INDIANAPOLIS — Cole Custer will return to NASCAR Cup Series racing in 2025 as the NASCAR Xfinity Series driver officially announced his plans with Haas Factory Team.
The 26-year-old racer from Ladera Ranch, California, will drive the No. 41 Ford Mustang Dark Horse with sponsorship from Haas Automation and HaasTooling.com. It was also announced that Haas Factory Team will have a technical alliance with RFK Racing and receive additional support from Ford Performance.
Custer is the reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series champion and current Xfinity Series point leader who secured his spot in the NASCAR Playoffs with a victory last Saturday at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway.
“Ever since me going back to the Xfinity Series, to get the opportunity back at the Cup level again was the biggest goal,” Custer said Saturday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “So, to have this opportunity to get to drive for Haas Factory team next year is huge for me.
“I think we can do some really special things with the resources that we have as a team. We’re ready to just get to work and get some great people. I think we’ll be able to compete with the best.”
His move to Haas Factory Team in 2025 brings Custer back to the NASCAR Cup Series, where he was the 2020 Rookie of the Year and a race winner in just his
20th career start – July 12, 2020, at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Kentucky.
“Cole has represented Haas Automation for more than half his life and he’s delivered results every step of the way. He just wins, and he’s proven that repeatedly,” said Gene Haas, founder and president of Haas Automation and the owner of Haas Factory Team. “On his way to winning the Xfinity Series championship last year, Cole really carved out an identity for himself, on the track and off. He brings home trophies, and he races people clean. He’s earned a lot of respect from his peers, and he’s a genuine personality whose hard work resonates with our customers.
“The NASCAR Cup Series is tough, but Cole is coming back wiser and tougher. We’re very happy to have him in our colors and in our race car.”
Custer first won for Haas Automation nearly 13 years ago when he earned the 2011 USAC National Focus Young Guns Championship. In the 22 victories he has earned since across the NASCAR K&N Pro Series, ARCA Menards Series, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Xfinity Series and Cup Series, all have come while representing Haas Automation.
“I’ve grown up with Haas Automation, and having their name on my firesuit is something I take a tremendous amount of pride in. I’m driven to win for Gene and everyone at Haas Automation because they’ve been such a big part of my career,” Custer said. “Haas Factory Team will essentially be a new race team next year, and it’s going to take all of us to build it into an organization that can go out and win races. I want this opportunity and I’m ready for this challenge.”
Before Custer sets his sights on 2025, he will continue his title defense in the Xfinity Series. Fourteen races remain this season, with Saturday afternoon’s 62-lap race around Indianapolis’ 2.5-mile rectangular oval next up for Custer and his Xfinity Series counterparts.
Carl Cline is Haas Automation Director of Motorsports and has seen the young Custer grow up around the earn. Cole’s father, Joe Custer, is the President of the racing team.
“Cole has been around Haas Automation and Haas Racing since he was born,” Cline said. “I remember back in the day we were living in California, Joe and I, him and my brother Troy, we had a race team out there and off-road trucks, sprint cars, things of that nature. Joe would bring Cole to the shop every now and then when he was two or three years old and we had a bunch of tires hanging out over in the corner over there, sprint car tires, very big, and we’d lose him every now and then.
“We would have to try to find him, and we’d find him trapped in one of those tires, hanging out in there. So, he has been around the Haas culture for his whole life. He’s been around Haas Automation his whole life. He understands what Haas Automation’s goals are. And their goal is selling machine tools.”
Haas Automation is the largest machine tool manufacturer in the United States and have launched Haastooling.com.
The company has sold over 3 million drill bits and tools to customers.
“Cole understands what his job is for Haas Automation,” Cline continued. “Gene has weighed it heavily and understands that Cole is a winner.
“He has won at every level. He’s won in the Truck Series, he’s won in the Xfinity Series, and obviously the champion, Mike has pointed out, Cup Series as well.
“Gene is expecting him to be very competitive and believes in him wholeheartedly that he’ll be a winner in the Cup Series. So, for Haas Automation and Gene, he was the right pick. And we’re very happy to have him on.”
The team has a technical alliance with RFK, which is important as this is the only NASCAR Charter that will be retained as Stewart-Haas Racing announced earlier this year that it would cease its NASCAR operation.
“We’ve secured an agreement with RFK as a technical alliance between the two of us,” Joe Custer said. “Taking all the resources that we bring to the table and combining it with their success and the resources they have, we look forward to RFK and Haas Factory team competing for wins and championships shoulder to shoulder.
“Along with Ford as a partner, we’re lacking no resources going into next year. People-wise, human capital, I’m happy to say we’re well on the way there to putting together the team capable of competing for wins, and we’re focused on everything related to human capital, from the pit crew to engineering resources.
“We’re there for next year prepared. So, we won’t have any excuses going into next year. We’ve got the driver, we’ve got the team, we’ve got the relationship, we’ve got the OEM.
“We’re all set.”
Custer is a firm believer that stepping down to the NSACAR Xfinity Series helped prepare him for his NASCAR Cup Series return, that he will be a better driver at the Cup level in 2025.
“Going back down to the Xfinity Series and really learning what I need to do better, was very important,” Custer said. “I think one of the biggest things is just how you work with your team, because at the end of the day, every single driver in the Cup Series can probably go out there and go fast. But it’s a matter of how you consistently get that speed and how you can work with your team to get the feel that you need in the car consistently.
“I think being able to have those skills more polished now, and I think, obviously, just like my dad said, I think having the resources to go out there and compete with the best out there. I’m really excited.
“I think we can do some great things.”