• Cole Custer and the No. 00 Haas Automation team are ready to face the unknown as they head to Saturday’s inaugural The Loop 121 NASCAR Xfinity Series race on the Chicago Street Course. The playingfield will be level as Custer and his fellow Xfinity Series competitors will be learning to navigate the 2.2-mile, 12-turn downtown street circuit. While he’s never raced on a street circuit before, Custer has enjoyed success turning left and right on purpose-built road courses. He’s earned 13 top-10s in his 18 Xfinity Series starts on road courses and he found his way to victory lane June 3 in the Portland 147 at Portland (Ore.) International Raceway. He won by a .142-of-a-second margin over runner-up Justin Allgaier.
• A man on a mission: Custer has locked in his spot in the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs by virtue of his victory at Portland. With the stress of points racing behind him, he and his team are focused on going after more wins and the regular-season championship. Custer has been closing the gap on points leader John Hunter Nemechek in recent races. He heads to Chicago fourth in the standings, 51 points out of the lead. Custer is riding a string of nine consecutive top-10 finishes dating back to his fifth-place finish April 1 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway.
• Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway was kind to Custer in the series’ most recent race last Saturday. The native of Ladera Ranch, California, appeared to be on his way to his second victory of the season after scoring his third pole of the season. He led 32 laps on the 1.33-mile, concrete oval and finished second in the opening two stages. In the final stage, he was racing for the lead with A.J. Allmendinger when pit strategy and late-race restarts dropped him back to ninth. He earned 18 bonus points due with his stage finishes, which will come in handy in his pursuit of the regular-season title.
• Riley Herbst is trading in the bright lights of his hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada, for the electricity of downtown Chicago during this weekend’s The Loop 121 on the Chicago Street Course. The driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang will bank on his family roots of racing in the deserts of Mexico andthe Southwestern United States in SCORE International Trophy Trucks while learning to navigate the city streets of Chicago. While the two types of racing are significantly different, both are full of unknowns, but Herbst showed his propensity to overcome the unknown when he piloted the Herbst Motorsports Trophy Truck to a third-place finish in last November’s Baja 1000. He’s looking for a similar result when he takes to the 2.2-mile, 12-turn Chicago Street Course this weekend.
• Herbst felt right at home at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway during last Saturday’s Tennessee Lottery 250. After posting top-three practice speeds Friday, Herbst went on to qualify fifth for Saturday’s main event. He ran in the top-10 for a majority of the race until a pit-road penalty put him at the back of the pack during the final stage. Undaunted, Herbst, working with new crew chief Davin Restivo for the first time, worked his way back into the top-10 by the time the race went to NASCAR overtime. He restarted second and held his ground as he finished in the runner-up position, 1.323 seconds behind race-winner A.J. Allmendinger.
• Prior to last week’s race at Nashville, Herbst spent the day with fellow Xfinity Series regular John Hunter Nemechek and Justin Allgaier in the “Windy City” to preview the street course and learn a little about Chicago. Photos and videos of the Monster Energy driver’s visit can be found HERE.
Cole Custer:
NASCAR is bringing a street course to the schedule for the first time, which puts everyone on a level playing field this weekend. How have you prepared for the Chicago Street Course?
“Honestly, it’s all sim sessions at this point. No one has raced this course before, so we really won’t know what to expect until we hit the track for practice on Saturday. The good news is that we’re all on an equal playing field. It’s such an unknown on the schedule, but I’m excited for the challenge. We’ve been fast all year, so hopefully that continues this weekend at Chicago.”
You’re coming off your ninth straight top-10 finish of the season. Do you feel like the No. 00 Haas Automation team has found its rhythm? What’s been the key factor?
“I think we’ve found the rhythm that we were missing in the beginning part of the session. We’re starting to hit our stride, and this top-10 streak and the Portland win show that. When we started the season, we were a brand new team, so we had to work on communication and figuring out what I needed in this No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang. I’m happy with where we are as a team at this point in the season. We’ve got our win to get us into the playoffs, so now we can just focus on getting our car faster so we can make that run for the championship.”
Riley Herbst;
Chicago brings a new unknown to the 2023 season. What’s your outlook on the weekend, and how have you prepared for this race?
“First off, what a good city Chicago is for NASCAR’s first street race. It’s an old, iconic American city and I think we’re all excited to race there. This is definitely an unknown for all of us, though. I don’t think any of the fulltime Xfintiy Series drivers have experience on street courses, so we’ll have an equal playing field. I went up there last week with NASCAR to take a look at the circuit and it’s definitely a lot to take in. Luckily, we’ll have a full practice session on Saturday to try and get it figured out before we qualify and then go green on Saturday afternoon. I’m ready for the challenge.”
After several weeks of bad luck, it looks like you might be back on track to where you were during the first six races of the season with your second-place finish in Nashville. How does that boost your confidence, especially with the crew chief change and a good number of races to go in the regular season in leadup to the playoffs?
“It helps a lot, but you also have to remember that it’s a long season. I’m hoping that the bad luck is behind us, but I’m excited for what’s to come for the No. 98 Monster Energy team. We had a great first race with our new crew chief, Davin Restivo, and I think it’ll only get better as we continue to work on our communication. He promised fast racecars and that’s just what he brought to Nashville. I’m excited to work with him as we head into these summer races.”
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