Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-55):
● Cole Custer started ninth and finished 30th.
● Early in the stage, Custer reported his Autodesk Fusion 360/ HaasTooling.com Mustang was loose.
● At the competition caution on lap 25 he pitted from 19th for fuel, four tires and adjustments to help with his loose condition. Restarted 22nd.
● Race was red flagged for weather for approximately 75 minutes. Once it resumed, Custer once again pitted for fuel, four tires and adjustments to help his loose-handling Mustang. Restarted 31st.
● During the Stage 1 break the 22-year-old pitted from 30th for fuel, four tires and adjustments.
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 56-115):
● Custer started 27th and finished 21st.
● Caution on lap 75 and crew chief Mike Shiplett made the call for Custer to stay out and restart 14th.
● Reached top-10 on lap 80.
● The rookie remained in the top-15 until lap 99, and remained in the top-20 through the end of Stage 2.
● Custer pitted from 20th during the Stage 2 break for fuel, four tires and adjustments to help with his loose-handling Mustang.
Final Stage Recap (Laps 116-208):
● Custer started 18th and finished 18th.
● Custer made a yellow flag pit stop on lap 146 from 19th for fuel, four tires and adjustments.
● The event remained under the green-flag for the rest of the race and Custer maintained a top-20 position, and ultimately finished 18th.
Notes:
● Custer made his 11th career NASCAR Cup Series start and his second at Charlotte’s oval.
● Chase Elliott won the Alsco Uniforms 500k to score his seventh career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his first of the season and his first at Charlotte’s oval. His margin of victory over second-place Denny Hamlin was 2.208 seconds.
● There were seven caution periods for a total of 37 laps.
● Only 22 of the 40 drivers in the Alsco Uniforms 500k finished on the lead lap.
● Harvick remains the championship leader after Charlotte with a 14-point advantage over second-place Joey Logano.
Cole Custer, Driver of the No. 41 Autodesk Fusion 360/HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“Thank you guys. It didn’t start the way we wanted to tonight, but we kept chipping away at it. I think we have some stuff we can take to other tracks. We definitely learned a lot.”
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Supermarket Heroes 500 on Sunday, May 31 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. The race starts at 3:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
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