No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang: Cole Custer Supermarket Heroes 500 Race Advance

No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang: Cole Custer Supermarket Heroes 500 Race Advance
KANNAPOLIS, North Carolina (May 29, 2020) – Cole Custer and the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Mustang team venture a little more than four hours to the north and west from their Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) headquarters to Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway for Sunday’s Supermarket Heroes 500. Custer will make his first Cup Series start at the Tennessee track and 12th career Cup Series start.

The No. 41 Ford Mustang will sport the colors of co-owner Gene Haas’ newest holding, HaasTooling.com, for the short-track event. Haas Tooling was launched a few weeks ago as a way for CNC machinists to purchase high quality cutting tools at great prices. Haas’ cutting tools are sold exclusively online at HaasTooling.com and shipped directly to end users.
Custer spent the last week honing his craft at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway for the season’s longest race – Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600, and Thursday night’s Alsco Uniforms 500k. His first Cup Series start at the 1.5-mile track last Sunday netted Custer a 12th-place finish after recovering from falling one lap down earlier in the race. He earned an 18th-place finish in Thursday night’s 500-kilometer – 310-mile – race after battling a loose-handling No. 41 Mustang.
The Cup Series has completed one race at a short track this season at Phoenix Raceway in March, where Custer and the No. 41 team finished ninth. The series will run a similar package this weekend at Bristol and the HaasTooling.com driver hopes to capture another top-10 this weekend.

 

In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Custer had six consecutive starts at Bristol from 2017 through 2019. Five of those resulted in top-five qualifying positions. The California native has two Xfinity Series pole awards at Bristol – April 2018 and 2019. Custer has four top-10 finishes in the series at Bristol, with 31 laps led. Custer also has three Bristol outings in the Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series at Bristol, all starting in the top-10 with a pair of top-10 finishes and 111 laps led.
While the NASCAR season has resumed, the sport also continues to do its part during the COVID-19 pandemic. SHR’s partnership with Novant Health continues to expand. So far, SHR has helped transport and deliver millions of face masks for Novant, in addition to building intensive care unit webcam carts. Now, SHR is now providing 25,000 square feet of property adjacent to its shop in Kannapolis, North Carolina, for Novant’s partnership with Zipline, the world’s only national-scale, on-demand drone logistics service. Zipline will deliver medical supplies via its fleet of drones to Novant Health’s integrated system of physician practices, hospitals and outpatient centers. Click here to download b-roll of site build, drone delivery and interviews.

In SHR’s 70 starts at Bristol, the team has earned two pole awards and two victories. The championship team has 10 top-fives, 29 top-10s and 873 laps led at the high-banked, concrete oval.
Haas Automation, founded by Haas in 1983, is America’s leading builder of CNC machine tools. The company manufactures a complete line of vertical and horizontal machining centers, turning centers and rotary tables and indexers. All Haas products are constructed in the company’s 1.1-million-square-foot manufacturing facility in Oxnard, California, and distributed through a worldwide network of Haas Factory Outlets.
Even though Custer had a trio of starts in the Cup Series in 2018, 2020 officially marks his Rookie of the Year campaign in NASCAR’s most prestigious series. He’s competing for rookie honors with notables Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick. The three have battled against each other in the Xfinity Series and are making the full-time transition to the Cup Series together. Custer was the third-highest-finishing rookie at Charlotte Thursday night and looks to improve his position Sunday afternoon at a track where he’s run well in the past.

Cole Custer: Driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
 

You’ve wrapped up a couple races at a mile-and-a-half track. Do you feel like you learned a lot, and can apply some things to the other mile-and-a-halves coming up?

“We’ve learned a ton as a team over the last four races and running the 550 horsepower package. I think I have a better understanding of the cars now and it’s just applying it in the future.”
In the Xfinity Series, you’ve done really well at Bristol as long as you haven’t had something happen. Why do you think you excel there, or what makes it suit your driving style so much?
“Bristol has been a good track for me in Xfinity. It’s a track that has always come a little natural to me, I feel like. I like the feel of it and being able to move around in the lanes. It’s a lot about keeping momentum. The bottom is about hooking the line. Sunday it’s just a matter of running a lot longer race and a lot of cars to pass, which makes it chaotic.”
You had a ninth-place finish at Phoenix earlier this year. You’ll run the same package at Bristol. Do you favor the 750 package?
“I think the 750 horsepower package is definitely something that’s more natural to me because it’s similar to the Xfinity car. A lot of the stuff I did in the Xfinity car transfers over to this 750 package in the Cup Series. It doesn’t do that with the 550 horsepower package we run at a lot track in Cup. So I’d say I’m more comfortable and used to the 750.”
We’re going back to a little bit of a traditional NASCAR schedule with one race per week. Are you looking forward to going back to more of a traditional schedule? Or were you really starting to like the two races per week schedule?
“I think it was nice to kind of mix it up with the mid-week races. It was interesting and I think it might get used in the future some. I don’t think it’s something you could do all year long though. You need to have a break at some point. It’ll be nice to go back to our week by week schedule to catch our breath and look at what we learned to apply to future races.”

