The Ladera Ranch, Calif., young gun said that he didn’t feel any major differences between the Xfinity car he drove last year and the higher-power Cup cars, but added that when you get to the top level, “you notice the step up in competition, for sure.”

“Everything gets a little bit harder; it’s not one big thing that’s a huge difference between the Cup cars and the Xfinity cars,” said Custer. “All the little things just add up and it’s a lot to get used to. Obviously, the Cup cars have more motor, so you’re going a lot faster at the ends of the straightaways … and you go into the corners and have to lift and utilize the brakes a lot more.”

“It’s just all the little things and a little bit of everything that changes, and when you’re going up against guys that have been doing this for 20 years and know those cars like the backs of their hands, it’s a lot to get used to in a short period of time.”

With that in mind, Custer’s expectations for the weekend are realistic, given his lack of experience in the Cup Series compared to many of his competitors.

“Right now, my goal is just to run all the laps and get all the experience I can,” he said. “If we do that, then hopefully we can make it a top-20 (finish) or even more. But I want to finish; that’s the biggest thing I’ve set for myself.”

After finishing fifth in the NASCAR Xfinity Series standings last year, Custer is back with a vengeance and hopeful of capturing the series championship this time around, especially after his lights-out performance at Miami in November — when he won by a whopping 15.405 seconds over the field.

“We showed last year that we could do it,” Custer smiled. “Coming so close to making the final four (in Phoenix) has made our whole team want it that much more. I believe there’s no reason we shouldn’t be fighting for the title at Homestead this year.”

That focus means that Custer isn’t sure when his next opportunity at the highest level will come, but it’s also not something he’s too worried about right now, either.

“We’ve just got this one race for now,” Custer said. “Could that will turn into something more if we can go out and run like we want to run? Maybe. But I’m just focused on the first one at this point and we’ll cross the next bridge when we come to it.”