NASCAR
Cole Custer Takes Peak Momentum into Title Defense Playoffs as King of the Hill
BRISTOL, TENN. – To call the 300 lap Xfinity Series regular season finale at Bristol a season’s worth of drama is selling it short. From the drop of the green flag, prerace favorites ran into issues that forced a few incredible recovery drives.
Following early wall contact, Cole Custer took his Ford Mustang to the front in Stage 3 and never looked back. The reigning Xfinity Series champion enters 2024’s Playoffs as the most recent winner and the regular season champion.
Custer scraping the wall early forced a caution inside the opening five laps. At this same time, Dale Earnhardt Jr. came down pit road with a broken radio. After a few unscheduled pit stops, Earnhardt was able to hear his crew. The fan favorite was making his lone NASCAR start of 2024, and potentially his last appearance ever.
Mere laps later, Justin Allgaier suffered damage as an innocent bystander from the lead. This incident began a cascading negative night for team No. 7, erasing a 43-point regular season championship lead. This exchange ultimately gave the wealth of Playoff bonus points to Custer. Allgaier’s setback handed Stage 1 to Chandler Smith, and pit strategy gave Stage 2 to Jeremy Clements.
Stage 3 was a Cole Custer clinic, with the No. 00 taking command early and never relinquishing the lead. Even with a hungry Sheldon Creed breathing down his neck Custer never wavered, earning his second win of 2024.
“Man, it’s just unbelievable,” Custer said. “It’s a testament to these guys. It’s been a really hard month, but everyone at the shop really kept their heads in it. I can’t thank High Point enough. It’s awesome to get them a win. Ford Performance. All the guys did such a great job. It was an unbelievable car all night. I’m ready to get to the Playoffs.”
“It’s huge to get this momentum because our confidence was going down there this last month, so to get this win really means a lot.”
“Man, what a car. What a race. I mean, these guys did such a great job with this thing. I can’t thank HighPoint.com enough. Every race we’ve wanted to do better with them and this was finally a race we put it all together. It was just an unbelievable car. I could really drive through the field and do everything I needed. It’s a real testament to this team of what we can bring to the Playoffs.”
Behind Custer and Creed, Chandler Smith was none too happy with being raced hard by his teammate in the closing laps. Jesse Love and Ryan Truex rounded out the top-five. Brandon Jones, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ryan Sieg, Sam Mayer, and AJ Allmendinger were the top-10. Hear from a few of these drivers below.
The final two spots in the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs were awarded to Parker Kligerman and Sammy Smith. The seven-race dash for NASCAR’s second-highest championship begins next week at Kansas Speedway. The Kansas Lottery 300 goes green Saturday at 4 p.m. ET on The CW, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. One of the 12 contenders winning puts them on the doorstep of a Championship 4 berth. Who can capitalize in the heartland?
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credits to Johnathan Bachman/Getty Images
