Tag: Cole Custer

Custer storms to first Cup career win at Kentucky

In a two-lap sprint to the finish that produced an epic four-car battle for the win, rookie Cole Custer overtook Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick and Ryan Blaney on the final lap to score his first NASCAR Cup Series career win in the 10th annual running of the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway.

The starting lineup was based on a random draw. Kyle Busch drew the pole position and started on the front row alongside Joey Logano. Matt Kenseth and Martin Truex Jr. started at the rear of the field after their respective cars failed pre-race inspection twice.

When the green flag waved and the 17th race of the 2020 Cup season started, Kyle Busch and Logano battled dead even through Turn 1 before Busch received a push from Aric Almirola in Turn 2 to retain the lead and lead the first lap. The following lap, Almirola and Keselowski each gained a spot while Logano fell back to fourth ahead of Alex Bowman. Behind, Kevin Harvick, who started third, had dropped to seventh.

After spending the previous three laps trying to pass Kyle Busch for the lead, Almirola passed Busch on the inside lane in Turn 3 to assume command on the 10th lap. Five laps later, Almirola was leading by above half a second over Kyle Busch. Behind, Logano was in third approximately a second followed by Bowman, Keselowski, Matt DiBenedetto and Chase Elliott. Harvick was in eighth followed by Erik Jones and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

When the field reached the competition caution on Lap 25, Almirola had maintained his advantage by more than a second over Kyle Busch and more than two seconds over Logano. Harvick was in eighth while Austin Dillon, who started 19th, was in 13th ahead of William Byron. Jimmie Johnson was in 16th after starting 20th, rookie Tyler Reddick was in 18th ahead of Cole Custer, Denny Hamlin was in 21st after starting 12th and Bubba Wallace was in 26th ahead of rookie Christopher Bell. Martin Truex Jr. and Matt Kenseth, both of whom started at the rear of the field, were in 20th and 28th.

Under the competition caution, the entire field pitted and Almirola retained the lead followed by Logano, Kyle Busch, Elliott, Bowman and Harvick. Following the pit stops, Ty Dillon was assessed a commitment line violation and was sent to the rear of the field for the restart.

The green-flag racing resumed on Lap 30, and Logano, who received a push from Kyle Busch on the inside lane, challenged Almirola for the lead through the Turn 2 backstretch before Almirola cleared the field to retain the lead. Behind, Elliott moved into second and Harvick moved into fourth while Blaney and DiBenedetto battled for fifth. Kyle Busch had fallen back to 10th, Keselowski was back to 12th ahead of Truex and Johnson, and Hamlin drifted back to 24th ahead of Wallace.

By Lap 35, the majority of the field towards the front settled into racing in a single file line with Almirola still ahead by nearly a second over Elliott. Behind the leader Almirola, Blaney challenged and made a pass for fourth over Harvick while Truex made his first appearance in the top 10 after passing teammate Kyle Busch. Far behind the leaders, Hamlin continued to drop towards the rear of the field as he was scored in 26th after being overtaken by Wallace, Ty Dillon, Bell and Michael McDowell. His teammate, Erik Jones, was in 19th after running in the top 10 early in the race.

Through the first 50 laps, Almirola stabilized his lead by more than seconds over Elliott and nearly four seconds over Logano. DiBenedetto moved up to fourth ahead of Harvick while Blaney fell back to sixth ahead of Bowman after his No. 12 Advance Auto Parts/Team Penske Ford Mustang popped out of gear. Truex was in 10th ahead of teammate Kyle Busch, Johnson and Austin Dillon while Keselowski was in 14th ahead of Byron. Custer was the highest-running rookie in 16th while Reddick and Bell were in 19th and 23rd. Kenseth and Ryan Newman were in 21st and 24th, Wallace was in 26th and Hamlin was in 28th.

Nearly ten laps later, Almirola caught a bevy of competitors trying to remain ahead of Almirola and on the lead lap, starting with rookie John Hunter Nemechek. A handful of laps later, Almirola lapped Nemechek, Corey LaJoie and Wallace with McDowell, Newman and Hamlin ahead of him. Despite encountering the lapped traffic, Almirola maintained a steady lead over Elliott while DiBenedetto moved into third over Logano and Blaney, who continued to battle with shifter issues to his car.

For the final laps, Almirola was able to cruise to the first stage win for his second stage victory of the season on Lap 80. By then, he lapped 25th-place Newman, but was unable to lap 24th-place Hamlin, who remained on the lead lap. In addition, Stenhouse sustained a flat tire as the stage concluded and he lost a lap in the process. Elliott was in second, four seconds behind, followed by Logano, DiBenedetto and Blaney while Harvick, Bowman, Kurt Busch, Bowyer and Truex were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Almirola exited first followed by Logano, DiBenedetto, Elliott and Blaney. Following the pit stops, Ty Dillon was penalized again, this time for speeding on pit road. In addition, Keselowski made another pit stop to have his lug nuts tightened.

The second stage commenced on Lap 87, and both Almirola and Logano, again, battled dead even for the lead through Turns 1 and 2 before Almirola benefitted on the outside lane in Turn 3 to retain the lead. Logano settled in second, but was being pursued by DiBenedetto while teammates Elliott and Bowman were settled in the top five. Blaney was in sixth ahead of Truex and Bowyer. On Lap 92, Blaney moved into the top five after passing Bowman. Behind, Johnson moved into the top 10 in ninth after passing Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch. Harvick had fallen back in 14th behind teammate Custer while Hamlin was able to work his way up to 15th ahead of Reddick.

When the raced reached its 100-lap mark, Almirola was still ahead by over a second over teammate Logano and two seconds over DiBenedetto. Blaney was in fourth ahead of Bowman while Truex overtook Elliott for sixth. Johnson was in ninth behind Bowyer, Kyle Busch was in 13th behind Reddick and teammate Hamlin was in 15th. Meanwhile, Harvick continued to lose positions as he was back in 19th ahead of Keselowski. Soon after, Harvick dropped out of the top 20, just behind Byron and Kenseth.

Twenty laps later, Almirola and his No. 10 Smithfield Vote for Bacon/Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang stabilized a lead of more than two seconds over Logano and nearly four seconds over Blaney, who had overtaken DiBenedetto for position. Truex was in sixth in between Hendrick Motorsports’ teammates Bowman and Elliott while Johnson was in 10th behind Bowyer and Austin Dillon. Joe Gibbs Racing’s teammates Kyle Busch, Hamlin and Jones were in 13th, 15th and 17th, rookies Reddick and Custer were in 12th and 14th, and Byron and Harvick were back in 19th and 22nd. By then, 25 of the 38-car field were on the lead lap.

With the race reaching its halfway mark of the 267-lap feature, Blaney, who had overtaken teammate Logano for the runner-up spot earlier and had trimmed a chunk of Almirola’s lead, caught and challenged Almirola for the lead. On Lap 138, Blaney, who encountered shifter issues early in the race, benefited from the lapped car of Nemechek to overtake Almirola for the lead in Turn 3. A lap later, Blaney extended his lead to above a second over Almirola. Another five laps later, Logano moved into the runner-up spot while teammate Blaney was ahead by more than three seconds. At the same time, green-flag pit stops started to occur as Reddick pitted.

With most of the leaders pitting under green, a handful of cars were on track led by Keselowski in the closing laps of the second stage. Just after Keselowski was making his green-flag stop, the caution flew on Lap 154 when Kenseth blew a left-rear tire and spun below the apron and back across the middle of Turns 3 and 4. Under caution, Kenseth pitted along with Harvick, Elliott and Byron. When the field cycled through, Keselowski emerged with the lead after beating Blaney to the start/finish line at the moment of caution from Kenseth’s spin.