 
No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Team Report
Race 9 of 36 – Supermarket Heroes 500 – Bristol
 
Car No. 41: HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Team Report

At Track PR Contact: Lauren Emling with True Speed Communication (Lauren.Emling@TrueSpeedCommunication.com)

Primary Team:

 

Driver: Cole Custer

Hometown: Ladera Ranch, California

Crew Chief: Mike Shiplett

Hometown: Amherst, Ohio

Engine Specialist: Evan Cupples

Hometown: Hudson, Illinois

Car Chief: Tony Cardamone

Hometown: Bristol, Virginia

Engine Builder: Roush Yates Engines

Headquarters: Mooresville, North Carolina

Spotter: Andy Houston

Hometown: Hickory, North Carolina

Over-The-Wall Crew:

Fuelman: Chad Emmons

Hometown: Tyler, Texas
Carrier: Dwayne Moore

Hometown: Griffin, Georgia

Jackman: Brett Morrell

Hometown: Windham, Maine

 

Front Changer: Josh Leslie

Hometown: Mount Clemens, Michigan

Rear Changer: Coleman Dollarhide
Hometown: Hickory, North Carolina

Bristol Motor Speedway Notes of Interest:
  • Cole Custer will make his first Cup Series start Sunday afternoon at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. The start will bring his career Cup Series total to 12.
  • The California native earned 12th- and 18th-place finishes at the series’ most recent events at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway.
  • 2020 marks Custer’s first fulltime season in the Cup Series and he will contend for Rookie of the Year honors along with four other Cup Series competitors.
  • The Ford driver has six NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Bristol, all from the top-10 position on the grid, and he has two top-five finishes and four top-10s. Two of his top-10 starts were from the pole – April 2017 and April 2018. He also has three NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series starts at the half-mile track with a best finish of sixth.
No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang: Cole Custer Supermarket Heroes 500 Race Advance Read More

No. 41 Autodesk Fusion 360/HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang: Cole Custer Alsco Uniforms 500k Race Advance

No. 41 Autodesk Fusion 360/HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang: Cole Custer Alsco Uniforms 500k Race Advance
KANNAPOLIS, North Carolina (May 25, 2020) – The No. 41 Autodesk Fusion 360/HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) with young driver Cole Custer returns to Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Wednesday for the fourth NASCAR Cup Series race since the COVID-19 pandemic halted the season back on March 9. Wednesday night’s race will be 500 kilometers, or 310 miles – a little more than half of Sunday night’s marathon Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte.

