Cole Custer Shines Early in Wet Weather, Finishes 22nd at New Hampshire.
By Haas Factory Team
LOUDON, NH (August 23, 2026) – Cole Custer used a strong start on wet-weather tires to gain track position early at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and capped it off with a respectable 22nd-place finish on Sunday afternoon.
41 Cole Custer: Despite a nearly one-hour weather delay, Custer rolled onto the track with wet-weather tires for the first time this season. The No. 41 HaasTooling.com Chevrolet soared off the line despite the wet track, using the dryer high line to move up into the top 20. However, battling tire wear as the track conditions improved, Custer slid back to where he started by the time the field to switch to slick tires on lap 40. Making his first competitive pit stop following the lap 53 caution, Custer cycled back out to 29th and finished Stage One in 28th.
Opting not to pit under the stage caution, the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Chevrolet restarted from fifth place on older tires. The decision to stay out ended up paying off as a caution on lap 84 gave Custer the opportunity to remain on the lead lap under yellows. Using the tire advantage, Custer fought his way back into the top 20 before pitting from sixth place on lap 137. Custer fell a lap down but battled hard to cross the line in 22nd to end Stage Two.
Making a stop under the stage yellows, Custer battled tightness early in the final stage, settling into 26th before a caution on lap 203 brought the field back together. After pitting again under the yellow, Custer found himself in 30th place with fresher tires for the final run. A pair of cautions later, the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Chevrolet settled into a consistent groove and maneuvered his way up to a 22nd-place finish at The Magic Mile.
“Overall, there were lots of ups and downs today. It was a pretty crazy race with the rain at the beginning even though we made some spots up there,” Custer said. “We lost some long run speed there at the end, but our guys did a good job staying with it all day and getting a solid finish out of it.”
Up Next: The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Daytona International Speedway next Saturday, August 29th, with race coverage on NBC set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
About Haas Factory Team: Haas Factory Team is a NASCAR Cup and O'Reilly Auto Parts Series program owned by Gene Haas, founder of Haas Automation. New in 2026, Haas Factory will align with Chevrolet. As part of the manufacturer switch, HFT will have a technical alliance with Hendrick Motorsports, which will include using Hendrick-built engines across both series. The team will feature Cole Custer driving the No. 41 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in the NASCAR Cup Series, while Sheldon Creed and Sam Mayer take on the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series in the No. 00 and No. 41 Chevrolet Camaros, respectively. Based in Kannapolis, North Carolina, the Haas Factory Team reflects a commitment to performance and engineering excellence, carrying forward Gene Haas’s commitment to motorsports.