Cole Custer's Portland Win is Major Milestone for Ford Performance

It's no secret Ford Performance is out gunned in Xfinity, but Cole Custer overcame the odds. 

PORTLAND, OREGON - JUNE 03: Cole Custer, driver of the #00 Haas Automation Ford, celebrates with the checkered flag after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series Pacific Office Automation 147 at Portland International Raceway on June 03, 2023 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images) via Media.NASCAR

For the first time since California in February of 2022, Ford Performance has made it back to victory lane in the Xfinity Series. Cole Custer won a Stage and the overall race victory at Portland this past weekend marking both his and Ford's first win this season. Cole is the only Ford Performance driver to have won in Xfinity in the last 2 seasons both at California and now Portland.

The biggest statistic to Cole's wins out west are quite simple. He is the only full-time Xfinity driver to race a Ford to win in Xfinity since 2021. You have to go way back in time to the Indy Road Course race, the Pennzoil 150 to Austin Cindric's last Xfinity win. That was the last time a full-time Xfinity driver won in a Ford Mustang. 

So this major milestone for Ford marks what could possibly be a turn around. Custer has had some fantastic runs so far this season and it's a surprise that his first win took this long to achieve. His teammate over at SHR, Riley Herbst, had a fantastic start to the season but has since fallen off. 

In 2023, there are 6 full-time Mustangs being fielded by Stewart-Haas Racing, AM Racing & RSS Racing with 4 other teams running the Mustang part-time. 

​By: Tom Luttermoser