ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – Cole Custer hopes to get a victory as the NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season winds down to carry momentum into the playoffs.
Custer is fourth in the series standings only 19 points behind leader Christopher Bell entering Saturday’s Johnsonville 180 at Road America. He’s looking for a seventh straight top-10 finish and overall his 18 finishes inside the first 10 are tied with Elliott Sadler for the series lead.
With only four races remaining before the playoffs begin, Custer is focused on winning races and collecting as many points as possible.
“Jeff (Meendering, crew chief) did a great job last weekend putting us in a position to earn as many points as possible,” Custer said of his fourth place finish last Friday night at Bristol Motor Speedway. “That’s the goal. We need to get stage wins and points to either win the regular-season championship or earn playoff points going in.
“A win is what we’re after but, if we don’t have the car to do it, we need to be focused on points. We had the car to win in Bristol and I think we’ll have a big shot at it at Road America.”
Road America Schedule | Final Practice Speeds
Custer will make his sixth career Xfinity Series road course start Saturday and second at Road America. He’s finished eighth or better in his last three road course starts dating back to this event last year and is ready to take on the challenging Road America circuit again.
“In road-course racing, the competition is more on the driver’s shoulders compared to your traditional oval-styled track,” Custer said. “You’re on the edge of your seat for the entire race and even the smallest mistake could take you out of the race.
“I enjoy road-course racing and challenging my skills as a driver. This is our last road-course race of the season, so I’m hoping to drive my Haas Automation Ford Mustang to a solid finish.”
Crew chief Meendering is also optimistic about his teams road racing prowess and believes things are trending in the right direction for a good outing on Saturday.
“We have certainly improved,” Meendering said. “We’ve had better equipment and notes to go off of, so we’re happy with where we’re at. Cole has learned a ton at these road courses and he’s getting much better.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s able to wheel the Haas Automation Ford up front the whole race. Road America was actually our best road course last year and we’ve already had great cars this year. Really looking forward to this weekend.”
Motor Racing Network – “The Voice of NASCAR” will have live coverage of Saturday’s Johnsonville 180 at Road America, beginning at 2:30 p.m. (ET) – with live streaming at MRN.com.
