By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Though Sunday at Iowa Speedway was a good day for nearby farmers, it was a tough one for racecar drivers. Particularly, Cole Custer, who fought the hot conditions throughout the XFINITY Series Iowa 250.
The Stewart-Haas Racing driver started the day fifth, which continued a run of four straight top-five starts in 2018. And while contending in the top five most of the afternoon, the heat quickly caught up to the No. 00 Ford in a race that saw three green-flag runs of more than 50 laps.
“It was rough to say the least. It was extremely hot,” he said. “Our floors got really hot for some reason. My feet were burning up.”
But he continued on.
Custer finished Stage 1 in fifth before jumping to fourth in Stage 2. And it got even better in the late restarts when he battled for the race lead with Justin Allgaier, who eventually won the race. Custer, however, put up a fight and grabbed the lead shortly on a restart with 45 to go and kept Allgaier on his toes in the following laps.
“A good Haas Automation Mustang, we just needed a little more,” he said.
Losing a couple spots in the final 12-lap run, Custer came home fourth, scoring his fourth consecutive top-five finish of the year. Even more than the result and the scorching heat, Custer enjoyed the “fun” racing from start to end at Iowa.
“It was an extremely fun race,” he said. “That’s the most fun I’ve had in a stock car in forever. It was tough to pass because you were running the top but you could also slide-job guys so it was really fun.”
I think that was the most fun I’ve had in a @XfinityRacing car! @iowaspeedway is one of the best tracks we go to. Guys gave me a good car, just needed a tick more, I’ll take 4th today. Have some good consistency right now!
— Cole Custer (@ColeCuster) June 18, 2018