Custer began racing quarter midgets at age four. In 2011, Custer won the USAC National Focus Young Guns Championship. The following year, Custer began racing late models, winning ten races and earning Rookie of the Year honors.[2]
At New Hampshire Motor Speedway on September 20, 2014, Custer won the Camping World Truck Series' UNOH 175 from the pole, becoming the youngest winner in the history of NASCAR's national touring series at 16 years, 7 months and 28 days.[12][N 2]
On January 12, 2015, JR Motorsports announced that Custer would drive a truck for them in ten races in 2015.[13] On June 13, 2015, Custer won the Truck race at Gateway Motorsports Park, holding off the No. 23 truck of Spencer Gallagher, after the dominating trucks of Erik Jones and Matt Crafton were involved in two wrecks at laps 142 and 152.
When he turned 18 years old in 2016, JR Motorsports began fielding the No. 00 truck for Custer full-time, competing for the Rookie of the Year title. At Canadian Tire Motorsport Park during the Chevrolet Silverado 250, John Hunter Nemechek and Custer were battling for the lead when Nemechek bumped Custer before running both Custer and himself off-road, pinning Custer to the wall. Before the winner was declared, Nemechek was tackled by Custer; Nemechek would be named the winner.[14]
On September 16, 2016, Stewart–Haas Racing announced that Custer would drive the No. 00 Ford Mustang full-time in 2017, with Haas Automation as the primary sponsor.[16] Custer began the 2017 Xfinity season with a crash at Daytona, finishing 37th. He rebounded the next week at Atlanta, finishing 10th.
After making the Playoffs in his first appearance, Custer began making a surge at the end of the season including leading the most laps at Chicago and Kansas. Custer missed the Final Four by two spots after racing head to head with Daniel Hemric, the next week, Custer put on a clinic by leading the most laps, winning both stages and en route to his first Xfinity win at the Homestead–Miami Speedway in South Florida. The next year at the fall Texas race, Custer got his second career win when he passed Tyler Reddick on the last lap, clinching his spot in the Championship Four.[citation needed]
In the 2019 season, Custer scored wins at Fontana, Richmond, Pocono, Chicago, Kentucky,[17] and Dover. He finished second at Darlington, but was declared the official race winner after Denny Hamlin was disqualified when his car failed to meet height requirements during post-race inspection.[18][19] At the end of the Kansas race, Custer got into a fight with Reddick on pit road.[20] Custer finished the 2019 season second in points after finishing second again to Reddick at Homestead.[21]
On November 15, 2019, Stewart–Haas Racing announced that Custer will replace Daniel Suárez in the No. 41 Ford in 2020.[24] He scored his first Cup top-ten finish at Phoenix, while his maiden top five came at Indianapolis.[25][26]
A week after Indianapolis, Custer won his first Cup race in the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway, passing Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr., and Ryan Blaney on the last lap.[27] He became the first rookie to win in the Cup Series since Chris Buescher in 2016, the first rookie to do so in a non-shortened race since Juan Pablo Montoya in 2007,[28] and the 33rd driver to win a race in all three NASCAR national touring series.[27] With the win, Custer made the 2020 Playoffs, but was eliminated following the third round at Bristol.[29] He finished 16th in the points standings and was awarded the Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors.[30] Custer remained with Stewart-Haas for the 2021 season. However, his results were inconsistent and he missed the playoffs after the regular-season finale at Daytona as he was 26th in the points standings with just two top tens at Talladega and Dover.[31]
Custer returned to Xfinity Series competition in February 2022 at Auto Club Speedway, driving the No. 07 for SS-Green Light Racing in a collaboration with Stewart–Haas Racing. He would end up winning the race after leading 80 laps. It was his 10th career Xfinity Series win, and the first win for SS-Green Light Racing.[33]
On October 11, 2022, Custer and crew chief Mike Shiplett were fined US$100,000 after Custer intentionally slowed down and checked up on the last lap of the Charlotte Roval race, allowing his SHR teammate Chase Briscoe to advance to the next round of the playoffs. In addition, Shiplett was indefinitely suspended and the No. 41 team was docked 50 owner and driver points.[34]
On November 16, 2022, SHR announced that Ryan Preece would replace Custer in the No. 41 in the Cup Series in 2023 while Custer would move back to the Xfinity Series, driving a second full-time car for SHR. The team announced on November 23, 2022 that he would drive the 00 once again.[35] Custer started the 2023 season with a ninth place finish at Daytona. He scored his first win of the season at Portland.[36] Custer also won at a rain-shortened Chicago street race.[37] Following the Michigan race, the No. 00 was docked 20 driver and owner points and five playoff points, and crew chief Jonathan Toney was fined US$25,000 after the post-race inspection revealed unapproved splitters.[38] Custer won at Phoenix and claimed his first Xfinity Series championship.[39]
On November 2, 2023, Custer announced he would continue in the No. 00 in 2024.[41] Two days later, Custer would go on to win his and Stewart–Haas's first Xfinity Series championship at Phoenix Raceway after holding off Justin Allgaier and John Hunter Nemechek on an overtime restart.
Custer started the 2024 season with a 13th place finish at Daytona. He scored wins at Pocono and Bristol, as well as the regular season championship.[42][43] Despite not winning a race during the playoffs, Custer stayed consistent enough to make the Championship 4.[44] After the race at Martinsville, Custer was involved in a post-race altercation with Chandler Smith.[45]
On May 28, 2024, Stewart–Haas Racing announced it would shut down its NASCAR operations at the end of the season.[46]
2025: Return to Cup Series
On July 20, 2024, Custer announced his Cup Series return in 2025 with the No. 41 of Haas Factory Team, which is a reorganization of Stewart–Haas Racing.[47]
He is married to Kari Custer. In July 2024, Kari gave birth to a son.[49]
Motorsports career results
NASCAR
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. ** – All laps led.)
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