Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
Credit One NASCAR AMEX Credit Card 300 Media Availability | Homestead-Miami Speedway
Friday, October 25, 2024
Cole Custer, driver of the No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Stewart-Haas Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, enters this weekend’s race third in the playoff standings, 16 points above the cut line with two races remaining in the Round of 8. The defending champ talked to media members about his situation this afternoon.
COLE CUSTER, No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WHEN WE FIRST MET YOU, YOU WERE A SHY, RESERVED GUY, AND NOW YOU’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A RING, DANCING WITH WRESTLERS AND DOING ALL THIS STUFF. WHAT WAS THAT EVOLUTION AND HOW HAVE YOU GOTTEN COMFORTABLE IN THE SPOTLIGHT?
“Yeah, I mean, I guess you just realize you can be yourself, or you can do silly things, and making fun of yourself is okay sometimes. Nobody’s going to think about it too much. It’s just been fun. I think showing your personality a little bit and going to that NXT, WWE match was really cool. Just some really awesome people and everybody made you feel really welcome. It was definitely a really cool once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
WERE YOU NERVOUS?
“For sure. Going out there, things move so fast, you’re trying to just keep up and make sure you do the right stuff, but it was really cool to just kind of be involved in it, and they just made it super easy to be involved.”
I AM DOING A STORY ON WAYNE AUTON. WHAT HAS YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH HIM BEEN LIKE AND WHAT KIND OF IMPACT DO YOU THINK HE’S GOING TO LEAVE THE SERIES WITH?
“Huge. I don’t know if there’s ever been a series director that everybody’s gonna miss so much. I haven’t been around as long as a lot of people, but he’s one of the people that, there’s not many people that say a bad thing about him. He’s probably the most personable person at NASCAR, I would say, or leader at NASCAR, I feel like. Not to say that in any way negative, but just he’s just a truly personable guy that everybody wants to see when they get to the racetrack. And he’s tough. He has that other side of him too, where he’ll flip a switch and he’s gonna be tough on you when he needs to call you out on something. He’s just somebody that, even when you disagree with him, you can always respect him just because of the guy he is.”
WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER FROM YOUR FIRST XFINITY WIN HERE?
“I remember just being relieved that we finally did it. We led so many laps that race and that car was so fast. Just hitting my marks and being ahead by whatever how much it was, 10 to 15 seconds or whatever it was. Those are just the dream days when everything goes right and you just have to go out there and hit solid laps. So it was definitely a day to remember for me. Also starting the Xfinity team with SHR that year too and building it into something that throughout that year and getting the first win for the Xfinity team was big. So it was just a really cool moment to see all those guys and all the hard work that they put into it. Going into that off-season and throughout the year and building it into a team that could go win at the end of the year.”
HOW DO YOU APPROACH THE CHAMPIONSHIP 4 IF YOU GET THERE? HOW DO YOU LOOK AT IT THROUGH THE EYES OF A CHAMPION COMPARED TO HAVING NOT BEEN IN THAT POSITION BEFORE? DOES IT GIVE YOU ADDITIONAL CONFIDENCE? DOES IT JUST KIND OF UP YOUR GAME? BECAUSE AJ IS THERE, AJ IS A VETERAN, HE’S WON MULTIPLE TYPES OF SERIES. YOU SHOULD HAVE SIMILAR CONFIDENCE IF YOU CAN GET THERE COMPARED TO SOME OF THE YOUNGER GUYS.
“I think the biggest thing is I’ve done it before. I’ve been in the Championship 4, whatever, how many times, three or four. You have that feel of you’ve been there and done it. So you know what to expect a little bit. You know where you can be a little bit conservative throughout the weekend. You know when you have to get aggressive. So it’s just that you know the feel and the pace of the race and the weekend. But at the end of the day, you can’t really go into it thinking that you’re the champion and everything’s going to go right. You have to think of it as you’re just another one of the guys out there and you have to maximize your day. I think a lot of times in these playoffs, guys try too hard and it gets them in trouble. So you just have to go out there and hit a solid day and take what it gives you and maximize it.”
AS YOU FOCUS ON THE IMMEDIATE GOALS, YOU’RE STILL MOVING UP TO CUP NEXT YEAR AND PUTTING TOGETHER A TEAM AND EVERYTHING LIKE THAT. IS THERE MUCH YOU CAN DO AT THIS POINT OR THAT’S OUT OF YOUR HANDS?
“For the most part with just three races left, this is crunch time for us in the Xfinity deal. We’re going to be focused on this pretty heavy for sure. But there are still definitely things to do for next year. There’s going to be a lot of change going into next year and figuring out the alliance with RFK, and getting people in place and processes in place of how we’re going to build cars, and who’s going to do it, and just everything that goes into it of how we’re going to pretty much restart a race team almost. So it will be a lot of work for everybody over the off-season to get that right. But right now, we’re focused on the Xfinity title and trying to get us back to Phoenix. But it’s definitely going to be a busy offseason.”
SO WHAT WOULD BE THE THINGS THAT YOU WOULD DO ONCE THIS SEASON ENDS AND AS YOU MOVE FORWARD? IS THERE MUCH YOU’RE GOING TO BE HOLDING YOUR HANDS DURING IN REBUILDING THIS TEAM OR IS THAT FOR OTHERS AND YOU KIND OF FILL IN THE GAPS?
“I think the biggest thing is just talking through our processes of how we’re going to do things. How do we want to do debriefs and how do we want to talk about things prior to the race and I think also just getting ahead because the Cup schedule, it waits for nobody. There are no off weekends, really, except for one. So if you can get ahead on the first five or ten races and just talk with your crew chief about what you’re looking for, what he’s looking for, different things to look for throughout the weekends, just try and get ahead on things because it happens fast. So if you can try and get ahead, that will be a huge thing to do.”
AND BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU DID THE OTHER NIGHT, I GUESS IT’S FAIR TO SAY, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN OUTSIDE YOUR COMFORT ZONE. WHAT STOOD OUT ABOUT BEING OUTSIDE OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE AND DOING SOMETHING LIKE THAT, AND EVEN THOUGH THEY MADE IT EASIER, WHAT DID YOU WALK AWAY FROM THAT? WHEN DID YOU TELL YOUR WIFE, WHEN YOU CALLED HER AT HOME?
“I mean, I’m sure some people think I looked like an idiot out there, but at the same time, I think it’s something where most of the feedback’s been really positive. So, I think it just shows when you get out of your comfort zone, sometimes that’s a great thing. I think it’s just been an incredible experience doing that whole process with WWE and NXT and everything so it was definitely a lot of positives from that.”
