Cole Custer took the Alsco 300 at Kentucky Speedway Friday night, leading 88 of the 200 scheduled laps to take his fifth NASCAR Xfinity Series win of 2019. The win gives him the most wins of anyone this season, breaking the tie with Christopher Bell, who has four so far in 2019.
Bell finished second in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, while Tyler Reddick took home third, Michael Annett finished fourth, and Chase Briscoe finished fifth. Noah Gragson, Justin Allgaier, Ryan Truex, Ryan Sieg, and Justin Haley rounded out the top-10. The race was slowed by five cautions for 24 laps, with 14 lead changes among eight drivers.
“It’s been unbelievable,” said Custer. “This one just goes to my team. That car was just unbelievable, and they knew exactly what to do with it when the track changed, and I was just lucky to drive it there at the end.”
When asked if he could have gotten by Bell late in the going, Custer was clear that it would have been a challenge.
“It is hard to say,” said Custer. “At that point, I thought I would. He was close enough to us in lap time that I thought if he got the lead at that point it would have been really hard to get back by him. Dirty air is always a little bit of a factor here. I don’t know if the PJ1 really made it better or worse tonight. It may have made it a little better. Clean air is always key.”
Mike Shiplett, Crew Chief for the No. 00, was clear that he could sense Custer’s growing maturity and confidence.
“I think every time he gets in the race car he just gets a little bit better just in the way he communicates with us and the way he keeps focusing forward and driving,” said Shiplett. “He is doing a great job. I am proud of him.”
Third-place finisher Reddick scored his first top-five finish since winning at Michigan, which capped a 10-race stretch where he finished no worse than fourth. He won three times during that stretch (Talladega, Charlotte, Michigan), but in the three races prior to Kentucky, his best finish was ninth at Chicago.
“After the last couple of weeks, we needed a solid race like tonight to get back into our groove,” said Reddick. “The balance was tricky to get figured out tonight. Firing off to start the race, I was just way too loose and would fall back on any restarts. We’d build tight the longer we went in a run, but it was just a little too late to contend for the lead at the end of the stages.”
Austin Cindric, who currently sits fourth in points, had an up-and-down day as well. Despite starting on the pole and leading a lap late in the going, a lap 56 spin ended with him gently backing into the wall. He would go on to finish 14th, two laps down.
Another front-runner who faced adversity was JGR driver Brandon Jones. Jones led 12 laps early in the going after starting sixth. However, an engine failure on lap 106 netted him a 30th-place finish and his second-straight DNF. His sixth DNF of 2019 leaves him on the Playoff bubble in 12th.
The series heads into Loudon on July 20, as the ROXOR 200 will air at 4 p.m. EST on NBCSN.
Cole Custer held off Joey Logano in Saturday’s Camping World 300 at Chicagoland Speedway and captured his fourth NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the season.
Custer led 151 of the 200 laps in route to his sixth career victory.
“At these low grip race tracks it is a little bit of everything and that is a testament to our whole team and everyone at the shop that set up the car. When you go to these low grip race tracks and can be good through a whole run it isn’t easy to do. I want to thank everyone at Haas Automation and Stewart-Haas Racing because we are going to be taking it to ‘em in the summertime,” Custer said in victory lane.
Polesitter Logano finished second, Christopher Bell finished third, Michael Annett fourth and Brandon Jones rounded out the top five. However, Bell’s car failed post-race inspection (car was too low) and NASCAR disqualified his third-place finish. Bell will receive one point for last place.
“We just weren’t quite good enough. Cole and that whole Stewart-Haas team just beat us. They were faster in every department. We just weren’t quite good enough overall. After practice, I was able to look at Cole’s times and it was obvious that he was the fastest car,” Logano said.
The series heads next to Daytona International Speedway on Friday, July 5 for the Circle K Firecracker 250.
