● The U.S. Cellular 250 presented by American Ethanol will mark Cole Custer’s 24th career NASCAR XFINITY Series start and his second XFINITY Series start at Iowa Speedway in Newton.
● In Custer’s first XFINITY Series start at Iowa five weeks ago, he was running seventh until a scheduled green-flag pit stop on lap 219. While Custer was on pit road, the caution came out, putting him one lap down in 24th with 20 laps to go.
● While the U.S. Cellular 250 will be Custer’s second XFINITY Series start at Iowa, it will be his ninth overall start at the .875-mile oval. Custer has three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts and four NASCAR K&N Pro Series starts at Iowa.
● Custer scored his first career Pro Series East victory Aug. 2, 2013 at Iowa from the pole. At 15 years, 6 months and 10 days, he became the youngest winner in Pro Series history. In addition to breaking Dylan Kwasniewski’s record for youngest race winner by nearly six months, Custer also became the first driver to lead every lap (150) in the combination East/West race.
● Custer’s best Truck Series finish at Iowa is second, earned in 2016. Custer finished .431 of a second behind race-winner William Byron, who he’s now competing with for XFINITY Series Rookie of the Year honors.
● Custer has a win, a pole, four top-fives, six top-10s and has led 237 laps in his eight career starts at Iowa.
● Custer’s best finish in the 19 XFINITY Series races run this season is fourth, earned in the 11th race of the year June 3 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. It was his 10th top-10 and fourth top-five and it equaled his career-best finish in 23 career XFINITY Series starts.
● Custer is second in the XFINITY Series Rookie of the Year standings, 65 points behind leader William Byron.
● Custer is sixth in the NASCAR XFINITY Series driver standings, 230 points behind series leader Elliot Sadler.
● Custer has earned five Rookie of the Race awards this season. Rookie of the Race awards aregiven to the highest-finishing XFINITY Series rookie at each race.
● Custer has been the highest-finishing XFINITY Series regular driver in four races this season – Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, Dover, Pocono (Pa.) Raceway and Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.
● Custer’s best qualifying effort in the 19 XFINITY Series races run this season is third, earned in the seventh race of the year April 22 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. Custer has 11 top-10 starts and three top-five starts this season.
● In 23 XFINITY Series starts, 42 Camping World Truck Series starts and 29 K&N Pro Series starts since 2015, Custer has five wins, six poles, 14 top-five finishes, 23 top-10s and 919 laps led at tracks currently on the NASCAR circuit that are approximately a mile in length or shorter.
Custer has earned three top-five finishes, eight top-10s and has led 29 laps so far in the 2017 XFINITY Series season. |