In a one-lap shootout to the conclusion of the second stage, Keselowski was able to edge teammate Blaney by 0.058 seconds to win the second stage and secure his fourth stage victory of the 2020 season. Custer settled in third followed by Logano and Truex while Bowman, Austin Dillon, Johnson, DiBenedetto and Jones settled in the top 10. During this time, Preece took his No. 37 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to the garage due to a transmission issue.

Under the stage break, the majority of the leaders remained on track while some like Custer, Austin Dillon, Jones, Reddick, Harvick and Byron pitted. Also pitting was Kyle Busch, who was reporting shock issues to his No. 18 M&M’s Fudge Brownie/Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry.

The final stage started with 100 laps remaining, and teammates Keselowski and Blaney battled against one another through Turn 1 before Keselowski cleared the field through the Turn 2 backstretch and retain the lead the following lap. Behind, Truex moved into second followed by Johnson as Blaney fell back to fourth. Meanwhile, Logano had fallen back to ninth. Three laps later, Kyle Busch, who was running in sixth, got super loose entering Turn 4, but was able to straighten his car and prevent it from spinning, though he fell back to 15th.

Eight laps later, Truex started challenging Keselowski for the lead, trailing by approximately a tenth of a second, while Blaney overtook Johnson and moved back into fourth. With 86 laps remaining, Truex was able to overtake Keselowski for the lead. By then, his teammate, Kyle Busch, was in 24th, the last car on the lead lap while dealing with shock issues to his car. In addition, Almirola, who dominated throughout the race, was stuck in 10th.

With 70 laps remaining, Truex was ahead by half a second over Keselowski while Blaney, who was still racing with one hand on the steering wheel while the other was holding the broken shifter, was behind by above a second. Johnson trailed by nearly three seconds while Kurt Busch was in fifth, trailing by more than four seconds. DiBenedetto, Elliott, Logano, Bowyer and Almirola were in the top 10. Ten laps later, Truex extended his advantage by more than two seconds over Keselowski followed by Blaney, Johnson and Kurt Busch.

A lap later, the race’s second round of green-flag pit stops commenced as Johnson pitted. With 44 laps remaining, while most of the leaders have pitted, Keselowski returned to the lead along with a handful of cars. Behind the leaders, rookie Brennan Poole’s was smoking due to a left-rear tire hub, a lot through the turns, but he continued under green. A lap later, Keselowski pitted while Custer inherited the lead, but was among eight competitors who had yet to pit.

Then, with 38 laps remaining and just as Byron moved into the lead when Custer made his green-flag pit stop, the caution returned due to debris. At the same time, Austin Dillon, who was also about to pit but opted to remain on track under caution, spun and made minimal contact with the Turn 4 outside wall while returning to the track. Under caution, some drivers like Byron, Harvick, McDowell, Bell, Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon pitted. Johnson also pitted after making slight contact with the wall. When the field cycled through, Truex was back in the lead followed by Blaney, Kurt Busch, Keselowski and Byron. Harvick, McDowell, Bell, Austin Dillon and Johnson were in the top 10 with 23 cars on the lead lap.

With the clouds hovering above the track and covering the bright sun, the race restarted with 30 laps remaining as Truex and Blaney battled against one another through Turns 1 and 2. In Turn 3, Truex cleared Blaney to retain the lead. Behind, Johnson, who made a three-wide move on the restart, was up to sixth as he would also return into the top five. At the front, Truex was ahead by two-tenths of a second over Blaney while Johnson was trailing by above a second. Behind, Harvick and Keselowski battled for fourth.

While Blaney continued to pressure Truex for the lead, the caution returned with 24 laps remaining when Nemechek made contact with the outside wall entering Turn 2. Under caution, the majority of the leaders remained on track while some like Kyle Busch, Jones, Bowman, Almirola and Nemechek pitted. Nemechek would, ultimately, retire following his late incident.

On the ensuing restart with 19 laps remaining, Johnson was pushing Blaney on the inside lane and attempted to move in front of Keselowski, who was peaking to Johnson’s left-hand quarter panel, when the two made contact on the frontstretch and Johnson spun his No. 48 Ally/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE below the infield grass, where he was able to straighten his car despite losing all of his track positions. At the time of caution, Blaney emerged with the lead ahead of Truex.

When the race restarted with 13 laps remaining, Harvick made his move on the inside lane in Turn 1 and went three wide with Truex and Blaney to emerge with the lead. Behind, Keselowski went three wide with Truex and Blaney before Truex moved into the runner-up spot. With the field behind scrambling for positions, Harvick was ahead by less than four-tenths of a second over Truex with Blaney in third, Keselowski in fourth and Austin Dillon in fifth. With 10 laps remaining, Harvick was ahead by around two-tenths of a second over Truex, who continued to pressure Harvick for the lead. Two laps later, the caution returned when Kenseth spun in Turn 4.

The race restarted with two laps remaining as Harvick and Truex battled against one another through Turns 1 and 2. Behind, Blaney settled in third while Custer, racing on the outside lane, received a push from DiBenedetto to move into fourth ahead of Keselowski and Kurt Busch. In Turn 2, Truex got Harvick loose and nearly turned on the straightaway as they swapped lanes entering Turn 3. Truex gained a big run on the outside lane to squeak ahead, but Harvick stalled Truex towards his quarter panel as Blaney went three wide for the lead. On the fronstretch, Custer made it a four-wide battle on the outside lane before he came out on top in Turn 1 at the start of the final lap. Past the start/finish line, Blaney ran over a bump on the apron and came back into the side of Harvick, who bumped Truex as Harvick developed a massive left-rear tire rub to his No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza/Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang. At the front, Custer was able to hold off Truex for one final lap and cross the finish line above two-tenths of a second to claim his first Cup triumph in his 20th series start.

With his thrilling victory, Custer became the 194th driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series race, the 33rd competitor to win across NASCAR’s three major national division series, the seventh alumnus from the NASCAR Next initiative to win a Cup race, the sixth Cup competitor to win at Kentucky and the first full-time Cup rookie to win a race since Chris Buescher won a rain-shortened race at Pocono in August 2016. In addition to becoming the seventh driver to win a Cup race for Stewart-Haas Racing, he recorded the 60th Cup victory for SHR and the first series win for veteran crew chief Mike Shiplett.

With the victory, Custer, who came into Kentucky in 25th place in the regular-season standings and trailing the top-16 cutline by 87 points, became the ninth different competitor to be guaranteed a spot in this year’s Cup Playoffs. As another bonus, the Californian became the 16th competitor to secure a spot for this year’s All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on July 15.

“Man, we were so good all day,” Custer said on FS1. “Our car was so good. Obviously, it wasn’t the easiest track to pass on. That was the best car I’ve ever driven in my life. Everybody at SHR brought an unbelievable car. [Team owner] Gene [Haas], I can’t stress enough how thankful I am of him taking a shot at me. It, definitely, was not the start of the year that we wanted. We were way off at some places, but this was, by far, an unbelievable car. We put it all together and I can’t thank everybody enough.”

In the first 15 Cup races of his rookie season, Custer’s best finish was a ninth-place result at Phoenix in March and his average result was 21.7 with two DNFs. Last weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he recorded his first top-five result in the Cup level, which hinted a sign of improvement for Custer, Shiplett and the No. 41 Haas Automation Ford Mustang team in adapting towards NASCAR’s weekly approach of experiencing the driving and handling conditions of a track on race day without practicing nor qualifying.