Xfinity Series Race Number 15 Race Results for the 19th Annual Camping World 300 – Saturday, June 29, 2019 Chicagoland Speedway – Joliet, IL – 1.5 – Mile Paved Total Race Length – 200 Laps – 300. Miles
Christopher Bell captured his third Xfinity Series victory of the season in Saturday’s Allied Steel Buildings 200 at Dover International Speedway. Bell also won the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash’ bonus for scoring the highest finish among a field of four drivers.
“I just can’t say enough about everyone on this team 20 at Joe Gibbs Racing. They never quit. They keep working and over the last couple weeks we’ve had really fast race cars, but we just haven’t been able to capitalize on it. This one is really out to my pit crew. They did a great job of getting me out first there where I could control the restarts,” Bell said.
“Over that long run there, I felt like I could make gains on him running the top. Last time we were here, the top was really good for me, but it seemed like it rubbered up more and the top was a little less of a disadvantage. Once we got the lead – thank you to my pit crew, they did an outstanding job – it’s really special to be here,” Bell continued.
Cole Custer dominated the race, leading 155 laps but after Kaz Grala’s spin on Lap 154, everybody came in for one final stop and the Joe Gibbs squad got Bell out before Stewart-Haas Racing’s group.
Bell said after the race in Victory Lane, “There’s no doubt that he (Cole Custer) was really good.”
Bell had to overcome not one restart but two restarts as Riley Herbst spun out on Lap 175 and then once again on Lap 181 as Grey Gaulding got involved in an incident with Vinnie Miller.
Justin Allgaier finished second for his fifth top-10 this year, Tyler Reddick was third followed by Custer and Chase Briscoe to round out the top five.
Stage 1:
Cole Custer led from wire to wire after starting on the pole in his Stewart-Haas Racing Ford. The Ladera Ranch, California native went coast to coast, leading all 40 laps as there was no caution during the first stage. There was an incident, however, as Noah Gragson got into the wall. There was no yellow as Gragson was able to continue. Gragson ended up finishing 19th after having to pit late in the race.
Stage 2:
Stage 2 began right where it left off in Stage 1 as the winner from Auto Club Speedway continued his approach to tame Miles the Monster. Custer began the race leading only 38 laps in his four previous trips to the Monster Mile. After the second stage? He led double that. Custer once again led from start to finish, lapping everybody up to 15th place before the green and checkered flags waved to end the stage.
This was Bell’s 11th victory in 51 Xfinity starts in his career but he does trail Tyler Reddick by 23 points in the point standings.
The NASCAR Xfinity teams will have two weeks off before heading to Charlotte Motor Speedway on Memorial Day Weekend.
Xfinity Series Race Number 10 Race Results for the 38th Annual Allied Steel Buildings 200 – Saturday, May 4, 2019 Dover International Speedway – Dover, DE – 1. – Mile Concrete Total Race Length – 200 Laps – 200. Miles
Cole Custer set a dominating pace by leading the most laps and earning his second win of the 2019 season in Friday night’s ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Custer briefly lost the lead to Austin Cindric on a restart with 26 laps remaining, but would not be denied. He reclaimed the lead just seven laps later to win his first career short track race in the Xfinity Series, and also claim the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash prize.
“We had a great car,” Custer said. “Mike Shiplett made great adjustments as it went. This one means a lot. We hadn’t had a short-track win yet. We’ve struggled a lot at short tracks, but this helps.
“A lot of my friends give me crap for being bad at this place, but I finally won, so I’ve got a little bit of bragging rights there. I’m just so happy. Two wins—that’s pretty awesome.”
Cindric was playing the weather game as rain threatened the finish of the race, but wasn’t able to have mother nature on his side. With his runner-up finish, he qualifies himself for the next Dash 4 Cash race at Talladega Superspeedway. His primary sponsor, MoneyLion, will also be sponsoring that race.
“Congrats to Cole and those guys,” Cindric said. “I tried my best on that restart to hold him off, but they were obviously the class of the field, him and the 7 (Allgaier). We had some fun and got some points and now we will move on to Talladega for the MoneyLion 300.
