Cole Custer to announce 2025 NASCAR plans at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
This Saturday before NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying at Indianapolis, Cole Custer is going to announce his plans for 2025. The defending Xfinity champion is rumored as the favorite to land the Haas Factory Team Cup Series ride next season.
Stewart-Haas Racing is ending and out of the ashes is the Haas Factory Team. One single Cup Series charter and two Xfinity Series teams. Cole Custer went back to the Xfinity Series after a time in Cup, now he could be making his return.
Winning the 2023 Xfinity Series championship definitely helped. Leading the points standings as the playoffs approach now, only helps.
Stewart-Haas Racing released a media alert announcing the press conference. Cole Custer is tied closely to the Haas brand, both through sponsorship and his father, Joe Custer’s, involvement in the team.
Let’s not forget that Custer has a Cup Series win to his name and was the 2020 Rookie of the Year. He is the youngest Truck Series winner ever at 16 years, and again, he has that 2023 Xfinity Series championship.
Knowing what we know now about Stewart-Haas, maybe the results weren’t so much on Custer. Still, it wasn’t great for him to finish P26 and P25 in the final standings for 2021 and 2022.
Then again, his replacement, Ryan Preece, only managed to get the same car to 23rd overall in the 2023 season. Preece currently sits at P27 right now, only 16 points up on Justin Haley of Rick Ware Racing.
In the announcement, SHR says:
“After winning the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship, Custer is currently leading the 2024 Xfinity Series point standings and coming off his first win of the season last weekend at Pocono Raceway. His announcement on Saturday at Indianapolis will complete another piece of the silly-season puzzle.”
Cole Custer likely landing Haas seat for 2025
When Cole Custer was sent back to the Xfinity Series, he had one goal in mind – to win a championship. Anything short of excellence in his return to the second-tier series of NASCAR would be seen as a failure.
Custer was able to pick up three wins in 2023, the biggest being at Phoenix to clinch the championship. He now has four in about a season and a half. There will be more opportunities to get wins coming up soon. Indy, Michigan, Daytona, and Darlington will all be tracks Custer is a contender in.
The reason why Custer is landing the Haas seat, more than likely, is a few reasons. He is a steady hand, experienced. Custer has been around the block a few times but is still relatively young.
Ultimately, Cole Custer is getting this Cup Series ride because of his relationships at Haas, his performance in the Xfinity Series, and because there aren’t many other drivers that make sense for this team. Will Custer be successful in his second shot at the Cup Series?