Brandon Jones<\/a>.<\/p>\nCuster was \u201cpretty nervous\u201d about his new crew chief pairing so late in the offseason.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what kind of made it a little bit more stressful,\u201d Custer said. \u201cYou never know how (Shiplett\u2019s) going to compare to your chassis and your program and everything. You just don\u2019t really know what to expect. It\u2019s just a thing where I\u2019m in my third year and I didn\u2019t want to get worse than what I was. I knew we could probably have the speed and compete for wins, it was just a matter of how fast it would take to get there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Custer\u2019s takeaway from their first meeting was that Shiplett was \u201cpretty straight-forward\u201d in his approach.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was quiet,\u201d Custer said. \u201cI think he\u2019s all business, honestly. He\u2019s a guy that doesn\u2019t talk a ton, but he tells you what he thinks and what\u2019s productive and I think that\u2019s pretty much his deal.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the No. 00 had a full operation, Shiplett brought with him his lead engineer from CGR, Davin Restivo.<\/p>\n
There were no major overhauls implemented by Shiplett with his arrival to a team that had been competing in Xfinity for just two years.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a lot of fine-tuning,\u201d Shiplett said. \u201cTaking Cole\u2019s strengths and putting them aside and then taking Cole\u2019s weaknesses and then really working on them and saying, \u2018OK, where are you the weakest? Where are you not happy with? Where did you struggle? Let\u2019s focus on all that stuff.\u2019 We didn\u2019t have to worry about building cars. Their cars were already there. Everything was already established. It was more just working with Cole and understanding what he wanted in the car and just making him a better driver.\u201d<\/p>\n
Story continues<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n\n
\nCole Custer is in his third Xfinity season and off to his best start. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption>More<\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/figure>\nCuster owned up to his weaknesses \u2013 short tracks and a lack of long-run speed. Those played some part in his wins only coming in the final three races of each season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the biggest thing was the long-run speed, figuring out how set your car up and then saving tires enough to have speed on the long runs,\u201d Custer said.<\/p>\n
Without the ability to test ahead of the season, the new duo had to rely on the notebook the No. 00 team had already put together.<\/p>\n
Shiplett said the notebook chronicled how \u201cCole felt in practices, the changes they did, everything like that. It\u2019s just a matter of going through all that and understanding what kind feel (Custer wants). Rewatching races, seeing what Cole puts in the car, what he wanted to do with the car.\u201d<\/p>\n
One area Shiplett is \u201cfine-tuning\u201d for SHR as a whole is how their cars and parts are put together between races.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the pieces and parts have to be inspected and (put) through a process where I feel Stewart-Haas Racing is young enough on the Xfinity side that was an area we could greatly improve that process and make it better,\u201d Shiplett said. \u201cWhen a car is raced, all the pieces come off the car, they get cleaned, they get serviced, they get inspected. How we go about that, getting it ready for the next event is a process I\u2019ve learned from experience that we can make better in fine-tuning and making it more efficient to get the pieces and parts ready for the next event.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ahead of the Curve<\/strong><\/p>\nIt\u2019s working.<\/p>\n
Whether a result of Custer being in his third season on the Xfinity circuit or being paired with Shiplett, the No. 00 Ford is well ahead of its established pace of 2017-18.<\/p>\n
After eight races, Custer has two wins and five top fives. Last year, his second top five didn\u2019t come until race No. 11 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.<\/p>\n
Custer\u2019s wins were anything but forgettable.<\/p>\n
Three weeks after a runner-up finish at Atlanta, Custer capitalized on a pit road penalty by Kyle Busch<\/a> and led the final 19 laps before taking the checkered flag at Auto Club Speedway<\/a>. It delayed Busch\u2019s 200th NASCAR win by one day.<\/p>\nThree races later, Custer followed a third-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway with a dominant evening in Richmond. After Christopher Bell claimed the previous two races on the short track, Custer led 122 of 250 laps to earn the victory.<\/p>\n
Custer\u2019s two wins tie him with Bell, who is also well ahead of his record 2018 pace.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike I told Cole, \u2018If you want to be the best driver, you\u2019ve got to beat the best,’\u201d Shiplett said. \u201cIf Kyle Busch is in the race or Kyle Larson or Kevin Harvick<\/a>. Any of those guys like that, you\u2019ve got to beat them.<\/p>\n\u201cSo it doesn\u2019t matter whose in the race. Just getting in that mentality of if there\u2019s five Cup drivers, that\u2019s just five more people we\u2019ve you\u2019ve got to beat. Just cause they\u2019re a Cup driver doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re any more talented or better than you are.\u201d<\/p>\n
When it comes to the cause of their success, Custer puts it at \u201c50\/50\u201d between his own experience and Shiplett\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I was restarting this whole thing and I had my Mike as my crew chief my rookie year I think we would have done pretty good,\u201d Custer said. \u201cI don\u2019t know if we\u2019d have won the races we have so far and everything, but I think we would have added speed and competed. But I think having the two years of experience under my belt I know what it takes to win races and what feel I want when we go to the track.<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess I\u2019m more fine-tuned at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n
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