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Stewart-Haas Racing announced on November 16 that Cole Custer will return to the Xfinity Series in 2023. One week later, the team has revealed the number he will use.
SHR posted a video on Twitter on November 23 and dropped the big news. The clip showed Custer winning multiple Xfinity Series races, doing burnouts, and performing his Stone Cole Steve Austin-inspired celebration. SHR then confirmed that Custer will be back in the No. 00 Ford Mustang.
The two-car Xfinity Series operation will now have the lowest and highest numbers during the 2023 season. Custer will return to the No. 00 while pursuing more wins at a variety of tracks. Meanwhile, Riley Herbst will return to the No. 98 for the third consecutive season as he attempts to secure his first career national series wins.
Custer Achieved Considerable Success in the No. 00
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GettyCole Custer celebrates a win at Dover Motor Speedway.
The California native made his Xfinity Series debut during the 2016 season with five starts for JR Motorsports. He took over the No. 5 at Richmond Raceway, Homestead-Miami Speedway, and Kansas Speedway. Custer also drove the No. 88 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Kentucky Speedway.
Custer moved up to the Xfinity Series on a full-time basis in 2017. Though he drove a Ford Mustang after Stewart-Haas Racing ended its relationship with Chevrolet to join forces with Ford.
The 2017 season marked the debut of Custer in the No. 00 Ford Mustang. He started all 33 races while posting top-10 finishes in 19 of them. He also won his first career race at Homestead-Miami Speedway to close out the season.
Custer remained in the No. 00 for the rest of his full-time tenure in the Xfinity Series. He brought the entry back to Victory Lane at Texas Motor Speedway in 2018 before winning seven races in 2019.
A Signature Celebration Could Return
Getty‘Stone’ Cole Custer celebrates a win at Auto Club Speedway.
Custer made the playoffs each season that he ran full-time in the Xfinity Series. He also finished second overall behind Tyler Reddick two years in a row before moving up to the Cup Series in 2020. Now he will return to the Xfinity Series and the No. 00 Ford Mustang while seeking another playoff appearance.
The 2019 season featured Custer reaching Victory Lane seven times in the No. 00. It also featured him breaking out the Stone Cold Steve Austin celebration where he slammed two beers together and then poured them into his mouth.
There will be multiple opportunities for Custer to bring back this celebration if he so chooses. This seems likely considering that he pulled out the beers after taking SS Green Light Racing to Victory Lane at Auto Club Speedway on February 26, 2022.
There are several tracks on the Xfinity Series schedule where Custer has previously won, which sets up some more celebrations. This list includes Homestead-Miami Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Richmond Raceway, Pocono Raceway, Darlington Raceway, and Dover Motor Speedway.
Custer also captured the checkered flag at Chicagoland Speedway on June 29, 2019. He then won at Kentucky Speedway on July 12, 2019. NASCAR’s series no longer go to either of these two tracks, so there will not be any opportunities for “Stone Cole” to defend his wins and break out the celebration.
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