“That will be a big one for me. I would love to win that race and the Dash for Cash at Talladega.”
Justin Allgaier finished third in his JR Motorsports No. 7 Chevrolet. He led 86 laps throughout the night and won the first stage. Similar to Cindric, Allgaier was trying to have pit strategy fall in his favor, but by the time he charged to the front, he ran out of both car and time.
“The pit call we made at the end of the (second) stage there, it worked out, obviously, in our favor,” said Allgaier. “But I pushed really hard to get back up to the front, and I just didn’t quite have enough there at the end to really do anything.
“I made a mistake on that restart. It really burns me up that I made the mistake, but all in all, a great day. I hope we got the monkey off our back.”
Allgaier’s former teammate Tyler Reddick came home fourth with Ryan Sieg rounding out the top five. Zane Smith running in the No. 8 JR Motorsports car is running a limited schedule in the Xfinity Series, but continues to impress many with another strong sixth place finish at Richmond. John Hunter Nemechek, Chase Briscoe, pole sitter Riley Herbst and Justin Haley completed the top 10.
Elliott Sadler finished in the 12th position at his home track after making the first of his two planned starts for the 2019 season.
All cars passed post-race tech, so Custer was declared the official winner. Reddick’s car was caught with one lug nut unsecure, so potential fines will be announced next week by the sanctioning body.
RICHMOND, Va. – Cole Custer said on Friday afternoon that his No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing NASCAR Xfinity Series team might be ready to peak in time for the Playoffs.
Clearly, Custer is ahead of schedule, after a convincing victory in Friday night’s ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway.
After losing the lead to Austin Cindric on a restart with 26 laps left, Custer regained the top spot on Lap 231 of 250 and pulled away for his second victory of the season. In a race that dodged a persistent threat of rain, Custer crossed the finish line 2.639 seconds ahead of Cindric.
Not only did Custer win for the fourth time in his career—and for the first time on a short track—but he also claimed the $100,000 Xfinity Dash 4 Cash bonus that goes to the highest finisher of four eligible contenders.
“We had a great car,” Custer said. “(Crew chief Mike Shiplett) made great adjustments as it went… This one means a lot. We hadn’t had a short-track win yet. We’ve struggled a lot at short tracks, but this helps
“A lot of my friends give me crap for being bad at this place, but I finally won, so I’ve got a little bit of bragging rights there, so that’s night. I’m just so happy. Two wins—that’s pretty awesome.”
Custer also served notice that he expects the team to get even better as the season progresses.
“I think we’re in a great place,” Custer said. “We’re going to get better and better. I think we’ve started to figure out our cars later in the race, and I think the second time we go back (to the same tracks), we’re going to be even better—just me and Mike working together at these tracks for the first time.
“We’re just going to be a team that gets better and better as the year goes on.”
Custer led three times for a race-high 122 laps. Third-place finisher Justin Allgaier led 86 and won the first stage but had to charge to the front after contrarian pit strategy left him 16th for a Lap 161 restart.
Allgaier was second by the time caution slowed the race for the sixth time on Lap 212, but he spun his tires on the subsequent restart on Lap 219 and fell back to fifth before recovering to third at the finish.
“The pit call we made at the end of the (second) stage there, it worked out, obviously, in our favor,” said Allgaier, who had crashed out of last week’s Bristol race after leading 138 laps. “But I pushed really hard to get back up to the front, and I just didn’t quite have enough there at the end to really do anything.
“I made a mistake on that restart. It really burns me up that I made the mistake, but all in all, a great day. I hope we got the monkey off our back.”
Cindric was hoping rain would halt the race when he was in the lead, but that didn’t happen. He did, however, qualify for the Dash 4 Cash two weeks hence at Talladega, where his sponsor, MoneyLion, also holds the entitlement for the race.
“Congrats to Cole and those guys,” Cindirc said. “I tried my best on that restart to hold him off, but they were obviously the class of the field. Him and the 7 (Allgaier). We had some fun and got some points and now we will move on to Talladega for the MoneyLion 300.
