and briefly moved into the top 10 in the opening laps as the field fanned out three-wide, but handling issues in traffic and a reliance on the bottom lane caused him to slip outside the top 20.
While running 19th, Mayer was collected in the same tri-oval crash that involved several cars. The No. 41 team attempted repairs but barely ran out of time on the Damaged Vehicle Policy (DVP) clock, ending his day with a 38th-place finish.
“Everyone got together, and I saw a clear path out and I was going to be okay and then someone came down off the wall, so it was just unfortunate. Obviously, everyone did a really good job on the No. 41 Audibel Ford Mustang, our car was really good. We were making our way through the field, and we were going to be good,” Mayer said. “I have a space in my house for a grandfather clock, so I might as well fill it up.”
Entering the final race of the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs at Martinsville, Mayer is in seventh place in the standings with 3051 points, -22 below the cutline.
Up Next
Martinsville Speedway (Martinsville, VA)
The NASCAR Xfinity Series – Saturday, October 25th at 7:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
The NASCAR Cup Series – Sunday, October 26th at 2:00 p.m. ET on NBC.
About Haas Factory Team
The Haas Factory Team is a NASCAR Cup and Xfinity program owned by Gene Haas, founder of Haas Automation. Beginning in 2025, the team will feature Cole Custer driving the No. 41 Ford Mustang Dark Horse in the NASCAR Cup Series, while Sheldon Creed and Sam Mayer take on the Xfinity Series in the No. 00 and No. 41 Ford Mustangs, respectively. Based in Kannapolis, North Carolina, the Haas Factory Team reflects a commitment to performance and engineering excellence, carrying forward Gene Haas’s commitment to motorsports.
