Cole Custer has officially wrapped up his rookie season in the Cup Series. Recently, he sat down to review his own season and how he has performed so far.

Statistically, Custer finished in a respectable 16th place in his rookie season and is the top rookie. In addition to that, he also boasts of one race victory at the Kentucky Speedway.

He said, “Definitely a lot of ups and downs, with any rookie year, it’s like that. This year was probably to the extreme, not having practice, not having testing, not having qualifying.

“It definitely wasn’t easier to be a rookie, but I think we all made the best out of it. I think we all made a lot of progressions throughout the year.”

Custer insisted that it was a successful year in his book. This was largely because he was able to get that single victory and even managed to make the Playoffs. As a bonus, he even won the Rookie of the Year award.

What else did Cole Custer say?

Obviously, he would have loved to perform better. Despite that, the driver acknowledged that the team made huge gains. Now, he firmly believes that consistency will be key in this kind of scenario.

Custer also learned from established drivers like Stewart-Haas teammates, Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, and Aric Almirola. The three veterans also made sure to impart as much knowledge as possible to the youngster. Harvick’s inputs were probably the most useful since he was in title contention for a fairly long time.

However, Custer knew that he could not rely on the trio as a crutch for too long. At some point, he had to take off the training wheels.

Next season, Bowyer will be absent from the SHR garage, with Chase Briscoe taking over his seat in the No. 14 Ford. With a full season under his belt, Cole Custer will possibly have to switch roles from protege to mentor for Briscoe.

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