Roulette Recap follows a randomly selected driver throughout a race and recaps their efforts. The driver could face calamity on lap one or start from the rear and win the race – there is no telling ahead of time. With that, may the odds be ever in the driver’s favor.
Alsco Uniforms 302
Las Vegas Motor Speedway has proven to be a great track for Cole Custer in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. In six starts, he has started from the pole three times and has four top-10 finishes, two of which were top fives.
Additionally, none of his finishes at the 1.5 mile track have been outside the top 12. He has led 54 laps and boasts an average finish of 8.0.
Sitting two points below the NXS Playoffs cut line, Custer rolled into Vegas needing more than Lady Luck on his side. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver needed speed and stage points.
He proved he had the speed early on, claiming the top spot in practice. In qualifying, he was just edged out by Josh Berry, but would still start on the front row in P2.
With that, Custer looked to capitalize in Sin City with a win and lock himself into the Championship 4.
After firing engines and checking pit road speed, Custer lined up ready to take on LVMS. Crew chief Jonathan Toney thanked everyone for the hard work and fast hot rod.
Stage 1
As the green flag waved, Custer drag raced Berry down the front stretch. Throughout the opening lap, the two were door-to-door until Turn 4 when Custer lost momentum and fell to P3.
The field had started to stretch to single file when the caution waved on Lap 4 as the No. 53 blew an engine. The early caution allowed Custer and his crew to discuss handling and what his spotter, Andy Houston, was seeing.
Lap 11 brought the restart with Custer in P3. He gave a shove to Berry, however, it wasn’t enough and Chandler Smith claimed the lead. Custer maintained P3 until Lap 13 when Brett Moffitt and Joe Graf, Jr. got into each other. It ended with Graf slamming the wall on the start-finish line. Another lengthy clean-up faced the drivers.
Custer let Toney know he was still firing off “a tick free,” but noted, “We just need a restart to go our way.”
First Real Green Flag Run
The SHR driver lined up P3, once again on the outside line, for another restart on Lap 19. This time, Custer had a restart go his way. Running in the wake of C. Smith, he got the advantage on Daniel Hemric, then worked his way around Berry.
As drivers took the race three-wide behind him, he set his eyes on C. Smith.
C. Smith maintained the lead while Custer sat about a half-second behind him. Lap 24 saw Custer begin to gain some ground on the No. 16. At this time, Toney radioed to Houston asking for water temperatures from the driver as he saw a bit of trash on the nose of the No. 00.
Drivers were finally able to settle in and get a handle on their cars. Custer radioed in to state, “Still a little free on entry and exit.”
With 11 to go, Custer got to the bumper of the No. 16 and worked his way around the Kaulig Racing driver to claim the lead. C. Smith wasn’t giving up easily and throughout the next lap, it was a door-to-door battle. But with nine to go, Custer set sail.
Through the closing laps of the opening stage, Custer had to work his way around lapped traffic, however it proved to be no issue for the veteran driver.
Custer went on to win Stage 1 and earn much-needed stage points. He updated his team on the handling of his car, “Stayed free throughout…the back feels propped up.” He went on to say he only wanted “something small” when it came to adjustments.
Stage 2
Toney gave his driver fresh tires, a tank full of fuel, and minor adjustments to start the second stage. He won the race off pit road after fast work from his crew.
Custer chose the outside line, and lined up next to Hemric on the Lap 53 restart. Coming out of Turn 4 on the opening lap, Custer rocketed ahead with the lead.
Early Red Flag
Unfortunately, the caution waved as the No. 26 of Kaz Grala blew an engine and spun out. In turn, he took Kyle Weatherman, Jeremy Clements, Josh Williams, Anthony Alfredo, Brennan Poole, and Rajah Caruth with him.
Major issues for multiple cars in the back of the pack! pic.twitter.com/ynCatl9nYa
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) October 14, 2023
The incident brought out the red flag for clean up. During the break, the ‘guys in the NBC booth’ called him to get an in-race perspective.
