JR Motorsports officials have announced that Cole Custer, driver of the No. 00 Chevrolet in the Camping World Truck Series, will compete in five XFINITY Series events for the organization this season.
Team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. said Custer, 18, “is a driver who has shown a lot of potential.
“He is fast and tenacious, he leads laps and wins races, everything you want out of a driver no matter how much experience they have.”
Custer, a two-time winner in the NCWTS, is scheduled to make his XFINITY Series debut April 23 in the JRM No. 5 Chevrolet at Richmond International Raceway. He will be behind the wheel of the group’s No. 88 entry for races at Charlotte Motor Speedway (May 28) and Kentucky Speedway (July 8), then return to the No. 5 ride for events at CMS (Oct. 7) and Homestead-Miami Speedway (Nov. 19).
The 2016 season is Custer’s first full-time effort in the Truck Series; He ran a limited schedule (10 races) for the organization last year and made nine starts for Stewart-Haas Racing co-owner Gene Haas in ’14.
“Seat time is critical to development as a driver, and the more I can get, especially with a team like JRM, the faster that development will go,” said Custer, the Truck Series’ youngest race winner. “This is a great opportunity for me to get more laps, get used to the equipment, and compete at another level.”
JRM fields three full-time XFINITY Series entries, two for drivers Elliott Sadler (No. 1) and Justin Allgaier (No. 7) and a third (No. 88) that is shared by several competitors in the JRM/Hendrick Motorsports group. The No. 5 entry competes on a limited schedule.
“We take a lot of pride in helping guys advance their careers towards their ultimate goal of racing in the Cup Series,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “Cole is on that path and I’m happy that we’re able to put him in our cars to help in that process.”
The No. 00 is the lone NCWTS entry fielded by JRM. Custer enters this weekend’s third series stop, at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, 22nd in points.