Custer’s Mustang will look a little different for Wednesday’s race with the Autodesk Fusion 360 livery sharing the No. 41 machine with HaasTooling.com. Autodesk is a leader in 3D design, engineering and entertainment software. Autodesk has been integral to SHR and the software has played a vital role in creating personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic. To better support its customers facing the new reality of working remotely, Autodesk has introduced a special Extended Access Program for several of its cloud collaboration products, including BIM 360 Docs, BIM 360 Design, Fusion 360, Fusion Team, AutoCAD Web and Mobile, and Shotgun. Additionally, during the pandemic, Autodesk’s goal is to connect resources and people looking to help with pressing needs. For projects or resources that could help communities with COVID-19 efforts, visit here.
Sharing the No. 41 Mustang with Autodesk is Gene Haas’ newest holding, HaasTooling.com. Haas Tooling was launched just weeks ago as a way for CNC machinists to purchase high quality cutting tools at great prices. Haas’ cutting tools are sold exclusively online at HaasTooling.com and shipped directly to end-users.
Sunday’s grueling 600-mile race at Charlotte is annually the longest event on the Cup Series calendar. Custer qualified 28th in the afternoon before climbing into the HaasTooling.com Mustang for his first ever Coca-Cola 600 that night. The Ford driver battled a tight-handling Mustang for the most of the night, and went one lap down at one point during the race. He was able to maneuver his way back onto the lead lap and ultimately finished 12th after gaining multiple positions on the final green-white-checkered restart. “We were able to get a solid finish,” Custer said. “We have a lot of good ideas and I learned a lot to come back better on Wednesday.” The finish was the SHR driver’s second top-12 of the 2020 season.
Wednesday’s race marks the 22-year-old Custer’s 11th career Cup Series start. Coming off Sunday’s 600-mile race, he’s looking to hit the reset button and improve in what will be much more like a sprint race. The nature of the current schedule, with weekend and midweek races that are one-day shows with no practice, gives the field the opportunity to run consecutive races at the same venue, which is extremely helpful to a rookie driver like Custer.
SHR has 66 starts at Charlotte with five pole awards and one victory earned by No. 4 Mustang driver Kevin Harvick in 2014. In total, the Kannapolis-based Ford team has eight top-fives and 23 top-10s there, along with 764 laps led.
Haas Automation, founded in 1983 by SHR co-owner Haas, is America’s leading builder of CNC machine tools. The company manufactures a complete line of vertical and horizontal machining centers, turning centers and rotary tables and indexers. All Haas products are constructed in the company’s 1.1-million-square-foot manufacturing facility in Oxnard, California, and distributed through a worldwide network of Haas Factory Outlets.
Even though Custer had a trio of starts in the Cup Series in 2018, 2020 officially marks his Rookie of the Year campaign in NASCAR’s most prestigious series. He’s competing for rookie honors with notables Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick. The three have battled against each other in the Xfinity Series and are making the full-time transition to the Cup Series together. Custer was the third-highest-finishing rookie at Charlotte Sunday night and looks to improve his position Wednesday evening.

Cole Custer: Driver of the No. 41 Autodesk/HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
 

Now that you’ve completed your first 600-mile race, how do you feel?
“For my first 600 race, I actually thought it was going to feel longer than what it did. It goes by kind of fast when you’re constantly thinking about how to get your car better and how the track is going to change, and everything like that. It actually went a lot faster than I thought it would. It was just a night where you had to be there at the end, and we were.”
The bumps in turns three and four were a pretty prevalent topic in the Coke 600. Do you think the track surface has gotten that much worse? Or is it more of something to do with the tires and car setup?
“The track has definitely gotten rougher over the last couple of years. The track was built on a landfill, so it’s constantly changing and getting bumpier. I think it’s wearing out and getting to the point where you can start slipping and sliding more. It’s getting more fun. The bumps in turns three and four are making it more challenging and they jar your head around a lot, and make it hard on the drivers.”
Will Wednesday almost seem like a breeze since it’s a shorter race?
“Wednesday will definitely be a faster-paced race compared to the 600, where you’re just trying to make it to the end and fight all night. Wednesday’s race will probably have some crazier restarts and people being more aggressive. I think people might have a different attitude going from a really long race to a short race. It’s going to be different, but we just have to make sure we get a solid finish.”
What are some of the key things you guys will work on for Wednesday?
“Going into Wednesday, there are definitely some things that I can do better. We have some ideas with the car that we can do to get it a little bit better. Hopefully, we can run consistently in the top-15 and get a top-10 out of it. We just need to keep getting solid finishes. Overall, when you run 600 miles, you’re going to have some ideas on what you can do better the next time, so it should help us a lot going into Wednesday.”

 
No. 41 Autodesk Fusion 360/HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Team Report
Race 8 of 36 – Alsco Uniforms 500k – Charlotte
 
Car No. 41: Autodesk Fusion 360/HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Team Report

At Track PR Contact: Lauren Emling with True Speed Communication (Lauren.Emling@TrueSpeedCommunication.com)

Primary Team:

 

Driver: Cole Custer

Hometown: Ladera Ranch, California

Crew Chief: Mike Shiplett

Hometown: Amherst, Ohio

Engine Specialist: Evan Cupples

Hometown: Hudson, Illinois

Car Chief: Tony Cardamone

Hometown: Bristol, Virginia

Engine Builder: Roush Yates Engines

Headquarters: Mooresville, North Carolina

Spotter: Andy Houston

Hometown: Hickory, North Carolina

Over-The-Wall Crew:

Fuelman: Chad Emmons

Hometown: Tyler, Texas
Carrier: Dwayne Moore

Hometown: Griffin, Georgia

Jackman: Brett Morrell

Hometown: Windham, Maine

 

Front Changer: Josh Leslie

Hometown: Mount Clemens, Michigan

Rear Changer: Coleman Dollarhide
Hometown: Hickory, North Carolina

Charlotte Motor Speedway II Notes of Interest:
  • Cole Custer will make his second consecutive Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway NASCAR Cup Series start Wednesday night, bringing his total of career Cup Series starts to 11.
  • The Ford driver finished 12th in Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. Custer was able to rally from one lap down with a tight-handling No. 41 Mustang to secure a solid finish. It was his second top-12 of the 2020 season.
  • 2020 marks Custer’s first fulltime season in the Cup Series and he will contend for Rookie of the Year honors along with four other Cup Series competitors.
  • The 22-year-old rookie driver has seven NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Charlotte. He has finished in the top-10 six times, which includes one runner-up finish. He’s led a total of 59 laps at the 1.5-mile track. He’s also made one NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series start at Charlotte, which ended with a 13th-place finish.
No. 41 Autodesk Fusion 360/HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang: Cole Custer Alsco Uniforms 500k Race Advance Read More

No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang: Cole Custer Coca-Cola 600 Race Advance

No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang: Cole Custer Coca-Cola 600 Race Advance
KANNAPOLIS, North Carolina (May 22, 2020) – This Sunday, Cole Custer and the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) makes the short trek to Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway for Sunday’s 61st running of the iconic Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR Cup Series race. Custer’s Mustang will once again highlight SHR co-owner Gene Haas’ newest holding, HaasTooling.com. Haas Tooling was launched just weeks ago as a way for CNC machinists to purchase high quality cutting tools at great prices. Haas’ cutting tools will be sold exclusively online at HaasTooling.com and shipped directly to end users.

 

While racing has returned, SHR’s contribution to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t stopped. The race shop is serving dual purposes – race team and medical device manufacturer. SHR has partnered with healthcare provider Novant Health to produce intensive care unit mobile webcam carts. The carts allow a medical professional to monitor a patient electronically, ultimately limiting the professional’s possible exposure to COVID-19. Additionally, SHR helped transport and deliver 2 million facemasks to replenish Novant’s supplies during the pandemic.
In the first two Cup Series events since the onset of the pandemic, both at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, Custer finished 22nd last Sunday and 31st Wednesday night. Sunday’s race was his first in the Cup Series at the 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval.
Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 is NASCAR’s longest event of the season, requiring the drivers, crew members and cars to be in excellent shape to go the extra distance. Most NASCAR races are 400 or 500 miles. Even though the Coca-Cola 600 is a grueling race, Custer’s goal is a solid finish. “We need to build consistency in these races and work up from there,” he said. “We’re definitely making gains with this package. It’s just figuring out how to improve every race.”
The traditional Memorial Day weekend event is bringing some normalcy during the COVID-19 outbreak. NASCAR is a longtime supporter of the United States military, and this weekend will be no different. For the past several years during the spring holiday weekend, NASCAR has worked

with the families of fallen soldiers to be recognized on each Cup Series racecar. Custer’s No. 41 Mustang will carry the name of Dillon Baldridge, who was an Army sergeant based in Fort

Campbell, Kentucky, and was part of 1-187 Rakassans, 101st Airborne Division. The 22-year-old was killed in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan, when an Afghan soldier opened fire in an apparent inside attack. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. Baldridge, a native of Youngsville, North Carolina, died on June 10, 2017.
“It’s definitely really cool how we honor the fallen military members on our cars,” Custer said. “NASCAR has always done a really good job saluting the military and everything they’ve done for our country to keep us safe. We wouldn’t be here without the military. Especially during these times, you really appreciate the people who risk their lives for us. I think it’s really cool that we do this and hopefully we can give them a good run.”
While Sunday marks Custer’s first Cup Series start on Charlotte’s 1.5-mile oval, the Ford driver has a good track record there in the Xfinity Series. Even though he hasn’t visited victory lane there, he’s finished inside the top-10 in all seven starts, the only exception being in May 2019.
The California native has one Charlotte appearance in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck series, starting 16th and finishing 13th in 2016.
SHR has 62 Cup Series starts at Charlotte with one victory earned by No. 4 Ford driver Kevin Harvick in 2014. In total, the Kannapolis-based team has seven top-fives, 22 top-10s, and five pole awards there.
Haas Automation, founded in 1983 by Haas, is America’s leading builder of CNC machine tools. The company manufactures a complete line of vertical and horizontal machining centers, turning centers and rotary tables and indexers. All Haas products are constructed in the company’s 1.1-million-square-foot manufacturing facility in Oxnard, California, and distributed through a worldwide network of Haas Factory Outlets.
Even though Custer had a trio of starts in the Cup Series in 2018, 2020 officially marks his Rookie of the Year campaign in NASCAR’s top series. He’s competing for rookie honors with notables Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick. The three have battled against each other in the Xfinity Series and are making the full-time transition to the Cup Series together.

