SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Cole Custer, the 2023 Xfinity Series champion and current points leader in NASCAR’s second-tier division, is returning to the Cup Series full-time in 2025.
Custer will drive the No. 41 Ford fielded by Haas Factory Team, a new organization being started by longtime NASCAR team owner Gene Haas. The team made the announcement Saturday morning at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the site of this weekend’s NASCAR race weekend.
The 26-year-old Custer previously raced three full seasons in the Cup (2020-2022) for a team Haas co-owned, Stewart-Haas Racing, winning Rookie of the Year honors in 2020 on the strength of winning one race and qualifying for the playoffs. After Custer struggled the following two years, the team demoted him to its Xfinity program.
In Custer’s first season back in Xfinity, he won three races and the series championship. He is currently leading the Xfinity standings by 51 points over second-place Justin Allgaier.
“On his way to winning the Xfinity Series championship last year, Cole really carved out an identity for himself, on the track and off. He brings home trophies and he races people clean. He’s earned a lot of respect from his peers, and he’s a genuine personality whose hard work resonates with our customers.
“The NASCAR Cup Series is tough, but Cole is coming back wiser and tougher. We’re very happy to have him in our colors and in our race car.”
Haas, a California billionaire, first started a full-time Cup team in 2003 that he owned outright before partnering with Tony Stewart in 2009 to form SHR. Since its inception, SHR won two championships, 69 races and became one of NASCAR’s dominant organizations.
In May, SHR announced it would disband at the end of the current season. Haas later announced he had retained one of SHR’s four charters, NASCAR’s equivalent of a franchise that guarantees the holders certain monetary rewards, and formed Haas Factory Team.
The new organization will enter into a technical alliance with RFK Racing and receive additional support from Ford Performance, it announced Saturday. Haas Factory Team will also field two full-time Xfinity teams supported by Ford.
“Haas Factory Team will essentially be a new race team next year, and it’s going to take all of us to build it into an organization that can go out and win races,” Custer said. “I want this opportunity and I’m ready for this challenge.”
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(Photo: Jonathan Bachman / Getty Images)
