(photo courtesy Leon Hammack)
Date: March 18, 2017
Event: DC Solar 200 (Round 4 of 33)
Series: NASCAR XFINITY Series
Location: Phoenix International Raceway(Mile oval)
Format: 200 laps, broken into three stages (60 laps/60 laps/80 laps)
Start/Finish: 9th/21st (Running, completed 200 of 200 laps)
Point Standing: 12th (78 points, 66 out of first)
Race Winner: Justin Allgaier of Junior Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-60):
● Started ninth, finished 18th.
● Battled tight-handling car after the first 15 laps of Stage 1.
● Team made major handling adjustments during caution between Stages 1 and 2.
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 61-120):
● Started 23rd, finished 15th.
● Before the stage began, NASCAR penalized Custer for driving through too many pit stalls on his stop and forced the No. 00 to restart at back of the field.
● With improved handling, Custer gained eight spots during the stage, occasionally turning top-five lap times.
Final Stage Recap (Laps 121-200):
● Started 15th, finished 21st.
● Climbed to eighth with 14 laps remaining.
● Made contact with Austin Dillon with 10 to go. During the caution, Dillon drove his damaged car into Custer’s car.
● Custer pitted for repairs and restarted the race 26th with five laps remaining.
Notes:
● Custer tied his career-best NASCAR XFINITY Series qualifying effort.
● This was Custer’s 10th NASCAR XFINITY Series start.
● 95-degree weather with temperatures exceeding 130 degrees inside racecars.
Cole Custer, driver of the No. 00 Haas Automation Racing Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
Tell us about the race and your take on the incident with Austin Dillon.
“We had a great race leading up to that. We didn’t start out at all how we wanted to but, by the end, we were probably a fifth- to eighth-place car. I thought that was a really good sign for us. We had a really good Haas Automation Ford Mustang this weekend. The incident with Austin was 100-percent my fault. I got in there too deep, got really loose going in and couldn’t put any wheel into it. That was pretty much it. Something that won’t happen again. It’s unfortunate I cost us and the No. 2 car there.”
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR XFINITY Series schedule is the NXS 300 on Saturday, March 25 at Auto Club Speedway. The race starts at 4 p.m. EST with live coverage provided by FS1.
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