Cole Custer: Driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
One of the biggest differences from the Xfinity Series to the Cup Series is the length of the races. Sunday’s Coke 600 is the longest of the season, how are you physically and mentally preparing for the lengthy race?  
“The 600 is definitely a lot longer than what we’ve done in the Xfinity cars and it’s definitely the longest race I’ve ever run. I think the biggest thing is staying hydrated and making sure you’re loose before the race and not sore. Just try and relax, especially in the first part of the race. At halfway you just need to try and settle in and get some laps done. The thing about it is you can’t really relax too much because you have to fight for the stage points, and fight for track position as much as you can. You have to stay hydrated. I guess I’ll probably need a snack in there somewhere, too, but it’s definitely going to be the longest, most grueling race that I’ve run.”
You’ve had two races since we’ve been back, including a rain delay. Do you feel like you’re starting to get into some sort of routine – on and off the track with competition meetings, etc.?
“I feel like we are getting in more of a routine. It seems like we were all kind of new at the start and didn’t know what to expect. Then, as it’s all kind of come together, we’ve been able to calm down and get in a rhythm. Now, I think it’s just trying to perfect things and get in a better rhythm. We’re trying to figure out how we can excel at every single part of the weekend. We’re just going to keep working at it and get better every race.”
Your Xfinity Series track record at Charlotte is pretty strong – all top-10 finishes with the exception of your oval finish last year. Why do you think you’ve excelled on both courses at Charlotte?
“Charlotte has always been a good track for me. I’ve always run pretty good there. It’s definitely one of the most difficult mile-and-a-half tracks that we go to because it’s so edgy. It’s starting to get bumpy and you have to move around a little bit. It’s definitely a challenging mile-and-a-half to race on. It’s worked out for me and been good to me in the past. It’s just a matter of trying to figure out how you can work traffic in these cars and work your way to the front.”

 

 
No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Team Report
Race 7 of 36 – Coca-Cola 600 – Charlotte
 
Car No. 41: HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Team Report

At Track PR Contact: Lauren Emling with True Speed Communication (Lauren.Emling@TrueSpeedCommunication.com)

Primary Team:

 

Driver: Cole Custer

Hometown: Ladera Ranch, California

Crew Chief: Mike Shiplett

Hometown: Amherst, Ohio

Engine Specialist: Evan Cupples

Hometown: Hudson, Illinois

Car Chief: Tony Cardamone

Hometown: Bristol, Virginia

Engine Builder: Roush Yates Engines

Headquarters: Mooresville, North Carolina

Spotter: Andy Houston

Hometown: Hickory, North Carolina

Over-The-Wall Crew:

Fuelman: Chad Emmons

Hometown: Tyler, Texas
Carrier: Dwayne Moore

Hometown: Griffin, Georgia

Jackman: Brett Morrell

Hometown: Windham, Maine

 

Front Changer: Josh Leslie

Hometown: Mount Clemens, Michigan

Rear Changer: Coleman Dollarhide
Hometown: Hickory, North Carolina

Charlotte Motor Speedway Notes of Interest:
  • Cole Custer will make his first Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway NASCAR Cup Series start Sunday, bringing his total career Cup Series starts to 10.
  • The California native finished 22nd and 31st at the Darlington (S.C.) Raceway events last Sunday and Wednesday night, respectively, while piloting the HaasTooling.com Mustang.
  • 2020 marks Custer’s first fulltime season in the Cup Series and he will contend for Rookie of the Year honors along with four other Cup Series competitors.
  • The 22-year-old rookie driver has seven NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Charlotte. He has finished in the top-10 six times, which includes one runner-up finish. He’s led a total of 59 laps at the 1.5-mile track. He’s also made one NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series start at Charlotte, which ended with a 13th-place finish.
No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang: Cole Custer Coca-Cola 600 Race Advance Read More

