{"id":25180,"date":"2019-04-12T21:32:28","date_gmt":"2019-04-13T02:32:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=25180"},"modified":"2019-04-13T09:43:32","modified_gmt":"2019-04-13T14:43:32","slug":"cole-custer-picks-up-convincing-nascar-xfinity-victory-at-richmond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2019\/04\/12\/cole-custer-picks-up-convincing-nascar-xfinity-victory-at-richmond\/","title":{"rendered":"Cole Custer picks up convincing NASCAR Xfinity victory at Richmond"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Cole Custer, driver of the #00 Haas Automation Ford, poses with the Dash 4 Cash check after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway on April 12, 2019 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Donald Page\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

RICHMOND, Va. \u2013 Cole Custer<\/strong> said on Friday afternoon that his No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing NASCAR Xfinity Series team might be ready to peak in time for the Playoffs.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Cole Custer, driver of the #00 Haas Automation Ford, takes the checkerd flag to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway on April 12, 2019 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Clearly, Custer is ahead of schedule, after a convincing victory in Friday night\u2019s ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway.<\/p>\n

After losing the lead to Austin Cindric on a restart with 26 laps left, Custer regained the top spot on Lap 231 of 250 and pulled away for his second victory of the season. In a race that dodged a persistent threat of rain, Custer crossed the finish line 2.639 seconds ahead of Cindric.<\/p>\n

Not only did Custer win for the fourth time in his career\u2014and for the first time on a short track\u2014but he also claimed the $100,000 Xfinity Dash 4 Cash bonus that goes to the highest finisher of four eligible contenders.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a great car,\u201d Custer said. \u201c(Crew chief Mike Shiplett) made great adjustments as it went\u2026 This one mean s a lot. We hadn\u2019t had a short-track win yet. We\u2019ve struggled a lot at short tracks, but this help.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of my friends give me crap for being bad at this place, but I finally won, so I\u2019ve got a little bit of bragging rights there, so that\u2019s night. I\u2019m just so happy. Two wins\u2014that\u2019s pretty awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Cole Custer, driver of the #00 Haas Automation Ford, does a burnout after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway on April 12, 2019 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Custer also served notice that he expects the team to get even better as the season progresses.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re in a great place,\u201d Custer said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to get better and better. I think we\u2019ve started to figure out our cars later in the race, and I think the second time we go back (to the same tracks), we\u2019re going to be even better\u2014just me and Mike working together at these tracks for the first time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just going to be a team that gets better and better as the year goes on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Custer led three times for a race-high 122 laps. Third-place finisher Justin Allgaier led 86 and won the first stage but had to charge to the front after contrarian pit strategy left him 16th<\/sup> for a Lap 161 restart.<\/p>\n

Allgaier was second by the time caution slowed the race for the sixth time on Lap 211, but he spun his tires on the subsequent restart on Lap 219 and fell back to fifth before recovering to third at the finish.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Cole Custer, driver of the #00 Haas Automation Ford, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway on April 12, 2019 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Matt Sullivan\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe pit call we made at the end of the (second) stage there, it worked out, obviously, in our favor,\u201d said Allgaier, who had crasjed out of last week\u2019s Bristol race after leading 138 laps. \u201cBut I pushed really hard to get back up to the front, and I just didn\u2019t quite have enough there at the end to really do anything.<\/p>\n

\u201cI made a mistake on that restart. It really burns me up that I made the mistake, but all in all, a great day. I hope we got the monkey off our back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cindric was hoping rain would halt the race when he was in the lead, but that didn\u2019t happen. He did, however, qualify for the Dash 4 Cash two weeks hence at Talladega, where his sponsor, MoneyLion, also holds the entitlement for the race. <\/p>\n

\u201cCongrats to Cole and those guys,\u201d Cindirc said. \u201cI tried my best on that restart to hold him off, but they were obviously the class of the field. Him and the 7 (Allgaier). We had some fun and got some points and now we will move on to Talladega for the MoneyLion 300.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Cole Custer, driver of the #00 Haas Automation Ford, leads Justin Allgaier, driver of the #7 Brandt Professional Agriculture Chevrolet, during the NASCAR Xfinity Series ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway on April 12, 2019 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThat will be a big one for me. I would love to win that race and the Dash for Cash at Talladega.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tyler Reddick came home fourth, followed by Ryan Sieg, who has finished no worse than 12th<\/sup> in the first eight races of the season. Zane Smith, John Hunter Nemechek, Chase Briscoe, Riley Herbst and Justin Haley completed the top 10.<\/p>\n

