COLE CUSTER | RILEY HERBST
Michigan NASCAR Xfinity Series Advance
NASCAR Xfinity Series Overview
- Event: Cabo Wabo 250 (Round 21 of 33)
- Date: Saturday, August 17
- Location: Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn
- Layout: 2-mile oval
- Time/TV/Radio: 3:30 p.m. EDT on USA/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Cole Custer Notes of Interest
- Cole Custer is coming off back-to-back top-two finishes as he heads to Saturday’s Cabo Wabo 250 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, the first race back from the Olympic Break for the NASCAR Xfinity Series. After scoring his first win of the season July 13 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, Custer looked to be on his way to another win on July 20 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway after starting on the pole and leading 47 laps, his first laps led on the Indianapolis oval. He finished sixth in both stages and was leading as the race came to its final restart. He took the lead for a time, but in a last-lap battle for the lead with Aric Almirola and Custer’s Stewart-Haas teammate Riley Herbst, the driver of the No. 00 Autodesk / Haas Automation Ford Mustang Dark Horse emerged second behind the race-winning Herbst. It marked the first 1-2 finish in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for Stewart-Haas. It was also the seventh top-10 for Custer in the past eight races. He looks to keep the strong runs rolling as he heads to Michigan, a track where he’s run well in the past.
- Saturday’s Cabo Wabo 250 will mark Custer’s fifth Xfinity Series start at Michigan. In his four prior starts at the 2-mile oval, he never finished outside the top-20 with a best of third earned in June 2018. Custer also has six starts outside of the Xfinity Series at Michigan – five in the NASCAR Cup Series and one in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, earning a best finish of 22nd among those in the August 2016 Truck Series race.
- The past few weeks have been big for Custer and his family. Prior to the Olympic Break, he announced his return to the NASCAR Cup Series for the 2025 season as the driver of the No. 41 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Haas Factory Team. He previously drove the same number during his stint in the series from 2020-2022, when he scored his first career Cup Series victory on July 12, 2020 at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta. Haas Factory Team will field a NASCAR Cup Series entry and two NASCAR Xfinity Series entries for the 2025 season. Amidst the racing news, Custer and his wife Kari also welcomed their son, Callahan Brian Custer, into the world on Aug. 1.
- With only six races remaining until the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs kick off Sept. 28 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Custer has locked himself into the postseason via his victory at Pocono. He leads the regular-season points standings by 56 markers over second-place Justin Allgaier. He took the lead with his sixth-place finish June 1 at Portland (Ore.) International Raceway and has held it since. In addition to Custer’s victory this season, he has 184 stage points and three stage wins to help secure his spot on top of the leaderboard. In addition, Custer’s nine top-fives so far this season tie him with Sheldon Creed for the most of any driver. If he can hold onto the lead through the regular-season finale Sept. 20 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, he will not only take home the regular-season championship trophy, but will earn 15 valuable playoff points.
- Autodesk will once again adorn the hood of Custer’s No. 00 Ford Mustang Dark Horse in an alpha-bravo paint scheme with Haas Automation. The company previously sponsored Custer from 2020 to 2022 in the NASCAR Cup Series and earlier this season at Portland. For four decades, Autodesk has worked together with its customers to transform how things are made, and in doing so, it has also transformed what can be made. A car’s performance now inspires the method of its manufacture, a city’s infrastructure helps predict the unpredictable, and the creation of ever-bigger universes shapes ever-bigger stories. Today, Autodesk’s solutions span countless industries empowering innovators everywhere. But the company is restless to do more. Autodesk doesn’t believe in waiting for progress, it believes in making it. By combining and recombining technologies. By blurring boundaries, reinventing rules, and merging fields. By unleashing talent and unlocking insights across industries. By helping customers converge on solutions to the challenges everyone faces today. Autodesk believes that with the right tools to work and think flexibly comes the power to transform what actually needs making. The power to design and make a better world for all.
Riley Herbst Notes of Interest
- Riley Herbst is now a two-time winner in the NASCAR Xfinity Series as he heads into Saturday’s Cabo Wabo 250 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. The Las Vegas native scored his first win of the season and second of his career the week prior to the Olympic Break on the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval. It gave Stewart-Haas Racing back-to-back victories as teammate Cole Custer was victorious the week prior at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. Herbst started the race in second at Indianapolis behind polesitter Custer, marking the first 1-2 start in the series for Stewart-Haas. Herbst went on to win Stage 1 and finish second in Stage 2, and led 30 laps throughout the race while maintaining his position in the top-five. In the race’s final restart, Herbst was battling with Custer and Aric Almirola for the win. After Custer initially took the lead, then was passed by Almirola, Herbst showed his perseverance on the final two corners of the race to pass Almirola and take the checkered flag with Custer finishing in the runner-up spot. Herbst’s victory secured his spot in the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs and launched him from seventh to fifth in the regular-season points standings, passing both AJ Almendinger and Jesse Love. The driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang Dark Horse team now heads to Michigan hoping to keep the momentum rolling as Herbst now has nothing to lose and everything to win in the final six races of the regular season.
