Cole Custer’s crew chief makes a clear case about the “benefit” he has which could assist the NASCAR champion’s title fight in the HFT campaign

Cole Custer's new crew chief Aaron Kramer has made a clear case about the former's promising Cup Series campaign with the Haas Factory Team. Kramer moved from RFK Racing to HFT and will call the shots for the 2023 Xfinity Series champion's #41 Ford Mustang Cup car.

After SHR announced its shutdown, Gene Haas retained one charter to build his outfit -Haas Factory Team. While Custer will pilot a Cup Series ride for Mr. Haas, Sheldon Creed, and Sam Mayer will run in the Xfinity Series.

HFT and Brad Keselowski's RFK Racing share a deep technical alliance, so deep that Kramer claimed Cole Custer's #41 Ford as a "pseudo-fourth car." Custer's new crew chief has the "benefit" of immense experience working at RFK and boasts the understanding of calling the shots for a Cup Series driver.

That being said, Kramer expressed confidence in his words as he outlined the extent to which RFK and HFT work together.

"We’re in separate buildings with separate people and different tools and different ways of putting cars together. But I have the benefit of knowing how RFK operated for a long time. So, I have that experience. But I have not asked for something and been told no yet. And it’s been explained to us exactly like you said. This is a pseudo-fourth car in terms of the support we’re going to get," Kramer said via SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (0:10).

The fourth car here would mean three RFK and Cole Custer's HFT ride. The former team fielded two cars until this past season but has expanded to a three-car organization, with Ryan Preece as the third driver.

"They're not going to do us any favors": Cole Custer crew chief draws the line concerning RFK Racing's support for Haas Factory Team

Even though RFK Racing is a veteran NASCAR team with eight driver championships, 330 wins, and 232 pole positions, it witnessed a disappointing 2024 season. Keselowski won his first race as RFK's co-owner at the Darlington Raceway but couldn't push past the playoffs' Round of 16.

On the other hand, Chris Buescher failed to advance to the title fight. Although he won the Watkins Glen race, it didn't help with the championship odds as he was never in the title fight. Buescher could've been in the playoffs but his #17 Ford lost to Kyle Larson by 0.001 seconds at Kansas Speedway.

RFK is thirsty for a turnaround in the upcoming season, and according to Kramer, it would do anything but an on-track favor for HFT.

“They’re not going to do us any favors on the racetrack. We’re still out there to race. But as far as getting setups and different race car theory ideas from them, I have not seen a difference in what I’ve gotten so far versus what I got when I sat in that building. So, I’m excited for it," Kramer said (0:40).

2025 will mark Cole Custer's first Cup Series season since his last effort at Kansas Speedway for Rick Ware Racing.