Cole Custer Discusses Fatherhood, Return to Cup & Near Win in Daytona 500

From winning a race and Rookie of the Year honors in his first NASCAR Cup Series season to moving back down to the Xfinity Series and winning his first championship in 2023, it’s been an up-and-down ride for Cole Custer.

He now finds himself back in Cup for the second time with the new-look Haas Factory Team this season. From becoming a father last summer to almost winning the Daytona 500 in February, it’s been an eventful year for Custer, and Frontstretch had the opportunity to sit down with him for a one-on-one interview prior to Sunday’s (March 2) Cup race at Circuit of the Americas.

Bryan Nolen, Frontstretch: How does that sound, knowing that you’re back the second time in the Cup Series, but in the first season with Haas Factory Team? Just what is this like for you?

Cole Custer: It’s awesome. At the end of the day, we’re just trying to make the most of it. A lot of people don’t get second chances at this deal, so trying to give everything we got to try and move ourselves in the right direction and be where we need to be.

Nolen: Is there more pressure for you knowing that this is your second chance? Obviously, you went down to the Xfinity Series, won a title and everything, but do you feel more pressure with this?

Custer: I don’t know about pressure, but you know what you’re looking for. You’re trying to make yourself better every day, and you’re trying to make everything how you think it should be.

Nolen: Obviously the transition wasn’t easy. Just what was that transition like ever since the checkered flag waved at Phoenix Raceway in November, all the way up to the Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium?

Custer: It’s been a lot. Over the off season, these guys worked extremely hard organizing everything, just because there was so much stuff to organize. You don’t have as many people, so it’s just trying to get everything exactly how we wanted it and then getting ready for this year.

There are a lot of things that you wish you were [doing], just fluffing and buffing on cars over the season where you had to organize a lot of stuff [instead], but I feel like we’re in a good spot right now. We just have to keep working on it.

Nolen: I’m a big ice cream fan, not a custard fan. I need a little bit of a boost. Why should I transition over to custard?

Custer: Well custard, it’s smoother. It’s not as cold as ice cream, so it’s not going to give you a brain freeze. That’s a big key. But anything at Andy’s Frozen Custard you’re going to get, it’s going to be satisfying.

Nolen: Favorite flavors?

Custer: I like getting the Jackhammers. They put the fudge in the middle of them, it’s pretty good.

Nolen: You became a dad in July. What has that been like, and how has that transition been?

Custer: It’s been great. My wife has done great, my wife Kari. It’s just been definitely a new sense of purpose, and you just know what your job is every day, and it’s nonstop for sure. You’re always doing something, but it’s been awesome.

Nolen: If [your son] comes to you down the road and says he wants to be a racecar driver, will you encourage it, or are you going to try and go to the golf route? Like, where do you want him to be?

Custer: At the end of the day, he’s going to have to want to do it. I think that’s the biggest thing. We’ll tackle that problem when we get there, but you can’t force it on anybody.

Nolen: I feel like this is the longest season of any major sport. I mean, you’re going from February to November with one off break. How do you not get burnt out? How do you try and reset midway through July, midway through August?

Custer: I think the biggest thing is just during the week, finding those times to kind of relax and get away from it for a second. Which is tough because you kind of have to be thinking about it 24/7, but you have to just find those little times during the day where you can try and keep your mind sane a little bit.

Nolen: Are there certain things you do when you’re not at the racetrack? Like, what if someone was to ask, ‘What does Cole Custer do for fun besides racing?’ What do you say?

Custer: I’ll go golf from time to time, it’s probably the biggest thing. … I can do decent, I can hold my own, but I’m not some pro golfer or anything. But yeah, sometimes I might go golf from time to time.

Nolen: With this new team, how much of it is new? How much of [the crew] have you known? What’s overall aspect of this new group?

Custer: Definitely a lot of new people with the alliance with RFK [Racing]. Definitely a lot of different moving parts, but I feel like we have a really good group. All these guys have worked extremely hard, and I think we have a group that can progressively get better throughout the year.

Nolen: You were up there in contention at Daytona; it didn’t go your way. Is that one that you feel like you let get away, or is that just superspeedway racing in general?

Custer: It is just superspeedway racing in general, but I would be lying to you if I didn’t say, ‘Man, I’m going to look back at it the rest of my life and could’ve had one there.’ But it’s how superspeedway racing goes.

I mean, you see them wreck out on pretty much the last lap every single time. For me, the only thing I would have changed is maybe wait until the frontstretch to make the move. But at the end of the day, I had such a big run and the No. 35 (Riley Herbst) had spun, so you didn’t know when the caution was going to come out, and I went for it.

You learn for the next time, but I feel like it was good for our team to have a shot to win one of our first races.

Nolen: Denny [Hamlin] was critical of that move. Have you talked to him since then?

Custer: I haven’t. Right after the race, we talked a little bit at the car, and it was pretty calm. Like after the race, I was like, ‘Man, I wish I waited for the frontstretch.’ That’s all I regret, really.

Nolen: Last but not least, the expectations. Is it to gather data to get ready for the upcoming years? Top 10s, top fives, maybe sneak a win in? What is the expectation for this team and for you personally?

Custer: I think at the end of the day we want to make the playoffs, so we have to work toward that and try and live in the top 20, get good stage points and try and win a race. I feel like we just have to keep working in that direction.