Once the race resumed on Lap 59, Custer claimed the outside line. The green flag waved and Custer got a push from John Hunter Nemechek. Briefly, he had the advantage on Hemric. Then, Hemric claimed the led for a brief second, but coming back to the start-finish line, Custer secured the lead and once again, set sail.
Lap 62 heard Custer radio in, “I’m a little tighter this run.” Despite that, he had a half-second lead over Nemechek.
Custer remained quiet on the radio, in the zone and taking in lap times and updates from Houston.
With 10 to go and nearly a one second lead on Nemechek, Custer said, “Getting a little free, but I’m scared to tighten it up!”
As the stage wound down, tensions got high as Custer battled lap traffic and Nemechek closed in. With two to go, Custer’s teammate, Riley Herbst was battling Nemechek for P2. Taking the final lap, Herbst got around Custer and it was a SHR 1-2 finish. Custer earned nine more points on the day.
He radioed in to Toney, “I don’t have the long-run speed. I just feel like I lose too much grip as I go.” In turn, Toney encouraged his driver, “We have some things we can do. We’ll get you hooked up and back out there.”
Stage 3
Another quick stop from his team allowed him to keep P2, and after Herbst chose the outside lane, Custer opted to take the inside to have a front-row starting spot.
The restart for the final stage came on Lap 97 and Custer got another nice push from Nemechek.
This surged Custer to the front. However, Custer immediately radioed in asking if his team got all the lugs tight. While he worked to dominate the field, his crew went to look at video from the pit stop. After not hearing anything from his team, Custer said, “It got really loose on me there. I’m trying not to piss it off.”
A few minutes later, Custer got word that everything was good. At that point, Herbst reclaimed the lead. Custer said, “I just got nothing for him! I think I’m going to struggle on the long run.”
Despite Herbst having a solid lead on him, Custer was keeping Nemechek at bay. The driver of the No. 20 even got into the fence, putting more distance between him and Custer.
Still flabbergasted at the change in his car, Custer began to discuss options with his crew chief ahead of the next pit stop.
Green-Flag Stops
With 67 to go, Herbst had a five-second lead on Custer. Fortunately for the No. 00 driver, green flag stops, and much-needed adjustments, were in sight.
Four laps later, those stops began, however, Toney noted, “I’d like to wait a few more laps.” Custer radioed back, “Really losing the right rear!”
On Lap 142, Custer finally was able to come in for adjustments. As Custer left pit road, Houston said, “This is gonna work out good! We have a nice clear track.”
Custer returned to the track in P8 awaiting stops to cycle around. He immediately called back to his team and stated, “Still kinda loose here.”
Toney encouraged his driver, “Those are probably the stickers. It’ll come to you!” Unconvinced, Custer responded, “It feels horrible!”
Final Stretch
With 54 to go, Herbst had reclaimed the lead and Custer was sitting P3, awaiting Kyle Sieg to pit. Two laps later, Custer was able to jump to P2, seven seconds behind his SHR teammate.
Things were quiet until 35 to go when Custer was passed by C. Smith and Nemechek. He told his team, “I can barely drive it!”
Toney attempted to calm Custer, and said, “We’ll get a caution and work on it!”
With eight to go, Custer worked around C. Smith to sit P3 in the closing laps.
Unfortunately, the caution Toney hoped for never came. As his teammate ran off with a nearly 15 second lead to win the Alsco 302, Custer brought his No. 00 home P3.
More importantly, he finished the day 15 points above the cutline.
Custer thanked his team for a “solid day,” and hoped it put them in a better position heading to Homestead-Miami Speedway. Toney confirmed, “We sure are! Big day for SHR!”
Sponsor Shoutout
As NASCAR fans know, sponsors make the sport go ’round. We want to give a shoutout to Haas Automation who was a huge part of the weekend for Cole and the No.00 team.Â
Be sure to give Cole Custer (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) and Stewart-Haas Racing (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) a follow to keep up with the latest news from the driver and team.