“It’s not easy,” Custer added. “You got to adapt as much as you can and I think we’ve gotten better and better at that. It’s just unbelievable. I didn’t think that we were, coming here, coming to win. Now, we’re gonna be in the All-Star Race. I don’t have to run the Open. Hopefully, I can make it to Bristol.”

Truex emerged as the highest-running Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota competitor in the runner-up spot followed by DiBenedetto, who claimed his second top-five result of the season. Harvick, who rallied from his early share of struggles and was in position to claim his first Kentucky triumph, ended his race in fourth and Kurt Busch, last year’s Kentucky winner, finished fifth.

“It was fun,” Truex said on FS1. “[I] Can’t say enough about the guys on the Auto-Owners Camry, everybody back at [Joe Gibbs Racing] went to work this week and tried to get back to what we used to do here. Just hats off to the guys, [crew chief] James [Small], everybody that made this unbelievable racecar. At the end there, we were a bit unlucky, losing the lead to Blaney on that first restart by a couple thousandths and then, again to [Harvick] when the caution came out. We were side by side. That’s, kind of, the way these things go, sometimes. Really proud of the effort, super fast racecar and [I] feel like we’re back in the game now.”

“Our Ford Mustang was not very good today, but we got a good break with the caution [with 38 laps remaining],” Harvick said on PRN Radio. “[I] Had a couple of good restarts there and got the car better. Still just not where we needed to be, but the restarts worked out in our favor. We were able to get the lead and Martin just misjudged there on the backstretch and got me sideways. I got out of the gas and that just brought everybody into the picture. Then, we were four wide on the front straightaway and [Blaney] hit the drain and came up and hit the side of the car. Then, I couldn’t see. Yeah, it got wild, but hey, that’s what you’re supposed to do. Just really happy for Cole Custer and everybody on the Haas Automation Ford Mustang. That’s pretty cool to get your first win. As much as I would’ve loved to win, I’m glad that we kept it in the company.”

“It was crazy,” DiBenedetto said on PRN Radio. “We had a really good car. We could’ve contended for the win. It was really fast. But, yeah, [I] lost track position when things shuffled around. We had to do the wave around and me and my spotter, I got to give him a lot of credit, Doug Campbell. I told him, ‘I think we should win some sort of restart award.’ We were 18th because the track position had cycled out with seven [laps] to go or whatever. [I] Had two monstrous restarts and then pushed Cole there to the win, which, kind of, felt cool, but good for him. Congrats, but this was a big race for us having the Menards, Quaker State Ford Mustang in the Quaker State 400. So, I wished we could’ve won it, but circumstances didn’t work out. We’ll take the strong finish and a really fast car.”

Blaney, Bell, Almirola, Keselowski and Reddick rounded out the top 10 while Johnson finished 18th in his 10th and final start at Kentucky.

There were 13 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 42 laps.

With his top-five result, Harvick continues to lead the Cup Series regular-season standings by 88 points over Keselowski, 95 over Blaney and 100 over Elliott.

Results.

1. Cole Custer, five laps led

2. Martin Truex Jr., 57 laps led

3. Matt DiBenedetto, one lap led

4. Kevin Harvick, 11 laps led

5. Kurt Busch

6. Ryan Blaney, 18 laps led

7. Christopher Bell

8. Aric Almirola, 128 laps led, Stage 1 winner

9. Brad Keselowski, 34 laps led, Stage 2 winner

10. Tyler Reddick

11. William Byron, four laps led

12. Denny Hamlin

13. Austin Dillon

14. Clint Bowyer

15. Joey Logano

16. Ty Dillon

17. Ryan Newman

18. Jimmie Johnson

19. Alex Bowman

20. Chris Buescher

21. Kyle Busch, nine laps led

22. Erik Jones

23. Chase Elliott

24. Michael McDowell

25. Matt Kenseth

26. Daniel Suarez

27. Bubba Wallace, two laps down

28. Corey LaJoie, three laps down

29. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., three laps down

30. J.J. Yeley, seven laps down

31. Brennan Poole, eight laps down

32. Josh Bilicki, 10 laps down

33. Garrett Smithley, 10 laps down

34. Joey Gase, 10 laps down

35. Quin Houff, 12 laps down

36. John Hunter Nemechek – OUT, Accident

37. Timmy Hill – OUT, Electrical

38. Ryan Preece – OUT, Transmission

Next on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the 36th annual running of the All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The NASCAR All-Star Open will occur first at 7 p.m. ET on FS1 followed by the All-Star Race at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1, both on July 15.

July 12, 2020
Kenseth, Almirola, Custer notch solid top-five results at Indianapolis

When the checkered flag flew following an eventful Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 at the Brickyard, Kevin Harvick emerged victorious for his third title at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Behind Harvick featured a unique trio of top-five finishers as Matt Kenseth chased Harvick across the line while teammates Aric Almirola and rookie Cole Custer took the checkered flag in third and fifth.

Coming into Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Kenseth’s best result in his previous 11 NASCAR Cup Series races for Chip Ganassi Racing was 10th at Darlington Raceway in May while he also recorded seven results outside the top 15. He was also coming off finishes of 11th and 12th last weekend in the Pocono doubleheader. Starting 21st on a random draw, the 2003 Cup champion worked his way up to 14th through the competition caution on Lap 13. Following a red flag period due to a huge wreck on pit road, Kenseth proceeded to run inside the top 15 for the majority of the first stage. Following a late caution and a four-tire stop for adjustments, Kenseth restarted in 16th with only a handful of laps remaining in the first stage, but was able to work his way back to 12th. At the start of the second stage, Kenseth worked his way into the top 10, where he remained throughout the second stage as he settled in sixth following the stage’s conclusion. The final stage was where Kenseth quietly flexed his muscles as he worked his way as high as third behind Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick in the closing laps. Following a late incident that eliminated Hamlin, Kenseth moved into second and was alongside Harvick with an opportunity to win in overtime. During the overtime attempt, however, Kenseth could not gain an early advantage over Harvick as he navigated his way around the famed racetrack for two final laps and finished in the runner-up position to Harvick. While he came short of grabbing a much-needed first win of the season, the second-place result marked Kenseth’s first top-five result since winning at Phoenix in November 2017 and the best result for Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 42 Chevrolet team since finishing fourth at Phoenix in March 2020. The runner-up finish was also Kenseth’s fourth in his 20th start at Indianapolis. The result moved Kenseth from 30th to 28th in the regular-season standings as he trails the top-16 cutline to the Playoffs by 138 points.

“It was a great day for the 42 team today,” Kenseth said. “It’s always nice to be up front and be in contention late in the race. [Crew chief] Chad [Johnston] did a great job on the box with his calls today. We had a really good strategy and the best tires coming to the end of the race, lining up fourth behind the leader late in the race, but just couldn’t get it done to take the lead. I tried everything to get to the front, but just didn’t have quite enough to get around [Harvick]. If we had gotten to the lead though, I know we would have been hard to beat. All in all, though, a great race for us. It felt good to run up front and was a confidence booster for all of us. Looking forward to getting to Kentucky and carrying that momentum forward.”

If there is a Cup competitor who has been on a roll in recent weeks, it is Almirola and the No. 10 Smithfield/Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang team. Coming off four consecutive top-five finishes in the previous four weeks and starting fifth on a random draw, Almirola was running inside the top five in the early stages of the race when he made an unscheduled pit stop on Lap 30 after reporting a vibration to his car. He was able to work his way back on the lead lap as the green-flag run progressed and finished 16th in the first stage. During the second stage, Almirola made another pit stop after reporting vibration concerns to his car, but he was able to finish 11th in the second stage. Throughout the final stage, Almirola worked his way back towards the front and was able to return into the top five with approximately 20 laps remaining. With 15 laps remaining, he passed teammate and rookie Cole Custer to move into fourth while he watched his other teammate, Harvick, trying to find a way to overtake Denny Hamlin for the lead. Following a late incident involving Hamlin, Almirola restarted in third behind Kenseth in overtime and was able to navigate his way to finish third when the checkered flag flew. Almirola’s third-place result marked the first time in his Cup career where he has notched five consecutive top-five results in a season as he also achieved his first top-five career finish at Indianapolis. With his result, he is ninth in the regular-season standings and is 105 points above the top-16 cutline.

