Race Recap:
● Cole Custer started eighth and finished 20th.
● On lap one, Custer radioed that his No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang had no power steering at lower speed. But the condition began to improve four laps later.
● When the first caution of the race occurred on lap nine for debris, Custer gave up the 10th position to pit for four tires and an air-pressure adjustment. He asked his HaasTooling.com team for help on entry into turns three and five.
● Custer restarted 11th on lap 11 and worked his way inside the top-five before the competition caution flag flew on lap 17.
● The No. 41 team brought Custer to the pits during the caution period for four tires, fuel and repair to the left-rear fender that was damaged earlier in the race.
● Custer restarted ninth on lap 19 and advanced to sixth before reaching the turn-four kink.
● On lap 22, Custer missed the backstretch chicane and stopped there to serve a mandatory stop-and-go penalty. The HaasTooling.com Mustang wouldn’t fire when Custer tried to rejoin the field, eventually bringing out the yellow flag on lap 23.
● Smoke was seen at the rear of the car as Custer climbed out, and his Mustang was pushed to the garage for the team to begin making repairs.
● Quick work by the No. 41 team got Custer back on track on lap 25. He was scored 21st, four laps down.
● The fourth caution of the race occurred on lap 29, allowing Custer to regain one lap and to pit for adjustments to his HaasTooling.com machine.
● The race resumed on lap 31, and Custer held the 20th position over the final five circuits.
Notes:
● This was Custer’s first career Busch Clash. He earned a spot in the race by scoring his first NASCAR Cup Series win at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta last July.
● Kyle Busch won the Busch Clash to record his second win in the preseason exhibition race.
● There were four caution periods for a total of eight laps.
● All but two of the 21 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
● A random draw determined the starting positions for the race.
● The 21-car field was comprised of Busch Pole winners from last season, past Busch Clash winners who competed fulltime in 2020, Daytona 500 winners who competed fulltime in 2020, former Daytona 500 Busch Pole winners who competed fulltime in 2020, as well as any NASCAR Cup Series drivers who made the playoffs in 2020, won a race in 2020 or won a stage in 2020.
● This was the first Busch Clash on the 14-turn, 3.61-mile road course.
Cole Custer, driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“I felt like we were having a pretty good run in our HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang. The adjustments we were making were definitely helping, and we were gaining track position. I’m not sure what happened when I stopped after missing the chicane. The good news is we learned a lot that we can work on for next week (on the road course), and now we can focus on the Daytona 500.”
Next Up:
Daytona 500 qualifying takes place at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Feb. 10, with live coverage on FS1. Only the top-two positions will be locked into the 63rd Daytona 500. The rest of the field will earn their respective starting positions in the Bluegreen Vacations Duel – twin 150-mile heat races that set the rest of the Daytona 500 field. The Duel gets underway at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 11, with live coverage on FS1. Daytona Speedweek then culminates with the Daytona 500 at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 14, with live coverage provided by FOX beginning at 2:30 p.m.
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