“That will be a big one for me. I would love to win that race and the Dash for Cash at Talladega.”
Tyler Reddick came home fourth, followed by Ryan Sieg, who has finished no worse than 12th in the first eight races of the season. Zane Smith, John Hunter Nemechek, Chase Briscoe, Riley Herbst and Justin Haley completed the top 10.
Making the first of two planned starts this season, Elliott Sadler ran 12th in an emotional return to his home track.
Note: The No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet of Reddick had one lug nut found to be unsecure. Any potential fine will be announced next week by the sanctioning body.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series raced at the Auto Club Speedway for the Production Alliance Group 300 today, where Cole Custer denied Kyle Busch his 200th win.
Custer, driving No. 00 Stewart-Haas Ford captured his third career win on his home track. Busch driving his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota led the most laps, 98 of 150, finishing in the runner up spot. A Cup driver has won the last 23 races at this track.
“Just a great job overall,” Custer replied. “I’m pumped. I’ve never won this early in the season so it’s going to be a little bit more relaxed than in past years.”
Busch who had hoped to tie Richard Petty’s record of 200 wins will get another chance at the milestone tomorrow.
“We had a lack of grip there at the end, we just didn’t have the speed we needed with the No. 00,” Busch commented. “It is what it is I guess. Our Supra was fast, just not enough there at the end.”
Stage 1 started with Reddick and Busch on the front battling for the early lead. Busch grabbed the lead early on and didn’t look back. There was one incident when John Hunter Nemechek brushed the wall, but it didn’t bring out the caution. Busch won the stage handily leading 25 of the 35 laps.
Stage 2 started with Busch beating everyone out of the pits to start in the top spot. The stage went caution free even though Justin Allgaier scraped the wall. It was all about Busch though as he led every lap and won the stage. Reddick was the only driver with a shot at the lead, but he couldn’t catch Busch.
The final stage started with Busch keeping his lead position, once again beating everyone out of the pits. The first caution of the day was when John Hunter Nemechek received a tap from Ryan Sieg and hit the inside wall hard. Cole Custer took the top spot for a few laps but Busch regained the lead without contention.
The spinning car of Austin Cindric brought out the second caution. Busch had problems in his pit losing the lead to Christopher Bell for the start and getting an uncontrolled tire penalty. The third caution came when Brandon Jones spun and tapped Ryan Preece spinning him as well. Custer passed Bell quickly for the lead and didn’t look back. Busch managed to overcome his bad pit stop for second place and tried every line on the track to gain speed, but Custer had a nice cushion and took the win.
Bell, Reddick, and Chase Briscoe all had great runs today and would round out the top five. Cindric, Brandon Jones, Ryan Preece, Justin Allgaier, and Justin Haley finished sixth through 10th, respectively.
Reddick leads the Xfinity Series standings with 220 points, Custer is second with 213 points, Bell is third with 206 points, Brandon Jones is fourth with 183 points, and rounding out the top five is Cindric with 179 points.
The Xfinity Series will head next to Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday, March 30.
HOMESTEAD, Fla – Cole Custer will have a chance to hold the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship trophy on Saturday afternoon if he does the same thing he did last year at Homestead at this very time. Which is just win. It might sound easy for Custer, but he is not overlooking this year’s race.
Custer’s only win of the season came at Texas Motor Speedway two weeks ago. Overall it has been a solid season for the driver from California, but some will argue that in order to win the championship, you’re going to have to win the race at Homestead.
“We have good notes to rely on and stuff like that, but Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell came here and tested, so they’ve got to be a lot better than they were last year also,” Custer said.
Statistically and for himself, he feels that the mile and a half tracks are a strength for him and his team. After scoring 13 top-fives during the season there is confidence that they’re going to be fast on Saturday afternoon.
“Mile-and-a-halves have just always been our strong suit it seems like, so do we have a ton of confidence, I think everybody is going to be fast, but I think we’ll be right there with everybody. I think it’s a track we can compete at and win,” Custer stated.
