Custer Runs Away With Iowa Victory
Iowa – Cole Custer didn’t just break records Friday night, he shattered them.
The Ladera Ranch, Calif., driver became the youngest winner in NASCAR K&N Pro Series history with his wire-to-wire win in the Pork Be Inspired 150 at Iowa Speedway. He became the first driver to lead every lap in the combination race between the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and West.
POS | DRIVER |
---|---|
1 | Cole Custer |
2 | Eddie MacDonald |
3 | Daniel Suarez |
4 | Greg Pursley |
5 | Jesse Little |
At 15 years, 6 months, 10 days, he’s nearly six months younger than previous record holder Dylan Kwasniewski (16 years, 2 months, 6 days). Custer also eclipsed Darrell Wallace Jr.’s East record of 16 years, 5 months, 19 days.
It was a dominating day for Custer, the son of Joe Custer, an executive with Stewart-Haas Racing. Custer was fastest in the second practice in the No. 00 Haas Automation Chevrolet and won his first 21 Means 21 Pole Award presented by Coors Brewing Co.
In the race, he was rarely challenged en route to a 2.679-second win over runner-up Eddie MacDonald. Daniel Suarez finished third and Greg Pursley was the highest finishing NASCAR K&N Pro Series West driver in fourth overall. Jesse Little rounded out the top five.
Cameron Hayley finished sixth, followed by Kenzie Ruston, Ryan Gifford, Brett Moffitt and Ben Rhodes.
It was Custer’s fourth top 10 in his ninth career NASCAR K&N Pro Series East start. His previous best finishes were a third at Richmond in April and a fourth in the June combination race at Iowa.
Dylan Kwasniewski finished 12th overall to maintain his NASCAR K&N Pro Series East points lead of 21 over Moffitt and 32 over Ben Kennedy (14th) after nine of 15 races. NASCAR K&N Pro Series West points leader Derek Thorn finished 16th and is 12 points ahead of Michael Self (11th) and 15 ahead of Hayley after eight of 15 races.
The Pork Be Inspired 150 will air on Aug. 25 at 1 p.m. ET on FOXSports1 – the first NASCAR touring series race to air on the network, which will carry the touring series through next year.
The next event on the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West schedule is the NAPA Auto Parts/Evergreen 150 presented by Toyota at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Wash., on Aug. 17. The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, meanwhile, heads to Virginia International Raceway for the Biscuitville 125 on Saturday, Aug. 24. The event will be contested on VIR’s 2.25-mile North Course.