“We had such a great Smithfield Ford Mustang, but we kept having to get off-sequence on our pit strategy because we kept having tires come apart,” Almirola said. “They’d start to come apart and they would vibrate and shake so bad that I could hardly see where I was going, so we kept having to pit for that and it kept messing us up on our strategy and getting us off-sequence, but fortunately there at the end the caution came out when we needed it to and things finally went our way and we knocked out another top five, so just really proud of all the guys on this team. We’re doing such a good job of being consistent. We’re bringing great race cars and we’re being really consistent running up front, so just really proud of this team and just want to keep it going. It’s fun to run up front like that.”

Finally, Custer rallied from an 11-race stretch of finishing no higher than 12th to achieve his first top-five run in NASCAR’s premier series. Starting 30th on a random draw, Custer dodged a bizarre accident on pit road under the competition caution that stacked up multiple cars running at the rear of the field. He was able to work his way into the top 20 before settling in 14th following the first stage’s conclusion. In the second stage, Custer made his first appearance in the top 10 before he finished in 13th. Following a pit stop for adjustments, Custer was lined up in 16th for the start of the final stage. He then worked his way back into the top 10 and was in the top five with 31 laps remaining. Following a late caution for a single-car wreck, Custer pitted and was lined up in sixth for the following late restart. From there, he was able to work his way into the top five and was one of three Stewart-Haas Racing drivers running in the top five along with Harvick and Almirola. When the caution returned for another single-car wreck that sent the race into overtime, Custer was lined up in fourth and behind teammate Harvick. In overtime, Custer gave teammate Harvick the push needed to allow Harvick to maintain the lead and notch a victory at Indianapolis for the team. Behind, Custer lost two spots to Almirola and Brad Keselowski, but he was able to take the checkered flag in fifth. The fifth-place result marked Custer’s first top-five career finish in the Cup Series and his best result since finishing ninth at Phoenix in March 2020. In addition, Custer was the highest-finishing rookie of the race with Tyler Reddick finishing eighth, Bell in 12th, John Hunter Nemechek in 15th, Quin Houff in 23rd and Poole in 35th. With his result, Custer moved from 26th to 25th in the regular-season standings and is 87 points behind the top-16 cutline.

“It is awesome to have all of SHR running well here at Indy,” Custer said. “It is Tony’s [Stewart] backyard, so it is a huge race for us. For us, our team, this package has been exactly the opposite of what I am used to driving. For it to all come together today means a lot. Thanks to all the guys at SHR for bringing great race cars. HaasTooling.com went national this week, so check them out. I am psyched. I am really happy we finally had it all come together. I think it is just that I am getting better with the cars and knowing what to expect when we go to the track and getting better at what to bring in the cars to the track. It is a work in progress and having no practice doesn’t help that. I think it is all starting to come to us.”

The NASCAR Cup Series will return to race at Kentucky Speedway on July 12, which will air at 2:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

July 6, 2020
Cup rookies prepare for first tackle at Talladega

It has been a month since NASCAR returned to on-track racing amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and a number of firsts have occurred since the sport’s return. From midweek races to series’ doubleheaders at the same track and even quadruple-header weekends among the sport’s three major national division series, NASCAR has provided its share of resolving the unexpected and creating memories through the first half of the 2020 season. With Talladega Superspeedway next on the schedule, the unexpected is a term that every driver and team can annually anticipate from the drop of the green flag to the checkered. It is also a venue that can provide the element of surprise for anyone, especially for this year’s Cup rookie class.

When the first green flag of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season flew at Daytona International Speedway in February, six rookies embarked on a yearlong journey filled with firsts and a new approach towards each track like none other from their previous seasons. This weekend will mark their first time racing at Talladega, one of the world’s fastest racing venues, in NASCAR’s premier series, which has not raced on a superspeedway event since the Daytona 500 in February.

For years, Talladega is a track that does not yield a simple race-winning path for anyone after 500 miles. It is a track that requires patience, aggression and boldness for any competitor to emerge victorious ahead of a steaming pack of other competitors fighting towards the same goal. It is also a track that can make any dreams come true. Since its inception in 1969, 11 competitors have scored their first Cup win at Talladega, not since Ricky Stenhouse Jr. made the last accomplishment in 2017, which provides a golden opportunity for any rookie competitor to shine and rise to the occasion against NASCAR’s elite.

Twelve races into the 2020 season, the reigning two-time NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Tyler Reddick leads the Cup rookie standings. The Corning, California, native is coming off a career run last weekend at Homestead, where he finished fourth and picked up his first top-five career finish in the Cup Series. To go along with two additional top-10 results and fast racecars prepared by his team and crew chief Randall Burnett, Reddick is slowly peaking towards his first Cup win. When it comes to Talladega, there are two advantages for Reddick. The first is that Reddick is a former winner at the superspeedway event, having won last year’s Xfinity race at the track despite encountering early on-track issues. The second is that his team, Richard Childress Racing, has a rich history at Talladega with 12 wins, six poles and over 70 top-10 results, achieving results with names like Dale Earnhardt, Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer. With the results, Reddick looks to add his name to RCR legacy’s at the superspeedway venue in Alabama and extend his recent stretch of solid performances.

Pursuing Reddick in the rookie standings is John Hunter Nemechek. The second-generation driver from Mooresville, North Carolina, has achieved three top-15 results since May, including his first top-10 career finish at Darlington Raceway (ninth), and has displayed a model of consistency in his first full-time season in NASCAR’s premier series. Nemechek has raced at Talladega seven times between the Xfinity and Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, his best result being sixth in the 2017 Truck Series season and last year’s Xfinity Series season. An advantage Nemechek has towards Talladega is that his team, Front Row Motorsports, is competitive at superspeedway events (Daytona and Talladega). Since FRM’s started racing in the Cup Series in 2005, the team has notched 20 top-10 results, more than half coming at Talladega. In addition, Talladega serves as the track where the team notched its first Cup career win in 2013, when David Ragan and David Gilliland recorded a thrilling one-two finish for the team. With his consistent start, Nemechek looks to take the next step to finish at the front of the field and etch his name as the next upset winner at the world’s fastest racing venues.

Next is Christopher Bell. The Norman, Oklahoma, native has achieved a multitude of accomplishments in racing, from sprint cars to stock cars. This includes winning the 2013 USAC National Midget title, three Chili Bowl sprint car titles, a NASCAR win at Eldora, the 2017 Truck Series championship and a combined 23 wins across the Truck and Xfinity Series in 14 different tracks, including his first road course win at Road America last season. There are a handful of accomplishments that Bell has yet to achieve, among which includes winning a Cup race and winning a superspeedway event. Thus far, Bell has achieved three top-10 results in his rookie Cup season and has raced at Talladega five times between the Xfinity and Truck Series, his best result being second in the 2017 Truck Series season and third in last year’s Xfinity Series season. His team, Leavine Family Racing, is competitive at superspeedway events despite scoring two top-10 career finishes at Talladega and his crew chief, Jason Ratcliff, has won at the track once in the 2011 Xfinity season with Kyle Busch. With his recent stride in producing decent results, Bell also looks to take the next step in his rookie Cup season by finishing towards the front and placing himself in position to emerge as an upset winner at a track that is very familiar with upset tales.