Staying focused is something that can also give Custer an advantage. It’s been a long week of preparation for him and his team.
“I think there’s no reason why we can’t. I’ve watched a lot of film and a lot of old races, just trying to get an idea of every situation that I’m going to be put in and what to do in it and I’m pretty confident that I know what my plan is and that’s it’s good, but now it’s just me executing it. We’ve also looked at a lot of old races with our cars and stuff that’s changed, and I think we have a good idea of how to unload for this weekend,” Custer said.
Custer is trying to give his boss Tony Stewart two championships this weekend and looking for Stewart-Haas Racing’s first Xfinity Series title. It is not going to be an easy task especially with the other three competitors hungry for the championship.
Bell is a driver that is getting most of the attention especially after overcoming elimination last week and winning at ISM Raceway in Phoenix. People should not overlook Custer though, he could take home the Xfinity Championship by winning Homestead once again.
Christopher Bell fought his way into the Championship 4 finale, winning the Whelen Trusted to Perform 200 at ISM Raceway in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Cole Custer, Tyler Reddick and Daniel Hemric will join him for the 2018 Xfinity Championship at Homestead Miami Speedway.
“We’re going to Homestead baby!” Bell exclaimed over the radio in celebration with his team.
Bell started the day by failing inspection three times during qualifying. According to the NASCAR rule book, the No. 20 Gamestop Toyota would lose their car chief and be forced to start in the rear. They did not get a qualifying time set, and started 38th for the race. However, they did not give up and took the lead just past halfway through the race, easily becoming the car to beat. It was Bell’s seventh win in his rookie season, a new Xfinity Series record.
“Man, that’s never sounded sweeter before in my life,” Bell said with a feeling of relief on the frontstretch in front of all the fans. “I’ll be honest, after Kansas and Texas, I accepted that we weren’t going to be able to get there [to the Championship 4]. I knew this thing was fast. It feels good to give Gamestop a win.”
The early parts of the race saw Justin Allgaier winning both stages, but a late-race collision with John Hunter Nemechek forced his team to make repairs, blocking the brake ducts. Later in the final run, Allgaier’s right front caught fire and he lost a lap, and eventually, his spot in the Championship 4.
”Disappointment,” Allgaier shared. “At the end of the day we did everything right this year. We had a great season. Today we did everything right at the beginning part of the race. That was probably the most frustrating part. We led a lot of laps. We won both stages. All things considered, it was going to be a great day. Ultimately at the end, getting ourselves in that bad position, getting caught up in that little of a crash and losing brakes. At that point it was survival, gain as many points as we can gain.”
Elliott Sadler, Austin Cindric and Matt Tifft were the others eliminated from the Playoffs for the Xfinity Series.
Field Fights for Every Spot in Stage 1
John Hunter Nemechek and Cole Custer battle for position in the Whelen Trusted to Perform 200 at ISM Raceway. Photo by Rachel Schuoler for Speedway Media.
As the field took the green flag, they were put under yellow for the third race in a row. Akinori Ogata in the No. 66 Toyota lost a deck lid and spun before the field could complete a lap. The team for the Japanese rookie was able to make repairs and continue in the race.
On the restart, Justin Allgaier and Ryan Preece were able to get by the outside rows and put themselves into the second and third positions respectively. Further along in the run, Preece’s car fell off pace with the leaders, but Allgaier was able to get by about 30 laps into the race.
With about five laps to go, Elliott Sadler made slight contact with the No. 40 Toyota of Chad Finchum. There was no visible tire smoke or rub, but Sadler did lose a few spots. While his teammate Allgaier would go on to win the stage, Sadler would be the only Playoff driver to finish outside of the top-10 and not collect any stage points.
Sadler would spend a lot of time on pit road as his team made repairs. He would stay on the lead lap. Austin Cindric beat Allgaier and Nemechek off pit road to claim the lead starting the second stage. Matt Tifft was caught speeding on pit road, and Brandon Jones was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation. Both drivers had to restart at the rear.
