This weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is shaping up to throw yet another curve ball at drivers who were expecting a relatively calm weekend after the stormy Atlanta race. Whilst the ‘storm’ at Atlanta came in the form of numerous wrecks, it seems like the weather forecast for the Cup and Xfinity Series races at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway could give fans cause for concern once again. But that’s not all. This time around, drivers too are fearing the wrath of the weather gods. For Cole Custer, the weather poses a significant risk as the reigning Xfinity champion enters the race on pole position.

Cole Custer reveals the turbulent challenges facing Xfinity drivers ahead of the Las Vegas Spring race

Qualifying for the Spring Race at Las Vegas was the stuff of dreams for Cole Custer and the #00 Stewart-Haas Racing garage, as the California native brought home his 19th career pole position, and his third at the 1-and-a-half mile Vegas Motor Speedway. But with Chandler Smith right behind him with a difference of only 0.0017, the pressure is on Custer to battle the gusty winds forecasted this weekend. That’s right, the usually sunny and calm Vegas weather has reportedly turned into quite the windy hazard.

Various weather reports are citing winds with gusts of up to 60mph over Saturday, which is when the Xfinity Series race is to be held. Reflecting on the prospect of the winds messing with the aero, Custer stated, “It’s definitely not ideal, you know, the biggest thing is just making sure you don’t over-drive the corner, because turn three, you’re going in there five to ten miles an hour faster than what we normally would so you have to really stay disciplined on just not going that little bit too much because you’ll miss the corner and cost yourself three-tenths.”

Custer felt drivers needed to maintain discipline whilst entering the corner and ensure they rode out the winds as best as possible. Speaking of the troublesome areas on the circuit, Custer added; “Turn 3 is definitely the hard one. Turn 1 makes you feel a little bit better just because there’s a headwind going in there, but turn three is going to be the problem end for sure. Pit Road for green flag stops probably won’t be that much different, I don’t think. It’ll be what it usually is I would say.”

After suffering from two finishes outside the top ten at the superspeedways, Cole Custer needs to capitalise on his pole position to the best of his ability if he wants to improve on his 12th position in the title standings. For the 2023 Xfinity Champion, an early win will be essential to carry forward the momentum built last year. With that said, Custer ensured that the goals for his garage were clear for the race.

Cole Custer and the #00 aim to repeat SHR and Riley Herbst’s Vegas Fall dominance

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The 2023 Championship for Cole Custer was certainly the highlight of SHR’s Xfinity run, but the year also marked a major milestone in teammate Riley Herbst’s career, who finally reached victory lane at his hometown race at Vegas after over 138 Xfinity starts since 2020. Reflecting on Herbst’s achievement, Custer was asked if his side of the garage was looking to repeat Herbst’s dominance last time around in October.

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Custer stated, “Definitely trying to emulate what they did, you know, they were really fast here last time, so, we definitely tried to look everything over and tried to figure out little things that we can apply to try and make us that little bit better, because I think we finished third here in the race last year. So just trying to get two spots better, I think we have improvements that should help us.”

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Custer also shared that there were still a few fine details for the team to sort out, but eventually, Custer believed, “I think we’ll be in the mix” for the win at the Vegas Spring race. While Custer’s season may not have gotten off to the start that the reigning champion was expecting, the return to inter-mediate courses could only help the SHR star get back up to speed before the playoff season.