- Saturday’s race at Michigan will mark Herbst’s fifth Xfinity Series start on the 2-mile oval. Herbst is currently on a three-race top-10 streak at Michigan. He posted back-to-back top-10s in his August 2021 and 2022 starts there, finishes of seventh and ninth, respectively. In his most recent start at the track last August, Herbst bettered his previous best of seventh with a solid sixth-place finish after starting fifth, leading one lap along the way.
- The 25-year-old racer is already a winner at Michigan. Herbst scored his second career ARCA Menards Series win there in August 2020. He started from the pole, led four times for a total of 39 laps and took the checkered flag 1.456 seconds ahead of runner-up Bret Holmes. In a prelude to that win, Herbst finished second at Michigan in his second career ARCA race in June 2018, when he started eighth and led seven laps.
- While Herbst took some time off during the Olympic Break to explore the beaches in the South of France, he couldn’t be kept away from racing for long. He returned a week earlier than many of his Xfinity Series regulars to compete in his final Cup Series start of 2024 in Sunday’s Richmond 400 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway. After qualifying 34th, Herbst brought home a 33rd-place finish in the No. 15 Monster Energy Zero Sugar Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Rick Ware Racing. He made all four of his Cup Series starts this season with the team – Feb. 19 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, May 5 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, and June 30 at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway.
- After just barely missing the Xfinity Series playoffs last season, Herbst has successfully locked himself into the 2024 postseason via his July 20 win at Indianapolis. It’s the first time in his young career that Herbst has won his way into the playoffs. In his previous four full-time seasons in the Xfinity Series, Herbst has pointed his way into the post season three times (2020-2022). After missing the 12-driver field by one spot last season, Herbst went on to not only score his first career victory on Oct. 14 at his home track of Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but also score the most points of any driver in the 38-driver field during the Round of 8. Herbst positioned himself to be a strong playoff contender after his string of six top-10 finishes in the final seven races of the 2023 season.
Cole Custer, Driver of the No. 00 Autodesk / Haas Automation Ford Mustang Dark Horse
The NASCAR Xfinity Series is back in action after a three-week hiatus for the Olympics. How did you spend your time off after scoring back-to-back top-two finishes on the season?
“Coming into the break on that hot streak was everything. We’ve been strong all season, but it’s nice to have this strong run as we head into the later part of the season. This is where it really counts. I enjoyed getting some time off before we head into these final races of the season, though. It gave us a chance to take a break before we have to grind for 13 weeks without a break. My wife Kari and I were expecting our first child over the break, and Callahan Brian Custer came into the world on August 1. I spent the rest of the break just enjoying my time with them and getting adjusted to the new life with a baby.”
While Michigan is a track that you still have yet to win at, it’s been a consistent track for you. What are your expectations for the weekend?
“Michigan provides a type of different racing for us just because you have to worry so much about dirty air at this track. In addition, you have to worry about how you position your car throughout the race, when to make moves and when not to. You can get freight-trained very quickly if you make a move at the wrong time. It’s a strategic racetrack. Ultimately, it’s just a different kind of racing than a typical intermediate track. At the end of the day, though, you have to have a good car that you can be aggressive with at any given moment. Just like at any other racetrack, a fast car makes all the difference. I think you saw speed from both Stewart-Haas Racing cars at Indianapolis, though, and we’re hoping that transfers to Michigan. The No. 00 Autodesk / Haas Automation team has done a great job at providing me with fast Ford Mustangs all season. Hopefully, we can go get a few more wins before the playoffs start in September.”
Riley Herbst, Driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang Dark Horse
You’re now a two-time Xfinity Series winner. How does getting that second win help you not only this season but for the future as you prepare for 2025 and beyond?
“Getting that win at Indianapolis meant everything. To get one win in the Xfinity Series is hard, but to get a second after running so consistently is a whole other achievement. It proves that I have grown and become a better driver over the years. It may have taken me a little longer than others, but I’m proud of my journey. Indianapolis is one of those tracks that everyone knows, so to win on a track like that puts your name in a different history book. To move up in NASCAR, you have to win and that’s what I did. Now, we’re locked into the playoffs, and we can go race for wins. There’s nothing holding us back from just going for wins now. We’re solid in the points standings, but that win allows you to experiment more instead of playing the points games. I’m proud of this No. 98 Monster Energy team, and I’m ready to go race for a championship with them.”
After three straight top-10 finishes at Michigan and an ARCA Menards Series victory, you seem to be on a path to run well there. What do you need to do this weekend to back up those strong runs and your Indianapolis victory?
“We just need to have a solid weekend – a fast car, no mistakes, and some good luck. Michigan has been a good track for me in the past, but I haven’t been able to close the deal there in the Xfinity Series. When I won there in the ARCA Menards Series in 2020, it was such a different feeling because of how the world was then. This is a fast track, so you have to have your car just right if you want to compete for wins. We’re riding a wave of momentum after Indianapolis. The plan is to keep that going this weekend.”