While the last seven results since May have not fallen in the favors of Cole Custer, the Ladera Ranch, California, native remains in pursuit of his first breakthrough moment in the Cup Series while driving for one of the sport’s competitive teams, Stewart-Haas Racing. Entering this weekend, Custer has achieved one top-10 career finish in the Cup Series and has raced at Talladega four times between the Xfinity and Truck Series, with a best result of ninth in the 2018 Xfinity season. In 2018, Stewart-Haas Racing achieved its first Cup win at Talladega on a day where all four SHR cars led the field the majority of the race before Aric Almirola scored a breakthrough win of his career. This serves as an advantage for Custer to race towards the front competitively with a championship-winning team and possibly achieve his moment in NASCAR’s premier series.

When it comes to Talladega Superspeedway, Brennan Poole has a notable moment at the track that is deemed heartbreaking. In 2016, Poole, driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, dodged a last-lap incident between Joey Logano and Elliott Sadler in the tri-oval to nip Justin Allgaier at the finish line and score what appeared to have been his first Xfinity Series career win. Upon reviewing the footage, however, NASCAR determined that Sadler, who had managed to straighten his car and continued to race despite wrecking, was ahead of the field at the moment of caution, which resulted in Sadler winning while Poole was demoted to third. To date, this remains the closest Poole has come in winning at Talladega. The Woodlands, Texas, native has raced at the track three additional times between the Truck and Xfinity Series, but all finishes have been outside the top 20. In his first 12 Cup career starts this season, Poole has recorded a career-best result of 16th from this year’s Daytona 500, but has finished as high as 24th in the last seven races. This weekend serves as an opportunity for Poole to hone his driving skills against the current Cup stars and claim the win that was taken away from him four years ago.

Lastly, Quin Houff also looks to achieve a breakthrough moment of his racing career on the track. Through the first 12 races of this season, Houff has finished in the top 30 twice (Darlington & Bristol) while sustaining three DNFs and finishing outside the top 30 in five of the last six Cup races. Houff’s team, StarCom Racing, has raced in NASCAR since 2017 and has finished in the top 15 twice, both coming at Daytona and Talladega. Like Poole, Houff sets his focus on this weekend to etch his name against the sport’s elite.

This year’s rookie Cup class are among six of multiple stars that includes Matt DiBenedetto, William Byron, James Davison, Ty Dillon, Brendan Gaughan, Gray Gaulding, Joey Gase, Timmy Hill, Corey LaJoie, Michael McDowell, B.J. McLeod, Ryan Preece, Daniel Suarez, Bubba Wallace and J.J. Yeley who will pursue their first win in the Cup Series this weekend at Talladega.

All Cup Series competitors, including this year’s rookie class, will receive their first of two opportunities this season to conquer Talladega on June 21 with the race to air at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.

June 17, 2020
Preview – 2019 Xfinity Series Championship at Homestead

Four drivers are set to compete for the 2019 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship title this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It is a diverse group of drivers from four different teams representing Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota manufacturers.

Drivers listed alphabetically.

Justin Allgaier:

Allgaier drove his No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet to victory lane at ISM Raceway last Saturday to secure his spot in the Championship 4 with his first victory this season. This will be the third time in four years that Allgaier has competed for the title, finishing third in two previous attempts in 2016 and 2017. So far this season he has 16 top-fives and 24 top -10 finishes, leading 607 laps with an average finish of 8.9.

He is optimistic about his chances and feels as though the team has hit its stride at the perfect moment.

“We’re going to go to Homestead and have some fun. A lot of the storylines this year have been surrounding the other three contenders and they’ve been really strong and they’ve won a lot of races, but I feel like this BRANDT Professional Agriculture team is peaking at the right time and you can’t count us out,” Allgaier said. “We’re going into this weekend with a new mentality and a new energy and we’re going to have a shot at winning a championship. I can’t wait to see what we can go there and do this weekend.”

Christopher Bell:

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has been impressive this season with a career-high eight wins in his No. 20 Toyota. His most recent win at Texas Motor Speedway locked him into the Championship 4. This is the second consecutive year that he has qualified for the Playoffs, finishing fourth in 2018. Bell has 19 top-fives and 20 top-10s this year along with six poles and has led 1,968 laps.

Bell obviously wants to win at Homestead but regardless of the outcome, he is happy with what he has already accomplished this season.

“I feel good so far. Yes, I want to win the championship so bad, but ultimately it comes down to the last run. If you have a bad pit stop, we saw Erik Jones win the race off pit road two years ago and had it in his hands and one guy stayed out and picked his lane on the restart and it was over. It’s just such a toss-up that you never know how things are going to play out. I would love to win it, but if not, the goal is to get there and we’ve accomplished that,” Bell said. “We’ve won races this year and that’s something I’m proud of. We’ve got an opportunity to win a championship and that’s all you can ask for.”

Cole Custer:

Custer has driven his No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford to seven victories this year. He earned a spot in the Championship 4 on points with a runner-up finish last weekend at ISM Raceway. He has 16 top-fives and 23 top-10s in 2019 with six poles and 907 laps led. It is his second consecutive time qualifying for the championship round, finishing second in 2018. Custer’s first career win was at Homestead in 2017. In three starts at the 1.5-mile track, he has an average finish of 6.7.

Custer says that it will take a “near-perfect” effort to win at Homestead and is confident that his team is capable of doing just that.

“In 2018, we had a great car and we were able to lead 95 laps during the race, but we struggled a little bit on the long runs. Tyler Reddick was able to get the top going and had great long-run speed and he was able to make it work for him. I tried late in the race to get the top going, but I couldn’t get it going as fast as him and watched him just drive away. Feeling that heartbreak has us set on kill for this weekend so we don’t have to experience that again and instead, we can hopefully be the ones celebrating on the frontstretch, but it’s going to take a near-perfect race from everyone, which I know we are capable of doing,” Custer said.

Tyler Reddick:

Reddick heads to Homestead-Miami Speedway Saturday hoping to win back-to-back Xfinity Series titles. He claimed a spot in the Championship 4 after his third-place finish at Phoenix, earning enough points to advance. He has five wins this season in his No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet along with 23 top-fives, 26 top-10s, four poles and 484 laps led.

Reddick is hoping to see a race that is similar to last year’s event.

“I would like it to end kind of the way it did last year with a long run and being able to run up by the fence and just do what I enjoy most, just trying to go as fast as I can on the long run,” he said. “Obviously, it’s just going to come down to who runs the best race all day, who is there at the end. So it’s whoever can do the best and that’ll be our champion.”

The Xfinity Series Ford EcoBoost 300 is set for Saturday afternoon at 3:30 ET on NBCSN with radio coverage on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.

November 14, 2019
Allgaier fights for first win of 2019 in Round of 8 cutoff race

AVONDALE, Ariz. — When the Playoffs were on the line, Justin Allgaier rose to the occasion by winning the Desert Diamond West Valley Casino 200 as the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship 4 has officially been declared.

“We had a hot rod today,” Allgaier declared.

After winning five races in 2018, Allgaier looks for redemption at Homestead-Miami Speedway this year by winning his first race of the season. It also came at the right time since the JR Motorsports driver was among the cutoff line throughout the race.

“I don’t think we could have beaten the 20 (Bell),” said Allgaier. “But when he made his mistake, we capitalized on it. That’s what it’s all about. No question (not winning) is a weight on your shoulders, man. You can’t even begin to describe it.”

