BRISTOL, Tenn. – It was a night to remember for Cole Custer at Bristol Motor Speedway.
In the opening moments of the Food City 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series race, the defending series champion smacked the outside wall due to a flat tire.
By the end of night, Custer had earned his15th career victory and the Xfinity regular season title.
“Man, this is unbelievable,” Custer said. “Our confidence was going down this past month, so to get this win and momentum is huge.”
With the help of his crew, Custer rallied from his early misfortune to take the lead from Sam Mayer on lap 150 and he improved steadily from there.
Custer led for a total of 104 laps, including the final 91.
“This win is a testament to my guys,” Custer said. “We had a really hard month, but everybody in our shop kept their heads in it.
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“We had a great car all night, and now we are ready to get to the playoffs.”
Sheldon Creed, Chandler Smith, Jesse Love and Ryan Truex rounded out the top five finishers.
It was the second straight runner-up finish for Creed and 13th of his career.
“I was trying everything at the end,” Creed said. “I was bouncing the car off the wall, trying to run the middle and staying out of the rubber.
“I don’t care how many second place finishes I have at this point. It’s cool to run this well every week.”
Justin Allgaier was dealt several doses of bad buck. After leading the first 60 laps, the series veteran lost the rear bumper cover on his car following a collision with the Austin Green machine.
When the race resumed on lap 65, Allgaier was 24th.
Allgaier assured his crew over the team radio that he would charge back through the field and that’s exactly what he did. Allgaier was running third on lap 154 when he was involved in another spin. This time, Allgaier’s car suffered heavy damage.
The night became even more frustrating for Allgaier on lap 202 when he spun for a tire issue.
Allgaier entered the race with a 43-point margin over Custer atop the regular season standings, but he was forced to settle for the No. 30 finishing spot.
How will Allgaier be able to out Friday’s nightmare behind him?
“That’s a great question,” Allgaier said. “I don’t really have any words for tonight, to be honest. It started with us getting damage from a wreck in front of us.
“Then we tried to get as many points as possible, but I’m just really bummed about tonight. It was frustrating.”
Allgaier is still atop the Xfinity standings, but that wasn’t enough to cheer him up late Friday.
“No real comfort from that,” Allgaier said. “It was very obvious at the beginning of the race that we had the best car, and there’s nothing to show for it.”
To the delight of the many Earnhardt fans at the track, Jeffrey Earnhardt qualified sixth with his uncle Dale Earnhardt Jr in the No. 11 spot.
While Jeffrey raced inside the top five over the first 35 laps, Dale Jr. became agitated early in the race due to a problem with his radio.
Unable to communicate with his trusty spotter T.J. Majors over the entire first run, Dale Jr. dropped back to the No. 27 spot by lap 38.
When Dale Jr. attempted to adjust the radio inside the car, his glasses fell into his helmet. Somehow, he was able to salvage a seventh-place finish.
“I had fun,” Earnhardt said. “I was worried because things were headed in the wrong direction early, but I did my best. We tried to not to lose any laps and we tried to get things right.
“It’s just fun to be able to come out and run with these kids tonight.”
Will Dale Jr. attempt another race in the future?
“I feel like I really need to focus on my work in the (television) booth,” Earnhardt said. “But maybe I will sign up for something in 2026.”
Jeffrey sputtered to the No. 35 finishing spot.
Parker Kligerman and Sammy Smith earned the final the the final two spots into the 12-driver playoff field.
Jeremy Clements, who entered the night ranked in the No. 21 spot in points, captured the second stage.
It was the first career stage win at BMS for Clements and the first stage win of the season for the personable driver from Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Stefan Parsons, who drives in the Truck Series for the Abingdon-based Henderson Motorsports team, experienced engine problems in his Alpha Prime Racing entry and was unable to enter the race until lap 14.
It was the Xfinity season debut for Parsons, who worked for the No. 33 finishing spot.
Knoxville’s Chad Finchum finished in the No. 32 position.
Chandler Smith earned his fifth Xfinity career pole Friday afternoon with a time of 15.810 seconds at 121.366 mph in the No. 81 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
Dawson Cram was the only driver who failed to qualify.
The race was slowed by a total of seven cautions for 57 laps, including four cautions over the first 122 laps.
agregory@bristolnews.com | Twitter: @Greg_BHCSports | (276) 645-2544
