Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Friday, June 7, 2019
EVENT: LTiPrinting 250 Media Availability
Cole Custer Media Availability
COLE CUSTER, No. 00 Jacob Companies Ford Mustang — HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS WEEKEND? “This has never been my best track. If I can figure it out this time that would be great. It is obviously Ford’s backyard so that would be huge for our team to get a win. It is all about on-throttle time and having good exits and keeping your momentum up. In traffic it is really sketch because it is so high-speed and everything. It is really tough to get a handle on the track for sure.”
YOU WON AT CALIFORNIA AND IT IS VERY SIMILAR TO MICHIGAN: “They are not similar at all. They are similar in shape and size but the pavement is so much different. This is a lot newer pavement. At Auto Club you are able to search around the track more and able to slip and slide around where here you are almost wide open and only have the bottom two grooves to work with. It is all about how you can manage keeping your momentum up.”
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT TOMORROW? “We are coming here to win. I think we will have a good shot at winning. I just need to get a little better than I have been in the past here and if so, we will be right there.”
A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT THE “BIG THREE” IN XFINITY. DO YOU BELIEVE IT IS THE THREE OF YOU CONTENDING FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP? “Anybody can get mixed in three at any time. It changes week to week but it does seem like for the most part it has been the three of us this year. It seems like the 7 is getting better and the 98 is right there. You have to stay on your game and can’t get cocky but I would say we are the three to beat right now. Everyone will get better and better as the year goes on. It is a matter of us needing to progress as well.”
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO AT THIS TRACK BETTER? “I think working traffic was one of the things I need to do better. The traffic is just so hard here because it changes so much with the dirty air and everything. I think also just how I use my lift points and how I get through the corners. I think there is a way you have to drive this place that isn’t really like anywhere else. You have to be really aggressive with it and I think I might figure that out this time.”
DO YOU FEEL LIKE NOW, AFTER YOUR SUCCESS, THAT EVERY TIME YOU COME TO THE RACE TRACK YOU SHOULD BE THE GUY THAT GOES TO VICTORY LANE? “I think we have the opportunity to every weekend but I don’t think you can get cocky and say you are the guy to beat every weekend. You have to do your homework and make sure you are doing things right. It seems like we can go out there and be one of the ones to beat.”
HOW HAS CHASE BRISCOE HELPED YOU? “It always helps having a teammate, especially in racing situations like restarts at superspeedways or having someone to help you with notes and being able to bounce ideas off each other and stuff like that.”
DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE FLYING RIGHT NOW? “This is the best we have every started a year. I feel like we could win a lot more races. We have some good race tracks coming up for us. You never really know but I think we have some good stuff coming.”
WHAT IS THE BIGGEST AREA OF IMPROVEMENT YOU NEED FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR? “I think we will have a better idea of what we are going to unload with. Me and Mike working together for the first year, coming back to the track for a second time is going to help us a lot.”
WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS NEXT WEEKEND AT IOWA? “We got to go and do that Goodyear tire test with us, Reddick and Bell and a couple other rookies and it went well for us. Hopefully we have the same thing coming back. We were pretty sporty. We will see what happens. I would love to win there. Every driver loves that place. It is so worn out and bumpy, it is really a drivers track. If we can go win there that would be huge.”
DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE GETTING BETTER EQUIPMENT OR YOU ARE MORE CONFIDENT? YOU ARE MORE AGGRESSIVE IT SEEMS: “I think it is a combination of things. It is my third year so I am getting better as a driver and understanding different situations through a race. I also think we have gotten our stuff a little better this year. It isn’t anything astronomical but we have made our stuff better with the ideas that Mike has brought and the experience he has brought has been huge.”
HOW DO YOU GUYS IN THE “BIG THREE” INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER? “We all get along well. It is fun racing those guys. I think we make each other better. I think we can race hard on the day and then kind of laugh about it after the race.”
DO YOU THINK ABOUT WHEN YOU WILL GET TO MOVE UP TO CUP? “At this point you just focus on what is happening in the moment. You have to win more races and impress people. I think that all three of us are pretty close to the point where we could maybe go Cup racing but I know that I have ways that I can get better. You just have to focus on what you are doing.”
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO BETTER TO GO CUP RACING? “Working traffic at times and stuff like that. I have a good idea of how I need to unload each weekend and what I want in the car but it is about getting more comfortable and better in traffic for me.”
DID YOU ALWAYS THINK YOU WOULD BE THIS GOOD ONE DAY? “I don’t know. I don’t think anybody really knows just how good they can be. I have really had to work on getting better. Ever since I got into the Xfinity Series I have worked hard to figure out my weaknesses and what I need to work on to get better. That has all started to come together. I hope we can win a lot more races this year. It is the best we have started off and it is a matter of keeping progressing.”
YOU WERE SO QUIET WHEN YOU FIRST CAME INTO THE SERIES AND NOW PEOPLE KNOW WHO YOU ARE. DO YOU FEEL LIKE IT IS DIFFERENT? “I was always the really quiet guy. It is kind of different. I feel like I have come out of my shell the last couple of years. It is something I didn’t really expect. I thought I would always be the quiet guy but I think it just comes with being more comfortable. You can never really point at one thing, but it is definitely all coming together.”