Allgaier Makes a Statement, Sweeps Both Stages
On the restart, Cindric chose the outside. As we saw in most cases during yesterday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck series, the inside was the preferred line with the extra room of the dogleg and the least risk going into Turn 1 fighting a 3-wide move. Allgaier was able to get by easily and reclaim the lead. He would lead all the laps and take the win in the second stage in a yellow-free stage.
However, it was not uneventful. With a handful of laps left, Bell was attempting to pass Cindric when the two made slight contact multiple times. The last bit of contact was coming out of Turn 2. Bell was not happy, shaking his fist out the window net at Cindric, and said over the radio to his team, “I so wanted to wreck him!”
During pit stops, Allgaier lost four positions as Nemechek reclaimed the lead.
Championship Hopes Flip in Final Stage
Bell clawed his way to the front and with 100 laps to go, claimed the top spot. Allgaier made a few adjustments on pit road to make his car a little faster, but lost track position and ran in the fourth position at this time.
During the run before their potential last pit stop, Cindric drove hard into Turn 1 but slid up in Turn 2, colliding into Allgaier. It was the second time Cindric collided into a Playoff drive. Allgaier held his hand out the window net, palm up, but was able to stay focused and drive forward to get around Nemechek for the third position. Cindric lost his fifth position to Matt Tifft, fighting his way back to the front after a pit road speeding penalty after Stage 1. By this time, the bottom four drivers were now in a must-win situation, so nerves and aggression were starting to get the best of some of those drivers.
With about 65 laps to go, Tyler Hill in the No. 13 spun right in front of a few championship drivers, but no other cars were collected. The yellow flag was displayed, and everyone came down pit road for what may be the final time. Bell won the battle off pit road and all Playoff contenders were in the top 11 at this point.
Tifft fought his way up into the second position on the restart, but a few laps into the run, there were two separate incidents. Ty Majeski spun in Turn 3 to officially bring out the yellow, but Nemechek got loose on the exit of Turn 4. Tyler Reddick inadvertently helped spin out Nemechek with slight contact, but the heaviest contact actually corrected his car when he dove to the inside and hit Allgaier, causing massive damage to the right front fenders. During the yellow, Allgaier came to pit road and his crew made repairs, and surprisingly, it did not affect the handling.
The field took the restart, and Allgaier was able to climb back up into the top-10. Tifft and Bell were both in must-win scenarios, and with both drivers running up front for the potential win, that forced Allgaier to start considering a must-win situation to ensure a chance for the championship at Homestead. With about 48 laps to go, the No. 8 Chevrolet of Tommy Joe Martins went up in smoke to bring out the yellow. He would retire from the race, as no front runners elected to visit pit road.
The Xfinity Series drivers would see yet another restart where most of the field panned out through the dogleg to fight for as many positions as possible. With some contact and beating and banging, Bell emerged as the leader with a hungry and hard-chargin Tifft.
With about 25 laps remaining, Allgaier had a fire in the right-front corner as he lost brakes, making his championship hopes go up in smoke. There was no damage to the tire, so he was able to continue without visiting pit road, but was much slower having no brakes in the right front. No other incidents occurred in the closing laps, as Bell secured his spot for the Championship 4 at Homestead.
The final championship race will be held at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Coverage for the Ford EcoBoost 300 begins at 3:30pm ET on Saturday, November 17.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Unofficial Race Results for the 20Th Annual Whelen Trusted To Perform 200 – Saturday, November 10, 2018 ISM Raceway – Avondale, AZ – 1 Mile Paved
John Hunter Nemechek claims his first career pole in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at ISM Raceway, setting a time of 26.970 seconds at 133.482 mph.
Nemechek edged Cole Custer by 17-thousandths of a second, as both drivers were the only two to run in the 26-second bracket. Austin Cindric, Justin Allgaier and Ryan Preece completed the top-five.
