Xfinity: Custer wins at Dover
DOVER, Del. — Cole Custer raced to his seventh Xfinity Series victory of the season Saturday at Dover International Speedway.
The 21-year-old Custer, who made his 100th start on the second-tier circuit, proved he’s the driver to beat heading into the next round of the playoffs when it starts in two weeks at Kansas Speedway.
“Going into Kansas and Texas, we just know that we’re going to fire on all cylinders and we can go in there and win,” Custer said.
Custer led 31 of 200 laps in the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 00 Ford and finished exactly one second ahead of Justin Allgaier to earn the ninth victory of his Xfinity Series career but first since August and first at Dover. In five starts on the one-mile concrete oval before Saturday, he had finished in the top 10 four times, including as the runner-up last fall.
“I wanted to win here so bad for so long,” Custer said.
Austin Cindric was third, followed by Justin Haley and pole-sitter Chase Briscoe, who led a race-high 71 laps.
“That is two weeks in a row I feel like we had the best race car and didn’t get the win,” Briscoe said. “There are so many circumstances that go into winning these races, and one little thing that you don’t catch at the right time just kills you.”
Custer, Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick have combined to win 19 of the 29 Xfinity Series races so far this year.
Allgaier, Bell, Briscoe, Cindric, Custer and Reddick advanced to the next round, along with Michael Annett and Noah Gragson. Haley, Brandon Jones, John Hunter Nemechek and Ryan Sieg were eliminated from championship contention.
“We just haven’t been able to close this year,” Nemechek said. “I feel like that’s been one of our struggles.”
Jones had his bid to race his way into the second round spoiled by a crash on the opening lap.
“I always try to find the positives with this kind of stuff,” Jones said. “None today.”