• Cole Custer has had a weight lifted off his shoulders as he heads into Saturday’s Indianapolis 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The 26-year-old defending NASCAR Xfinity Series champion locked himself into the 2024 playoffs with his first win of the season last Saturday at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. After coming close to a victory several times this summer, the driver of the No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang Dark Horse finally sealed the deal at Pocono, where he scored a Stage 2 win and led 25 laps on his way to therace win. It was his 14th career Xfinity Series win and his second at the 2.5-mile Pocono triangle, making him the only driver to have multiple Xfinity Series wins at the track. In addition, he moved up to sixth on the all-time Xfinity Series win list for Ford drivers, tying him with Matt Kenseth. The next driver on the list is Jeff Burton with 17 wins. Custer has been the picture of consistency this season. He has earned 15 top-10s, collected a total of 174 stage points, won three stages, and led 425 laps overall – second-most in the series behind Justin Allgaier, who has led 517 laps.
• Unlike many of his competitors, Saturday’s Indianapolis 250 will not be Custer’s first start on the oval at Indianapolis. It’ll mark his fourth Xfinity Series start on the iconic Brickyard layout. His most recent start came in September 2019, which was his last year in the Xfinity Series prior to moving up to the NASCAR Cup Series in the No. 41 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing. He started that race 11th and worked his way to a seventh-place finish. His best Xfinity Series finish of fifth came in his first start at the track in July 2017. Custer has an additional start on the Indianapolis oval during his rookie Cup Series campaign in 2020. He earned an impressive fifth-place result after starting 30th.
• Win and you’re in. That’s the philosophy of the NASCAR Playoffs. Only seven races remain until the Xfinity Series Playoffs kick off Sept. 28 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, and Custer has punched his ticket into the postseason field. After his first win of the season last Saturday at Pocono, Custer clinches a spot in the Round of 12. He also leads the regular-season Xfinity Series standings by a stout 51-point margin over second-place Justin Allgaier. Custer has held the points lead since his sixth-place finish June 1 at Portland (Ore.) International Raceway. If Custer holds onto the lead through the regular-season finale on Sept. 20 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, he will take home the regular-season championship trophy and 15 bonus points to start the playoffs. Custer finished fourth in the regular-season standings last season on his way to the championship.
• Riley Herbst is ready to take on the oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Saturday’s Indianapolis 250. The driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang Dark Hose is coming off a solid rebound after a late-race pit-road penalty last Saturday at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. After starting 18th for the 90-lap race, Herbst quickly worked his way forward to finish seventh in Stage 1 and fourth in Stage 2. He looked to be in contention in the final stage until the pit-road penalty he was required to serve after a round of green-flag pit stops. The penalty sent him a lap down. He received the free pass back onto the lead lap during a caution on lap 69, then rallied in the final laps to an 11th-place finish. He hopes to carry that speed and resilience into this weekend while leaving the mistakes behind him as he gets to race for the first time on an iconic track layout he’s dreamed of racing on since his childhood.
• During Herbst’s rookie Xfinity Series season in 2020, the series made the switch from the 2.5-mile oval to its grand prix road course. It was his first of four starts on the circuit, best of which was his sixth-place finish in July 2022. While Herbst has never made a start on the oval, he should feel right at home as the Xfinity Series cars will utilize a superspeedway package for the race. Herbst has been in contention to win each of the superspeedway races the past several seasons. His success in this style of racing has also been seen in the NASCAR Cup Series, where he earned best finishes of 10th and ninth, respectively, in his series debut in last year’s Daytona 500 and last fall’s stop at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, where he also led his first laps in a Cup Series car.
• With seven races remaining before the Xfinity Series Playoffs kick off Sept. 28 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Herbst sits seventh in the driver standings, 72 points above the top-12 cutline. Herbst’s strong runs thus far have put him just four points behind fifth-place AJ Allmendinger and three points behind sixth-place Jesse Love. Herbst has earned a total of 145 stage points – fifth-best in the series – and he won one stage March 23 at Circuit of the Americas (COTA). He hopes to keep the momentum rolling through the regular-season finale Sept. 20 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
Cole Custer, Driver of the No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang Dark Horse
You’re one of the few drivers in the series who has had a chance to run a race on the Indianapolis oval. Do you feel like that will help give you an advantage this weekend?
“I mean, experience always helps, but there is a lot that has changed with how we’re running the oval now. We’re using a superspeedway package instead of an intermediate, so that’ll throw a curveball in for us. No one really knows what to expect from it, yet. Still, the time I’ve had on this track not only in the Xfinity Series but also the Cup Series should help me. I have previous knowledge that I can use while we prepare. We also have an entire practice session on Friday, which will help us get our No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang Dark Horse better for the race. On top of all that, we’re riding a wave of momentum from the past few races that should help the team’s confidence heading into the weekend. I’m excited to get back on the oval at Indianapolis and hopefully contend for the win.”
The win at Pocono last weekend must make you feel like a weight is off your shoulders as you have now locked yourself into the postseason. Does your perspective change now as you head into the final seven races of the regular season?
“It does a little bit. You’ve got that postseason playoff spot locked in, which is a big deal. It allows you to try more things and take more risks to try to get more wins. There’s not this weight of points racing on your shoulders to try and make it into the playoffs. Still, we also want to keep this regular-season points lead through the checkered flag at Bristol. It’s not even about the title of regular season champions, it’s that 15 extra playoff points. It could make or break you in a round. They carry over until the final race and if you happen to have a bad race during the playoffs, it could save you from being eliminated. We’re going to have to do some juggling, but it’s definitely not as stressful as it was prior to getting the win at Pocono.”
Riley Herbst, Driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang Dark Horse
While you have four prior starts on the Indianapolis road course, Saturday’s race will mark your first on the historic 2.5-mile oval. How do you feel heading into this weekend?
“Excited is an understatement. This was one of the tracks that I was so excited to run when I got into the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Then they changed it to the road course for my 2020 rookie season, and I was honestly bummed about it. We had some strong runs on the Indianapolis road course, but there’s something about getting to run on the historic oval that makes a driver excited. You grow up as a race fan and see all the history surrounding that layout of the track – who wouldn’t want to run it and possibly win there. It’ll be a struggle to learn the track quickly, but we do have a full session of practice on Friday to help. I know my No. 98 Monster Energy team will provide me with a fast car, so I’m excited.”
With only seven races to go in the regular season, you’re 72 points to the good of the Xfinity Series playoff cutline. What is your outlook on keeping and growing that points gap to secure your spot in the playoffs?
“A win would obviously solve everything, but we have to look at the situation we’re in and move on from there. We have to protect that points gap if we don’t want to be in the same position we were last year that led to us not making the playoffs. I don’t want to have to go through that again. So for right now, we’re going to go for stage points and strong finishes, but if the opportunity for a win comes, we’re also not going to pass that up. We’ve had so much speed this year, but the finishes haven’t always been there. I think we would be first or second in points had it not been for those bad finishes. Hopefully, we’ll have a good run at Indianapolis to help us move closer to securing our spot in the playoffs.”
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