So I’ve been tracking Cole Custer for a while now, you know? Kinda followed his journey since the Xfinity days. Feels like just yesterday he was a rookie. Anyway, been seeing his name pop up lately and figured, hey, time for a deep dive into how he’s actually doing this NASCAR season. Real talk, not just headlines.
Starting Simple: What’s the Big Picture?
First thing Monday morning, coffee in hand, I hopped online. Didn’t go crazy deep yet. Just wanted a quick snapshot. Pulled up the current points standings for the Cup Series. Scrolled down, down, down… There he is. Position? Honestly, lower than I expected. Middle of the pack vibes. Not terrible, not lighting the world on fire. Okay, baseline set.
Needed to see trends, right? Can’t just look at where he sits today. Grabbed the last five race results. Opened another tab, searched for Cole Custer’s recent finishes. Started listing them out:
- Somewhere around 15th
- Then a 20-something… oof
- Okay, back up to 12th! Better.
- Another one in the 20s? Frustrating.
- Latest race? Finally cracked the top 10 – a P9! That’s more like it.
Instantly thought, man, this is inconsistent. Real rollercoaster stuff. Why the ups and downs?
Digging Deeper: Figuring Out the Why
Next step: find the stories behind the numbers. Who cares if he finished 22nd if the car blew up on lap 10? Went looking for race reports. Needed context.
Searched for specific race recaps mentioning him. One article talked about that awful 25th place finish – flat tire early on, screwed his whole race before it even got going. Bad luck, pure and simple. That 20-something? Got caught up in a mid-pack wreck not his fault. Ah ha! Explains those dips.
That P9 finish? The report said he ran solid all day, stayed out of trouble, pit crew was sharp. Smart racing. Nice to see.
Checked the stage points too. Noticed he’s grabbing a few points here and there in Stage 1 and Stage 2 occasionally, but not consistently. Could be a key area to improve, maybe? More points mean climbing that standings ladder faster.
Putting It All Together
So after piecing it together? Here’s my take:
- Raw speed? Has it sometimes, definitely showed in that top 10.
- Bad luck? Yeah, bitten hard a couple times (stupid flat tire!).
- Consistency? This is the big question mark right now. Can’t seem to string together strong finishes.
- Standings impact? Those DNFs and wrecks keep pulling him back down just when he gains a little momentum.
Feels like the potential is absolutely there. You see flashes of it – that competitive run, grabbing stage points. But the results are… well, all over the place. Needs cleaner races, fewer incidents (even the unavoidable ones!), to really climb. The team needs to find that reliability. This wasn’t just about numbers for me; it was figuring out the story of his season so far. Gotta see if he can build on that recent top 10 next week. Still tracking!