COLE CUSTER A Second Consecutive Cup Series Start at Darlington

COLE CUSTER  A Second Consecutive Cup Series Start at Darlington
KANNAPOLIS, North Carolina (May 18, 2020) – Cole Custer and the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) head back to Darlington (S.C.) Raceway on Wednesday for the second consecutive event at the egg-shaped oval. Custer’s Mustang will once again highlight Gene Haas’ newest holding, HaasTooling.com. Haas Tooling was launched just weeks ago as a way for CNC machinists to purchase high quality cutting tools at great prices. Haas’ cutting tools will be sold exclusively online at HaasTooling.com and shipped directly to end-users.

 

After much anticipation, the 2020 NASCAR season resumed Sunday with a 400-mile race at Darlington. Custer received the 14th starting position after a drawing was held to set the field. The Cup Series rookie had a strong run in Stage 1 of the race but, after his car’s handling tightened up, he was relegated to a 22nd-place result. The 22-year-old feels fortunate to have another opportunity to master the South Carolina “Track Too Tough To Tame” Wednesday night.
“I think we definitely made gains during Sunday’s race,” Custer said. “The car drove fairly well. I think if I would’ve gotten a little more confident with running the wall, that we could’ve had a better day. I think we’re going in the right direction. It’s just a matter of working out the little things and being a rookie, and we’ll be on the right track.”
Riding along with the California native for Wednesday’s race will be Novant Health employee Dean Hines. Hines is part of NASCAR’s support of The Real Heroes initiative. He has been a patient transporter at Novant Health Matthews Medical Center since 2011. Hines, who calls himself a

huge NASCAR fan, is from Kinston, North Carolina. Hines is said to always put his patients first

. His contributions to the hospital, especially during these uncertain times, warrant the honor of him riding along with Custer at Darlington. Hines’ patients are always complimenting him for instinctively knowing how to comfort them with his kind words of healing and understanding

during their darkest times. Along with his passion for people, Hines also enjoys playing multiple musical instruments with his band on the weekends.
SHR has 39 starts at Darlington and two victories, both earned by No. 4 driver Kevin Harvick – one in 2014, and most recently on Sunday after Harvick led a race-high 159 laps. In total, the Kannapolis-based Ford team has 11 top-fives and 19 top-10s in the Cup Series at the South Carolina track.
Harvick hit a career win milestone with Sunday’s victory. “It’s pretty cool seeing Kevin get to 50 wins,” Custer said. “He’s been on a tear and it’s pretty impressive to watch. Being able to be this close to it and see how he goes about it, and how he prepares for a weekend and thinks about things. I think he’s different than anybody else on how he puts it all together, and I’m sure he’s going to win a lot more races.”
Haas Automation, founded in 1983 by SHR co-owner Haas, is America’s leading builder of CNC machine tools. The company manufactures a complete line of vertical and horizontal machining centers, turning centers and rotary tables and indexers. All Haas products are constructed in the company’s 1.1-million-square-foot manufacturing facility in Oxnard, California, and distributed through a worldwide network of Haas Factory Outlets.
Even though Custer had a trio of starts in the Cup Series in 2018, 2020 officially marks his Rookie of the Year campaign in NASCAR’s most prestigious series. He’s competing for rookie honors with notables Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick. The three have battled against each other in the Xfinity Series and are making the full-time transition to the Cup Series together. Custer was the third-highest-finishing rookie at Darlington Sunday and looks to improve his position Wednesday night.

Cole Custer: Driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
What did race day feel like Sunday after the 10-week hiatus?
“It was definitely different. I think the strangest thing was how quiet it was before and after the race, without the fans. But other than that, it was kind of back to normal – driving to the track and climbing in the car. But it was definitely strange not having the fans there.”

 

What was it like to start a race after such a long break without practice or qualifying?

