Cole Custer Brings Home 24th in Cup Series at Pocono.
By Haas Factory Team
LONG POND, PA (June 14, 2026) – The No. 41 team used strategy to put the Haas/Autodesk Chevrolet inside the top 10 during Sunday afternoon’s race, but a challenging late restart left Cole Custer with a 24th-place finish at Pocono.
41 Cole Custer: Cole Custer matched his best starting position of the season for the second straight week, rolling off 15th after posting a lap of 52.567 seconds in qualifying. The driver of the No. 41 Haas/Autodesk Chevrolet lost some ground early in the opening stage and slipped outside the top 20, but a strategy call to stay on track helped Custer work his way back forward. By the end of Stage One, he climbed all the way to 16th.
Following adjustments during the stage caution, Custer restarted Stage Two in 23rd and continued searching for the right balance in the No. 41 Haas/Autodesk Chevrolet. An early caution on lap 41 gave the team another chance for adjustments, and it paid dividends as Custer worked his way back into the top 10. After avoiding an incident on lap 47 and staying out under caution, he restarted ninth and remained among the lead group for much of the stage before making a green-flag pit stop from seventh on lap 85.
As pit strategy cycled through at the conclusion of Stage Two, Custer took the green flag for the final stage from 13th with a strong finish within reach. A caution for a runaway tire helped him keep position, but another restart later in the run left Custer battling on the outside lane and shuffled him back. The No. 41 team continued to fight through the closing laps and completed its final green-flag pit stop on lap 129. However, Custer was unable to regain the lost track position and ultimately brought home a 24th-place finish.
“We had a really solid car, but one bad restart cost us our day at the very end. I got loose and we lost a lot of speed in turn two,” Custer said. “We’re bringing fast cars to the track but need to keep putting together solid days and work out those little kinks.”
Up Next: The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Naval Base Coronado in San Diego next Sunday, June 21st, with race coverage on Prime set for 4 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.