By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer
Heading into the Boyd Gaming 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Cole Custer is riding on some momentum after earning his first Top 10 finish of the 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series season last weekend. Custer also finished inside the Top 10 at the end of each stage at Atlanta, and he was one of only four Xfinity Series regulars to do so.
Custer has one previous start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway which came last season in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. He started third and finished third after leading three laps in the No. 00 Haas Automation Chervolet Silverado for JR Motorsports.
In seven career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts, Custer has one top five and three top 10s. Two of the Top 10 finishes came at 1.5-mile tracks. In the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, he has five Top 10 finishes at 1.5-mile tracks in nine races on 1.5-mile tracks.
Custer was confident about Saturday’s race at Las Vegas after earning a Top 10 finish at Atlanta,
“I felt like we had a really fast car that was maybe even a little bit better than where we finished. We’re really confident just to get going at Las Vegas and see what we have with that same package. I think we’re going to be pretty good and we’re looking forward to it.”
Custer’s crew chief at Stewart-Haas Racing, Jeff Meendering expressed his confidence in his Rookie driver,
“I’m really confident. Most of our intermediate setups are carrying over from one track to the next so it’s just fine tuning from there with springs and shocks. I feel like after having that strong run there in Atlanta the momentum should keep carrying over to all of these intermediate tracks.”
Custer, Meendering, and their Stewart-Haas Racing team will now head to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for Saturday’s Boyd Gaming 300 where they hope to build on their Top 10 finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