“It feels good,” Nemechek told NBCSN. “We came here with the mindset to try and qualify on the pole. We unloaded not really good yesterday so we only got to do one mock (qualifying) run and it wasn’t that great.”
Most of the other Playoff drivers will start in the top-10. Elliott Sadler qualified in sixth, Daniel Hemric in eighth and Matt Tifft in 10th. Tyler Reddick had a slip in the second round, preventing him from putting down a fast enough lap to get into the final round. He will start 14th. The biggest news with those in the championship hunt was Christopher Bell failing inspection three times. He will start 38th.
Round one had about half of the Playoff contenders waiting until the last few minutes before turning a lap. Austin Cindric was fastest and most Playoff contenders held top-15 lap times. All but one made it through to the second round. Christopher Bell and Ty Majeski failed inspection three times, so they will start at the rear of the field. Neither was able to turn a lap, along with Josh Bilicki.
“Well the good thing is (Miami) doesn’t decide on where we start, it decides on where we finish,” Bell told NBCSN. “We got 200 laps, which is an eternity, especially from what I grew up doing in sprint car racing. Got a bunch of pit stops in there and a fast car to make it up. We’ll be fine.”
Bell also shared that this was the same car that won both times at Richmond Raceway.
“This is probably the fastest car we’ve brought to the race track all year-long compared to the field,” Bell said.
In round two, one more Playoff contender was eliminated. Tyler Reddick car got loose in Turn 4, which hurt his first and second attempts at improving his qualifying time. He will start 14th in the afternoon’s event. John Hunter Nemechek was fastest over Cole Custer, as the two were the only drivers to run just one lap in qualifying.
For the final round, the remaining Playoff drivers hold top-10 starts, and despite some last second laps by Cindric, Nemecheck was the one holding the top starting position, ahead of Custer, Cindric, Allgaier and Preece. Coverage for the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at ISM Raceway will begin at 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon on NBC.
Starting Line Up
ISM Raceway
20th Annual Whelen Trusted To Perform 200
Twenty-Year-Old Passes Reddick On Final Lap To Win Second Xfinity Series Race Of His Career To Punch Ticket To Championship 4
Regular-Season Champion Allgaier, Six-Win Bell In Danger Of Missing Championship Race At Homestead-Miami Speedway On Nov. 17
FORT WORTH, Texas (Nov. 3, 2018) — Cole Custer pulled off a dramatic, last-lap pass under Tyler Reddick to win Saturday’s 14th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 by .162 of a second in the third-closest NASCAR Xfinity Series race in Texas Motor Speedway history.
Custer became the first Round of 8 Playoff contender to punch his ticket into the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in two weeks. Custer took the lead on Lap 199 of 200 around the 1.5-mile TMS oval, moving under Reddick while barreling into Turn 1, maintaining as much focus as someone would need for online gaming. The two title contenders bounced off each other briefly down the backstretch but each kept their cars straight before entering Turns 3 and 4.
“I knew I had to make it happen in Turns 1 and 2 because it was harder to pass in Turns 3 and 4,” said Custer, driver of the No. 00 Autodesk Ford Mustang fielded by Stewart-Haas Racing. “I drove it maybe five car-lengths deeper than I did all day. We side-drafted down the backstretch and got together but it worked out.
“I can’t believe it. Going to Homestead – it’s awesome. We haven’t won all year but have been so close. This is the perfect time to do it. We had this fairly long winless streak and you begin to question everything you’re doing. Today, I was put in a situation to make something happen and it worked out. But you’ve got to put yourself in that situation in the first place.”
Custer, 20, scored his second Xfinity Series victory in 69 career starts but first of 2018. It also was his first win and fourth top-five finish in four starts at “The Great American Speedway.”
“He drove his butt off that last restart,” crew chief Jeff Meendering said of Custer. “He knew he had to be aggressive … stepped it up and that’s what we can do the rest of the year now. I got a lot of confidence going into Homestead.”
