Saturday starts Cole Custer's final Xfinity Series playoff run before he returns to Cup competition in 2025. As the reigning champion, he has an opportunity to achieve something done by very few drivers before him.
Seven drivers have gone back-to-back as champions in the second-tier series. Sam Ard was the first in 1983-84. Larry Pearson followed in 1986-87. After them came Randy LaJoie (1996-97), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (1998-99), Martin Truex Jr. (2004-05), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (2011-12), and Tyler Reddick (2018-19).
If Custer can follow in their footsteps, he will join an exclusive list.
"Going back-to-back championships is something that's a definite statement," Custer said during Xfinity Playoff Media Day.
"It's something that's really cool to do and we have such a great opportunity to accomplish that this year, and you just don't get many once-in-a-lifetime opportunities like that, so we want to put everything that we can into it to try and make it happen."
Custer is no stranger to the playoffs or the Championship 4. He finished second in the standings behind Reddick in both 2018 and '19 before moving to the Cup Series in 2020.
Custer returned to Xfinity last season and returned to his winning ways. He celebrated three wins behind the wheel of the No. 00 Ford, and he reached the Championship 4 for the third time in his career. He capitalized on his opportunity by beating a packed roster of drivers at Phoenix Raceway.
Finally, he was able to celebrate the biggest prize in the series.
Photo credit: Nigel Kinrade Photography
Custer will now try to repeat this feat while joining a list full of standout drivers. Of course, this season's championship pursuit has extra meaning.
Stewart-Haas Racing will no longer exist after the season ends. The two Xfinity teams and one of the Cup teams will be reborn as Haas Factory Team, but many of the people who made SHR what it is will no longer work out of the Kannapolis, North Carolina, shop.
Like teammate Chase Briscoe, Custer knows that this season's playoff schedule is the last opportunity to deliver a season-defining trophy to the men and women who wore the blue and gray logo on their clothing.
"I think it would mean a ton to everybody at our organization with everything that's gone on this season," Custer explained.
"Everybody has worked so hard and has had every excuse to not have a great year, so I feel like everybody has stayed together extremely well."