Cole Custer

Cole Matthew Custer was born on January 23, 1998, in the United States and grew up as the son of Joe Custer, who today serves as team president of Haas Factory Team. At just four years old, Custer sat in a Quarter-Midget car for the first time, and his talent quickly became apparent: in 2011, at the age of 13, he secured the USAC National Focus Young Guns Championship. A year later, he switched to the Late-Model class, won ten races, and was named Rookie of the Year.

In 2013, Custer made his debut in the K&N Pro Series East for Ken Schrader Racing and made history that same year: with a victory from pole position at Iowa Speedway, he became the series’ youngest race winner at age 15, and celebrated another success in New Hampshire. Starting in 2014, he took the leap into the Camping World Truck Series with Haas Racing Development, where he set a track record at Gateway Motorsports Park to become the youngest pole-sitter in NASCAR history, and shortly afterward, at age 16 years, seven months, and 28 days, became the youngest winner of a national NASCAR series at New Hampshire. After stints with JR Motorsports, including another truck victory in 2015 at Gateway, he took over the No. 00 cockpit for a full-time effort in 2016 and competed for the Rookie-of-the-Year title.

Custer celebrated his greatest career successes in the following years: in 2020, he became the Sunoco Rookie of the Year in the NASCAR Cup Series with his victory at Kentucky Speedway. Three years later, in 2023, he crowned himself NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion for Stewart-Haas Racing, a title he reinforced in 2024 by winning the Regular Season Championship in the same series.

In the 2026 season, Custer will compete as a full-time driver for Haas Factory Team in the NASCAR Cup Series, that team significantly led by his own father Joe Custer as team president. Following his successes in the lower series and the Xfinity Series, his focus is now consistently on further successes in the top ranks of the Cup Series, where he aims to build on the support of his team and the family connection to past achievements.