Christopher Bell won last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway to secure his spot for the championship race. Bell led every green-flag lap in both opening stages, but a speeding penalty on pit road forced him to drop to the rear of the field on the restart of the final stage. Another caution, later on, forced him to pit again. The No. 20 car went one lap down and wasn’t able to recover.

“I feel like I gave up a winner,” said Bell. “It all comes down to this one next week. I’m ready for it. I feel really good about where we’re at, and our car is going to be extremely strong next week.

“We’ve prepared a ton for this. Ever since we left Homestead last year, we knew that this race was where we needed to improve. Pretty much all year long, we’ve been focused on Homestead.”

Since Brandon Jones won at Martinsville, no other driver was completely locked in yet. In a combination of stage points and other competitors falling out of the race, Cole Custer had a large enough gap in the points standings to mathematically lock himself into Homestead.

“I never got the memo,” Custer laughed when asked if he was told about the championship status update after Stage 2. “I was giving it all I had. I was really struggling with the brake pedal. I kind of lost it at the start of the run. I had to save the whole run until like 15 laps to go, and then I just let it happen. I just came up a little bit short, but I think that was the best run we’ve had at Phoenix in a long time.”

“I’m looking forward to Homestead, and hopefully we can do one spot better.”

The regular-season champion, Tyler Reddick, will now go for a second consecutive championship in the Xfinity series. Last year, he won with JR Motorsports. This year, he’ll look to bring a title to Richard Childress Racing.

Chase Briscoe, Michael Annett, Austin Cindric, and Noah Gragson were the four drivers eliminated after Phoenix.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series will crown their champion next Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

November 9, 2019
Opinion: NASCAR should fine crew members who interfere in driver scuffles

It’s one thing to witness a scuffle following a race, and there’s no doubt it can often times be some of the best excitement following a race weekend. Remember Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski at Texas in 2014? Kyle Busch and Joey Logano at Las Vegas in 2017? Or even Logano and Tony Stewart at Fontana in 2013?

Those are just a few scuffles where excitement was drawn due to the drivers who race on a weekly basis getting heated and throwing hands. What always manages to screw things up, though, is when the crew gets involved. That’s not to say it’s not fun to watch them exchange fists, but it can get out of hand sometimes. Case in point: The Tyler Reddick/Cole Custer scuffle following Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series race.

It wasn’t even much of a scuffle at first. First words and a couple of stiff shoves were exchanged. No harm yet. But once the crews came bounding in to pull the drivers apart the emotions were high enough that Reddick ended up taking a few shots to the face and ended up with a bloody patch above the eye.

It’s not the first time it’s happened, but it isn’t necessary. Whatever happened on the track is between the drivers. They’re the ones who usually bring about the carnage and the heated emotions. Sure, it’s up to the crew to have their driver’s back, but they also need to make it a point to save their drivers from themselves. Otherwise on-track issues should always remain between those who are actually on-track: The drivers.

In the NHL a player is ejected and suspended if they leave the bench to join a fight. This could be a useful approach in NASCAR and an effective way to remind the crews to keep their emotions in check. For every crew member who lands an errant punch on a driver, that’s a one-race suspension effective immediately.

That would be an effective way to keep the crews in check and send a reminder to the teams that their crew better be on their best behaviors. The fights aren’t about the teams, they’re about the drivers and should be settled as such. If the drivers are going to be settling issues with their fists instead of their bumpers (as should be the case), then the only things crews should be worried about is separating the drivers.

That said, the Reddick/Custer scuffle was otherwise handled the way it should have been. The drivers didn’t use their cars as instruments of anger, they used their words and fists. That’s the way a disagreement between drivers should always be handled. The crews need to stay out of it and should only be looking out for their drivers, which doesn’t constitute swinging on the other driver.

October 21, 2019
Battle for XFINITY Series Championship a throwback to NASCAR’s title fights of the 90s

Instituting the Playoff system in the NASCAR XFINITY Series was meant to be a way to level the playing field for NASCAR’s Triple-A division, a goal furthered when Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series regulars were further limited in the XFINITY Series attempts. However, while that has paved the way to the XFINITY regulars standing up and being noticed, it’s clear that the 2019 title campaign has instead brought three contenders to the forefront: Tyler Reddick, Cole Custer, and Christopher Bell.

While other drivers have managed to find their way to Victory Lane, such as series regulars Austin Cindric and Chase Briscoe, it’s the Big Three of Reddick, Custer, and Bell who have been switching the lead in terms of most wins on the season; Bell currently leads with seven wins to Custer’s six and Reddick’s five. While this posits them as the primary contenders for the championship, this also draws parallels to the championship battles of the late 90s, when Mark Martin, Dale Jarrett, and Jeff Gordon were constantly duking it out for NASCAR supremacy.

In 1997, Gordon took home the title with 10 wins in a 32-race season, with Jarrett finishing runner-up in the standings with seven wins, while Martin came home in third with four wins. Gordon again took the title in ’98 with 13 wins, while Martin came home in second with seven wins, while Jarrett finished third in points with three wins. The trio made up for 23 wins in the season’s 33 events. This was diced up a bit in ’99, as the Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiacs of Bobby Labonte and Tony Stewart finished second and fourth, respectively, winning eight of the season’s 34 events while season champion Jarrett won four times to Martin’s two (Martin finished third in points). Series win leaders Jeff Burton (6) and Jeff Gordon (7) finished fifth and sixth, respectively.

Granted, that was in the Winston Cup Series. But looking at the NASCAR Busch Series (today’s XFINITY Series) results in the same time period, Randy LaJoie took the ’97 championship with five wins, while Todd Bodine finished second with a single win and Steve Park took third with three wins. But business picked up in ’98 when Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the championship with seven wins to Matt Kenseth’s three and Mike McLaughlin’s two. In ’99 Earnhardt repeated as the champion with six wins to Jeff Green’s three and Kenseth’s four.

To be champion, a driver needs to be consistent. But winning often also plays a big hand in winning a title, and while Reddick, Custer, and Bell have already surpassed their Busch Series counterparts of the 90s, they’re also making the title fight their own due to their constant winning. Bell is undoubtedly the odds-on favorite; with 15 wins in 68 starts since May 2017 he’s been a championship threat ever since he began his first full-time XFINITY Series campaign in February 2018. He won the 2017 Camping World (now Gander Outdoor) Truck Series championship, and in 2016 made it to the championship round at Homestead as a rookie. Bell’s known nothing but title fights, and he could seal the deal in 2019 as he has proven himself versatile on all types of tracks.

However, Custer and Reddick haven’t been far behind Bell, with both having breakout years despite Reddick having won last year’s championship. Both have also proven themselves to be adept at every type of track this season, with both of them looking to and possibly matching Bell’s Playoff performances in the upcoming races. They’re almost evenly matched, and it is difficult to say how each will fare in the upcoming events. Bell’s already crossed off a road course victory on his list, and he may very well prove himself to be adept at the upcoming Roval as he finished fifth there a year ago. But Reddick and Custer also recorded top-10 runs in that same race.

Point being, despite this being a Big Three battle in the XFINITY Series, this is anyone’s fight. Reddick, Custer, and Bell are winning with the same frequency and dominance as Gordon, Jarrett, Martin, Burton, Kenseth, and Earnhardt, but the Playoff campaign is actually magnifying their efforts and truly turning this battle into a Winner-Takes-All event, not unlike the 1992 Winston Cup campaign.

Then again, something to consider regarding the championship round at Homestead there’s always the fourth playoff driver to act as a foil to the Big Three. It was evident in last season’s Cup and XFINITY finale; could it happen again in November with shades of Alan Kulwicki in 1992? No matter what, this XFINITY battle is shaping up to be one for the ages.

