Tony Stewart is engulfing himself in his superspeedway and other such profitable pursuits. The legendary racer’s NASCAR team was reduced to a shadow of its former glory this season. With each passing race, Stewart-Haas Racing resembled the rusty engine of a race car that has seen shinier days in its lifespan.

After Kevin Harvick’s elimination, Stewart relied entirely upon the Xfinity Series to restore his team’s reputation. But the results of Frozen Custard 300 could only have strengthened his disappointment.

The car or the driver: Tony Stewart’s team stumped by eternal racing question

Once Riley Herbst’s #98 Ford failed to qualify for the playoffs, Cole Custer was the sole pallbearer of Tony Stewart’s playoff representation. With two strong wins, SHR’s #00 driver qualified for the Xfinity playoffs. After ten Top 5 and seventeen Top 10 performances, Custer was expected to drag his crawling team past the checkered flag. However, despite winning the pole position for the race at Bristol, Custer finished in the 4th place. And this weekend in Texas, he couldn’t take advantage of the opportunities presented to him.

The #00 driver qualified third for the starting grid and maintained his Top 5 position for the better part of the race. He accumulated stage points for his team by placing 3rd in Stage 1 and second in Stage 2. But the timing of race cautions was certainly not in his favor. He took over the lead from pole winner Justin Allgaier a few times but immediately lost it with each race restart. Eventually, winner John Hunter Nemechek dominated the tail end of the race. Custer managed to lead a few laps in the final stage as well and then lost his momentum to finish 6th.

Speaking to Frontstretch in the post-race interview, Custer raved about the team’s effort. He opened up about trying a different strategy in the race but admitted wishing for a better outcome. Despite staying toward the front during most of the race, Tony Stewart’s driver found the car lacking.

“Today, we just didn’t have the best car out there. But we did a great job maximizing. Our pit crew did a good job, our team did a great job just maximizing and getting the points we need to advance in the next round. So I’m pumped about that…So that probably opens up some strategy to try and win. But I’m proud of how we maximized during this first round. We’ve done a great job. We tried something different this weekend, and it didn’t quite work out how we wanted it to. So we can write that off the list.

Watch this story: Kevin Harvick Blasts Tony Stewart in 5 Words for Spoiling his Last Race at Bristol

But the #00 driver was confident they could fine-tune those shortcomings for the upcoming race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s N0. 00 driver thinking ahead to Homestead

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Cole Custer is still the one bright spot in Tony Stewart’s flickering wick. Although he couldn’t retain his lead, the Stewart-Haas Racing driver amassed sufficient points to secure his spot in the next round. This gives his team free rein at Charlotte Motor Speedway to experiment with winning strategies for the next round. Custer believed the similarity of Texas’s 1.5-mile track to the Round of 8 track in Las Vegas was a fruitful learning experience.

He explained, “Here I think relates a little bit to Vegas with the bumps and how slick it is. It definitely helps us there to know that. We probably won’t take this back there. But I feel we’ve had a solid mile-and-a-half package. We were just looking for that little bit more and we just didn’t quite find it today.” However, the playoff contender was grateful for the stage points in anticipation of the leeway it accords for future races.

Custer confirmed, “We can go to the roval and not worry about stage points…and hopefully head to homestead in Vegas with what we know we can work.” Perhaps this young racer’s enthusiasm and drive would alleviate some of the load off Tony Stewart’s sinking ship.

Read More: Despite His Willing Ignorance, Tony Stewart Manages to Score One Record Amidst the Downfall of Stewart-Haas Racing