“It was a little tough to start the race after the long break and no practice or qualifying. It left you guessing a little bit more. I felt like we fired off pretty good and the guys had built a great car. It was well prepared for the race. It’s just those little things that you try and work through in practice, but you don’t have that time to work through them now. You just have to jump into it, so it might lead to more mistakes, when more experienced guys might have more of an advantage.”
Once the race started, did it take some time get acclimated?
“I feel like the first lap was pretty good. I was pretty well adjusted to it. I think the biggest thing that I had to get acclimated to was just how I was going to run this car that I’ve never run before. The different lines, and how I was going to work the racetrack and do everything involved with that. It was just a matter of me getting used to the car.”
Was the level of difficulty even higher because of the nature of the Darlington track, and a race that’s notoriously difficult even with hours of track time beforehand?
“It was definitely a little bit difficult because it was Darlington but, at the same time, you try and do as much preparation as you can. Get yourself in the mindset of which different lines you’ll be running, working the dirty air and things like that. It would’ve been nice to test some of those things during practice, but I feel like we all do a pretty good job of showing up to the racetrack and being ready.”
Do you think you’ll feel much more comfortable coming back to Darlington Wednesday? What did you learn from Sunday’s race that you’ll apply when you return Wednesday?
“I think going back on Wednesday I’ll be a lot more comfortable. Just kind of being used to the whole racetrack and being confident in moving my car around is probably the biggest thing. I was pretty conservative with running the top during the race because I didn’t want to hit the wall my first time there and ruin our day. I think going back I’ll have a good feel for it to be aggressive.”
Any big similarities or differences from racing the Xfinity Series car there to now having done it in the Cup car?
“I definitely feel like there were a decent amount of similarities to the Xfinity car, how you got around the corner and which lines you would run, and stuff like that. I think the biggest thing is how you work traffic and how you want to pass people. I think traffic was the biggest thing that was different.”

Mike Shiplett: Crew Chief of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
What did you learn during yesterday’s race that you’ll apply when we return on Wednesday?
“Since it was Cole’s first time with these cars at Darlington, we learned a lot for the race we will have on Wednesday. The track will be different since it is a night race, so we will have to make a few small adjustments.”
How good did it feel to hear cars on the track after 70 days without activity, see people in the garage, etc.?
“It was good to get back to the track and keep Cole’s rookie year going. We had a lot of plans for the early races this year that we had to make adjustments for to start the new 2020 season. We were following all of NASCAR’s protocols, so we didn’t get to talk much to the other teams.”
Your overall assessment of how NASCAR and the teams did with being organized and following the new and different policies and procedures at-track?
“NASCAR and the team did a great job with getting us back to racing.”
Now that Cole has one Cup Series race under his belt at Darlington, is there anything in particular that you’ll focus on for Wednesday that you think could really help him?
“We are going to work on the things that will get us the most speed moving into the race on Wednesday, now that he understands the lines he needs to run with this car.
 
No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Team Report
Race 6 of 36 – Darlington 500k – Darlington
 
Car No. 41: HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Team Report

At Track PR Contact: Lauren Emling with True Speed Communication (Lauren.Emling@TrueSpeedCommunication.com)

Primary Team:

 

Driver: Cole Custer

Hometown: Ladera Ranch, California

Crew Chief: Mike Shiplett

Hometown: Amherst, Ohio

Engine Specialist: Evan Cupples

Hometown: Hudson, Illinois

Car Chief: Tony Cardamone

Hometown: Bristol, Virginia

Engine Builder: Roush Yates Engines

Headquarters: Mooresville, North Carolina

Spotter: Andy Houston

Hometown: Hickory, North Carolina

Over-The-Wall Crew:

Fuelman: Chad Emmons

Hometown: Tyler, Texas
Carrier: Dwayne Moore

Hometown: Griffin, Georgia

Jackman: Brett Morrell

Hometown: Windham, Maine

 

Front Changer: Josh Leslie

Hometown: Mount Clemens, Michigan

Rear Changer: Coleman Dollarhide
Hometown: Hickory, North Carolina

Darlington Raceway Notes of Interest:
  • Cole Custer will make his second Darlington (S.C.) Raceway NASCAR Cup Series start Sunday, bringing his total career Cup Series starts to nine.
  • The 22-year-old finished 22nd at Darlington on Sunday behind the wheel of the HaasTooling.com Mustang.
  • 2020 marks Custer’s first fulltime season in the Cup Series and he will contend for Rookie of the Year honors along with four other Cup Series competitors.
  • The HaasTooling.com driver has three NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at the 1.366-mile track in South Carolina. His lone victory at Darlington came last year after the original winner was disqualified. In 2018, Custer finished the race second in only his second Xfinity Series start. In all three career Xfinity Series outings, he has started and finished inside the top-10.
COLE CUSTER A Second Consecutive Cup Series Start at Darlington Read More