September 25, 2019

Reddick Hits the Royal Flush of Fuel Mileage to Win at Vegas

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA — Tyler Reddick takes the fuel mileage gamble at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to edge out the dominant Christopher Bell and wins the Rhino Pro Truck Outfitters 300 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

“That was nerve-wracking to say the least,” Reddick told NBCSN. “Those last three laps, I was losing fuel pressure.”

The bold call took place during the final caution when C.J. McLaughlin crashed into the Turn 4 wall. Most of the leaders stayed out, but Reddick came to pit road to begin what would be the race-winning fuel mileage strategy. The Richard Childress Racing team recognized they didn’t have the speed to catch or pass Bell, so they played the long game and had the dice roll in their favor over the next 105 miles.

“We came in for fuel and tires and had to save a lot,” Reddick said after a sigh of relief crossing the line under power. ”It allowed us to run some really, really fast laps there before we had on tires at the end to keep us out front. Our car was fast on the long run and that’s what we needed to get a buffer at the end.

“We’ve had a really, really fast car here in the past. Today we didn’t have it but we got them on strategy again.”

Reddick clinched the regular season championship part way through Stage 2 as other cars retired from the race. However with the postseason reset, Bell will take over the points lead by 11 points, leaving Reddick and pole sitter Cole Custer tied for second.

“We ain’t done yet. We got to go to Homestead and get another trophy,” said Reddick who seemed unphased about losing the points lead after dominating the regular season.

Bell led a race high 154 laps, but fell short by just 0.738 seconds. The gap was over 20 seconds after the final pit stops, but Reddick was able to outsmart and out-luck Bell with his strategy.

“It’s the second time this year that we got beat by circumstances,” Bell told NBCSN. “At Iowa we put on our tires when we needed to and some guys banked on a yellow coming out later and they got it and they beat us. Today those guys did the opposite of us and they won the race. Very, very disappointing.”

Brandon Jones, Custer and Justin Allgaier completed the top five. Las Vegas native Noah Gragson finished sixth. Gray Gaulding also gambled with his fuel and had it pay off to finish in seventh, becoming the first non-Playoff driver in the finishing order. John Hunter Nemecheck, Riley Herbst and Elliott Sadler finished in the top 10 respectively. It was Sadler’s final NASCAR race. Ryan Sieg finished in the 14th position, but was disqualified after post-race inspection found his No. 39 Lombar Bros. Gaming Chevrolet Camaro too low in both the right front and left front. He still has enough points to carry him into the postseason.

Bell Shows Strength Early in Stage One

As the series’ final regular season race, the points gap was larger than the other two national touring series. For those outside of the top 12, they were all too far back to point their way in, so only a win could sneak their way into the Playoffs.

Custer started on pole, but was beat on the first lap by Bell. Custer quickly fell back to third as Justin Allgaier made his way around for the second position. Las Vegas native Gragson spun earlier in qualifying and was forced to start at the rear of the field. He quickly climbed through the field and cracked the top 15 halfway through the stage. Sadler, who was making his final NASCAR start, began the day from the eighth position and ran in the top 10 most of the stage before fading back to the 15th position.

Bell went on the lead all the laps and win the first stage. Sadler was the first car one lap down. Landon Cassell, after a fantastic qualifying run for the ninth starting position, fell out of the race early after overheating issues.

The field came down pit road for service, but Austin Cindric’s crew was penalized for an uncontrolled tire. He came off pit road fourth and was forced to the rear of the field.

Dominance by Bell Was Outplayed by Reddick’s Gamble

Bell took the restart and had a strong challenge by Allgaier before reclaiming the lead. A few cars were declared out of the race due to part failures and mechanical issues, which clinched Reddick as the regular season series champion. He looks to make a run at back-to-back championships in the Xfinity series.

By the end of the stage, Bell led all but two laps up to this point and wins his 15th stage of the regular season.

Drivers began to get more aggressive as they took the green flag for the final stage. Bell continued to dominate, but Allgaier and Custer stayed closer to him. On Lap 110, Tommy Joe Martins spun to bring out the caution. That brought all the leaders to pit road. Cindric had fought his way up to fourth, but with too many crew members over the pit wall and NASCAR penalized him to put him at the tail end of the field.

The field restarted on Lap 115, and Allgaier stayed aggressive. He was able to complete the pass by the exit of Turn 2 and claim the lead, putting Bell into a fight for the second position. Bell stayed patient and was able to reclaim the lead by Lap 123. The caution flew just one lap later as McLaughlin crashed into the outside wall of Turn 4. Most lead lap cars elected to stay on the track, as they could not make it to the end on fuel without coming to pit road again, but Reddick came down pit road for fresh tires and fuel.

When the green flag came out again for what would be the final restart of the race, Bell took over the lead but Briscoe began his late race charge. Halfway through the run, he was able to get by Custer and Allgaier and find himself in the second position. As everyone came down pit road for green flag pit stops, Briscoe speeds on the entrance of pit road, and gets a pass-through penalty.

As the final pit stop cycle completes itself, Reddick elects to stay out to extend his fuel run to the end of the race. He was able to stretch his fuel for 70 laps (105 miles) to the end for his fifth win of the season.

The Playoff field was also set as the regular season concludes. Bell will inherit the points lead, 51 points above the cutoff line. Custer and Reddick will tie for second with a 40 point margin. The rest of the drivers above the cutoff line include Cindric, Briscoe, Allgaier, Michael Annett and Gragson. Jones is the first car in the elimination spot, just one point out of the next round. Justin Haley, Sieg and Nemecheck sit out by two, four and five points respectively.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series compete next at Richmond Raceway on Friday, September 20.

