Youngest national series winner will be age-eligible to run full time next season
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Cole Custer was one of five returning members back for an encore with the unveiling of the 2015-16 NASCAR Next class of up-and-coming drivers on May 5.
In the year-plus since being tapped to the youth initiative, Custer said he's benefited from the extra visibility that the program provides. Landing a prized spot with JR Motorsports, co-owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr., hasn't hurt.
The 17-year-old Custer said he's learned plenty about the sport's inner workings from his NASCAR Next participation, especially in dealing with media requests as his profile rises. But he suggests there may be some carryover in the confidence category as well.
"We're definitely going to have more hype going into our future races because of this, but it's something that'll bring some momentum going into the races, too," Custer said. "Just being talked about -- you're known now. I think it definitely helps you going in."
When JR Motorsports announced in January that it would expand its racing program in to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Custer was selected for a 10-race slate. Though his truck resume spanned just nine career starts at the time, one of those was a comeback victory from the pole position last September at New Hampshire, making him -- at 16 years, 7 months and 28 days old -- the youngest winner in one of NASCAR's three national series.
The triumph -- and the potential for more in the years ahead -- made team owners take notice.
"It's definitely jump-started it," Custer said of the win's impact on his career. "We had a real good run there at Loudon and that was a real key thing in trying to progress in a different series and with different teams, meeting new people. I think it was just something that was real important for me."
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Custer carried the flag for JRM in the organization's Truck Series debut at Martinsville Speedway in March, springing into the lead with five laps left in regulation before late-race contact shuffled him back in the finishing order. While 16th place wasn't the favored result, the performance -- bookended by a front-row starting spot and leading laps late -- was encouraging.
Custer said there's pressure that goes along with the expectations. He also indicated he hopes the team can handle both.
"For sure. They expect championships and wins at that program. That's the deal there," Custer says. "We definitely want to go out there and win every single weekend, and we think we have the capability of it."
Custer's schedule this season is a partial one, in part because of a NASCAR-mandated age limit of 18 years old for tracks longer than 1.25 miles. Though he'll be free to compete virtually unrestricted when he turns 18 next January, he said his 2016 plans are still in the formative stages.
"We're not fully sure right now," Custer said. "We're really focused on this year and trying to succeed but we'll see. Hopefully, I would love to run full-time for them, but we'll see in the future. I think there's a lot of different things that happen, and we'll see."
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