The final shootout was set up following a restart on Lap 198 after the race’s record 13th caution for a seven-car melee in Turn 4. The former series record for cautions of 10 was set on March 29, 2003. Starting on the inside lane, Reddick jumped out to an early lead, followed by Custer and fellow-Playoff contender Austin Cindric. Moments after completing Lap 199, Custer pointed the front end of his Ford under Reddick’s No. 9 BurgerFi Chevrolet Camaro SS through the track’s reconfigured/wider Turn 1-2 section and cleanly took the lead.
“It’s very treacherous,” Reddick, a series rookie, said of the Turn 2 exit. “You got to get all you can off that corner … but at the same time, it can put you in a bad spot and tear up some stuff.” Reddick’s 18th top-10 result of 2018 moved him into the point lead by seven over previous leader/JR Motorsports teammate Elliott Sadler, who finished eighth in the No. 1 OneMain Financial Camaro.
The record 13 caution periods consumed 54 laps, starting with a nine-car mishap on Lap 2 triggered by the spinning car of pole-sitter/Playoff contender Christopher Bell. Ironically, Bell crashed out of the previous Playoff race at the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway two weeks ago. At TMS, he rallied from his opening spin but ultimately was forced to retire after contact with Cindric put Bell into the Turn 4 wall on Lap 134. Bell’s No. 20 GameStop NBA 2K19 Toyota Camry suffered extensive suspension damage en route to a 32nd-place finish.
Bell said he was “caught off-guard” by the Turn 1 spin. “You saw the same thing from the No. 7 (Justin Allgaier) at Kansas,” said Bell, of Joe Gibbs Racing. “I didn’t feel like I was up to speed at all. The next thing I knew, I spun out. I don’t know, it has to be the tire combination. It’s tricky. There wasn’t much room for error.”
Despite his poor finish, Bell was upbeat about his chances at the 1-mile ISM Raceway in Avondale, Ariz., near Phoenix next week. “I won six races this year,” said Bell, the Norman, Okla., native who considers TMS his home track. “I’ve had a great season. We had a solid GameStop Camry today. We got a chance to win two more.”
Reddick led a race-high four times for 54 laps, while Custer also led four times but for only 16 laps. Hemric, who led three times for 42 laps in the No. 21 South Point Hotel & Casino Camaro, is third in the point standings following his 10th-place finish. Hemric, of Richard Childress Racing, is eight points behind Reddick but only one behind Sadler.
Playoff contender Allgaier led twice for 37 laps before finishing fifth in the No. 7 Suave MEN Chevrolet fielded by JR Motorsports. Allgaier occupies the fourth and final cutoff spot for Homestead, 20 points behind Reddick and 12 behind Hemric. Allgaier is only two points ahead of fifth-place Matt Tifft, who finished seventh Saturday in his No. 2 Andersons’s Maple Syrup Chevy, also fielded by RCR.
Custer is sixth in points but doesn’t have to count now that he is set for HMS. Bell, meanwhile, faces a must-win situation at ISM Raceway next week. He is 42 points behind the leader and 18 behind Custer.
Cindric, the final Playoff contender, is eighth in points after his third-place finish in the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford fielded by Team Penske. Cindric also faces a must-win scenario next week as he is 69 points behind Reddick and 27 behind Bell.
“After everything that happened today, this is great,” Cindric said after his second top-10 finish in two races at TMS. “I would have just been happy to finish the thing not in the fence. Every opportunity to be in the middle of something it seemed we were there. It is just perseverance by everyone. The guys over the wall did an amazing job getting the right front fender fixed (after opening-lap contact). We almost had a tire go down because of it.
“I’m really thankful to still be in the Playoffs and still have a shot to win a race. We were a few bumps and bangs away from really benefiting from that one. I was yelling all the way down the backstretch for something to happen (on the final lap). I’m thankful to everyone at Team Penske for really pushing hard this weekend. Obviously, it’s no doubt that these guys are the best in the business. To be able to unload a backup car and have a top three finish is unheard of.
“I’m really pumped. I’m ready to go to Phoenix and go put on a show and have a little fun.”