Source: Racing Reference

Fin	St	#	Driver	Sponsor / Owner	Car	Laps	Status	Led	Pts	PPts
1	4	2	Tyler Reddick	Tame the Beast (Richard Childress)	Chevrolet	200	running	30	54	5
2	2	20	Christopher Bell	Rheem / Smurfit Kappa (Joe Gibbs)	Toyota	200	running	154	55	2
3	6	19	Brandon Jones	Juniper Networks (Joe Gibbs)	Toyota	200	running	0	44	0
4	1	00	Cole Custer	Haas Automation (Stewart Haas Racing)	Ford	200	running	0	47	0
5	3	7	Justin Allgaier	Brandt (JR Motorsports)	Chevrolet	200	running	15	50	0
6	36	9	Noah Gragson	Switch (JR Motorsports)	Chevrolet	200	running	0	31	0
7	16	08	Gray Gaulding	JT Marine (Bobby Dotter)	Chevrolet	199	running	0	30	0
8	13	23	John Hunter Nemechek	Berry’s Manufacturing (Maury Gallagher)	Chevrolet	199	running	0	35	0
9	15	18	Riley Herbst	Monster Energy (Joe Gibbs)	Toyota	199	running	0	0	0
10	8	10	Elliott Sadler	Nutrien Ag Solutions (Matthew Kaulig)	Chevrolet	199	running	0	27	0
11	7	98	Chase Briscoe	Ford Performance (Fred Biagi)	Ford	199	running	1	36	0
12	5	22	Austin Cindric	Money Lion (Roger Penske)	Ford	199	running	0	36	0
13	11	1	Michael Annett	Pilot / Flying J (JR Motorsports)	Chevrolet	199	running	0	27	0
14	22	8	Ryan Truex	Bar Harbor (JR Motorsports)	Chevrolet	199	running	0	26	0
15	10	11	Justin Haley	Leaf Filter Gutter Protection (Matthew Kaulig)	Chevrolet	199	running	0	23	0
16	17	86	Brandon Brown	Vero True Social (Jerry Brown)	Chevrolet	198	running	0	21	0
17	37	90	Alex Labbe	Martin & Cain Warehousing (Mario Gosselin)	Chevrolet	198	running	0	20	0
18	29	36	Josh Williams	Star Brite / Star Tron / Simcraft (Mario Gosselin)	Chevrolet	198	running	0	19	0
19	20	07	Ray Black, Jr.	Isokern Fireplaces & Chimneys / Scuba Life (Bobby Dotter)	Chevrolet	197	running	0	18	0
20	12	51	Jeremy Clements	RepairableVehicles.com (Jeremy Clements)	Chevrolet	197	running	0	17	0
21	23	01	Stephen Leicht	JD Motorsports (Johnny Davis)	Chevrolet	197	running	0	16	0
22	21	4	B.J. McLeod	JD Motorsports (Johnny Davis)	Chevrolet	196	running	0	15	0
23	26	0	Garrett Smithley	JD Motorsports (Johnny Davis)	Chevrolet	196	running	0	14	0
24	24	5	Matt Mills	J.F. Electric (B.J. McLeod)	Chevrolet	195	running	0	13	0
25	18	61	Tommy Joe Martins	Diamond Gusset Jeans (Carl Long)	Toyota	194	running	0	12	0
26	30	52	David Starr	Circle Track / Franklin’s Signs (Jimmy Means)	Chevrolet	194	running	0	11	0
27	38	99	Jairo Avila, Jr.	ART General Contractor (B.J. McLeod)	Toyota	193	running	0	10	0
28	28	15	Tyler Matthews	LineTec Services (Johnny Davis)	Chevrolet	191	running	0	9	0
29	32	35	Joey Gase	Nevada Donor Network (Carl Long)	Toyota	187	vibration	0	8	0
30	34	78	Vinnie Miller	Pit Viper Sunglasses (B.J. McLeod)	Chevrolet	186	running	0	7	0
31	31	93	C.J. McLaughlin	Sci Aps (Rod Sieg)	Chevrolet	121	crash	0	6	0
32	25	74	Kyle Weatherman	(Mike Harmon)	Chevrolet	66	suspension	0	5	0
33	27	17	Joe Nemechek	RWR (Rick Ware)	Chevrolet	56	steering	0	0	0
34	33	66	Chad Finchum	LasVegas.net (Carl Long)	Toyota	52	suspension	0	3	0
35	35	13	Stan Mullis	LasVegas.net (Carl Long)	Toyota	22	carburetor	0	2	0
36	9	89	Landon Cassill	Visone RV (Morgan Shepherd)	Chevrolet	20	overheating	0	1	0
37	14	38	J.J. Yeley	RSS Racing (Rod Sieg)	Chevrolet	2	fuel pump	0	1	0
38	19	39	Ryan Sieg	Lombar Bros. Gaming (Rod Sieg)	Chevrolet	199	disqualified	0	1	0

September 15, 2019

Custer declared winner at Darlington after Hamlin fails post-race inspection

DARLINGTON, S.C. – Denny Hamlin’s apparent victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 was short-lived when his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota failed post-race inspection. NASCAR determined that the height requirements were not met stating that the left front was too low while it was too high in the right rear.

This was the fourth time this season that a car has been disqualified following a race in the Xfinity Series but only the first time that it has involved the winner.

Cole Custer’s Stewart-Haas Racing No. 00 Ford was declared as the winner, moving him from second to first place to claim his sixth victory this season and his first at Darlington Raceway. He is now tied with Christopher for the most wins in the series and is third in the playoff standings.

‘It’s a really strange feeling,” obviously, Custer said in his post-race interview. “You don’t want to win them that way, but it is what it is. We all play by the same rules. Was that the deciding factor? No, with everything, he won the race but it is what it is. We get the points. We get the money and we get everything, including the trophy so we’ll take it.”

Tyler Reddick finished second after leading 70 laps. Ryan Blaney led 50 laps and is credited with third place with Christopher Bell and Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounding out the top five finishers.

Earnhardt was pleased with his result in the No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet featuring a throwback paint scheme that honored his father’s first start in the premier series in 1975 at Charlotte.

“I love this place,” said Earnhardt. You never know how good you are till you come back and try it. All these guys are elite. All these guys do this every single week, and they’re very, very talented. To think you can take a year off and come back and be good, you just never know. But we did all right!”

Chase Briscoe, Brandon Jones, Noah Gragson, Justin Allgaier and Austin Cindric rounded out the top 10.

There are only two races left before the Xfinity Series Playoffs begin. Reddick leads the regular-season standings by 51 points over Bell while Custer is 136 points behind in third place.

Next week the Xfinity Series heads to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Indiana 250.

Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.

August 31, 2019
Christopher Bell wins at New Hampshire

In dominant fashion, Christopher Bell did what he has done for most of the season, ending the race in victory lane.

“I just had a really good race car,” Bell told NBCSN. “This track’s been really good to us and our team.”

Bell led 186 of the 200 laps at New Hampshire Motor Speedway en route to his fifth victory of the season and the second at New Hampshire.

Cole Custer finished second, followed by Justin Allgaier, Tyler Reddick and Paul Menard rounding out the top five.

Stage 1:

Custer started on the pole but was quickly taken by Bell on Lap 2 into Turn 1. Bell led all the way until 10 to go in the stage when the No. 23 of John Hunter Nemechek lost his brakes and got into the wall. His day was quickly over, not the result that he was looking for at New Hampshire.

With under 10 to go in the stage during this caution, teams chose to select some different strategies. The leaders came in but Ryan Sieg and Brandon Jones, among others, stayed out in the hope that either a caution would come out close to the stage ending or they could hold on for some stage points.

That hopefulness worked as Jones ended up winning the stage with Bell, Reddick, Sieg and Allgaier rounding out the top five.

Stage 2:

Stage two continued with Reddick and Bell side by side with the Oklahoma native getting the advantage. Allgaier was able to get up to second but was unable to get past Bell for the stage win.

Custer ended up in third with Reddick and Menard rounding out the top five. With the stage going green the entire way, only 20 cars remained on the lead lap.

Final Stage:

Bell and Allgaier came in one and two and came out of pit lane, one and two, as they restarted the third and final stage.

Bell started out with the lead and pulled away from the field fairly easily. Allgaier wasn’t so lucky as he battled Custer for second and eventually lost the spot to Custer. It stayed like that until Lap 141 when the yellow waved for what was a debris caution. The lap before, the No. 9 of Noah Gragson, tagged the wall and was quickly losing positions after battling for a top 10 spot.

They went back under green but for the first time this afternoon, the beating and banging was evident. It started when Gragson got into with Austin Cindric. Cindric continued battling, this time with the No. 8 of Ryan Truex.

While that was going the No. 18 of Harrison Burton was battling with Menard until Menard had enough and turned Burton heading into Turn 1 on Lap 153. Menard said on the radio that, “He needs to race me clean. He hit me twice.” Burton went on to finish 29th.

The race went back green once again with 42 laps to go and like most of the day, Bell started from the front and pulled away once the green was in the air. However, unlike the previous caution, it was Custer who was chasing down Bell and not Allgaier. Custer was making ground for a little bit but in the end, Bell was too much for him and ended up in victory lane.

Next up for the Xfinity Series? Their second trip to Iowa where Christopher Bell won earlier this year.

July 20, 2019

Tag: Cole Custer

Justin Allgaier:

Christopher Bell:

Cole Custer:

Tyler Reddick:

Bell Shows Strength Early in Stage One

Dominance by Bell Was Outplayed by Reddick’s Gamble