Making the first of two planned starts this season, Elliott Sadler ran 12th<\/sup> in an emotional return to his home track.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Media Center Interviews:<\/h3>\n

Cole Custer – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/RIR_NXS_CusterRaceWin_041219.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

NASCAR Xfinity Series Race – 32nd Annual ToyotaCare 250<\/strong><\/p>\n

Richmond Raceway<\/strong><\/p>\n

Richmond, Virginia<\/strong><\/p>\n

Friday, April 12, 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

               1. (4)  Cole Custer, Ford, 250.<\/p>\n

               2. (5)  Austin Cindric, Ford, 250.<\/p>\n

               3. (7)  Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 250.<\/p>\n

               4. (2)  Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, 250.<\/p>\n

               5. (13)  Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 250.<\/p>\n

               6. (10)  Zane Smith, Chevrolet, 250.<\/p>\n

               7. (11)  John Hunter Nemechek #, Chevrolet, 250.<\/p>\n

               8. (9)  Chase Briscoe #, Ford, 250.<\/p>\n

               9. (1)  Riley Herbst, Toyota, 250.<\/p>\n

               10. (14)  Justin Haley #, Chevrolet, 250.<\/p>\n

               11. (15)  Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 250.<\/p>\n

               12. (27)  Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 250.<\/p>\n

               13. (6)  Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 250.<\/p>\n

               14. (38)  Kaz Grala, Chevrolet, 250.<\/p>\n

               15. (33)  Dillon Bassett, Chevrolet, 250.<\/p>\n

               16. (3)  Christopher Bell, Toyota, 250.<\/p>\n

               17. (17)  Gray Gaulding, Chevrolet, 250.<\/p>\n

               18. (32)  Stephen Leicht, Chevrolet, 250.<\/p>\n

               19. (20)  Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 250.<\/p>\n

               20. (34)  Brandon Brown #, Chevrolet, 250.<\/p>\n

               21. (19)  Ray Black II, Chevrolet, 250.<\/p>\n

               22. (12)  Noah Gragson, Chevrolet, 249.<\/p>\n

               23. (28)  Joey Gase, Toyota, 249.<\/p>\n

               24. (23)  Tyler Matthews, Chevrolet, 248.<\/p>\n

               25. (21)  Donald Theetge, Chevrolet, 247.<\/p>\n

               26. (24)  Colin Garrett, Toyota, 247.<\/p>\n

               27. (26)  Vinnie Miller, Chevrolet, 246.<\/p>\n

               28. (29)  Matt Mills, Chevrolet, 245.<\/p>\n

               29. (22)  David Starr, Chevrolet, 245.<\/p>\n

               30. (30)  BJ McLeod, Toyota, 245.<\/p>\n

               31. (35)  Mike Harmon, Chevrolet, 243.<\/p>\n

               32. (36)  Kyle Weatherman, Chevrolet, 237.<\/p>\n

               33. (8)  Brandon Jones, Toyota, Engine, 175.<\/p>\n

               34. (25)  Chad Finchum, Toyota, Brakes, 119.<\/p>\n

               35. (18)  Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, Engine, 112.<\/p>\n

               36. (16)  Mason Diaz, Chevrolet, Engine, 63.<\/p>\n

               37. (37)  Timmy Hill, Toyota, Vibration, 15.<\/p>\n

               38. (31)  Jeff Green, Chevrolet, Engine, 10.<\/p>\n

Average Speed of Race Winner:  90.519 mph.<\/p>\n

Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 4 Mins, 17 Secs. Margin of Victory:  2.639 Seconds.<\/p>\n

Caution Flags:  7 for 44 laps.<\/p>\n

Lead Changes:  9 among 6 drivers.<\/p>\n

Lap Leaders:   R. Herbst 1;C. Custer 2-19;J. Allgaier 20-36;C. Bell 37-67;M. Annett 68-69;C. Bell 70;J. Allgaier 71-139;C. Custer 140-223;A. Cindric 224-230;C. Custer 231-250.<\/p>\n

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Cole Custer 3 times for 122 laps; Justin Allgaier 2 times for 86 laps; Christopher Bell 2 times for 32 laps; Austin Cindric 1 time for 7 laps; Michael Annett 1 time for 2 laps; Riley Herbst 1 time for 1 lap.<\/p>\n

Stage #1 Top Ten: 7,20,00,9,23,2,22,8,98,19<\/p>\n

Stage #2 Top Ten: 00,22,23,8,39,9,98,2,19,11<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service RICHMOND, Va. \u2013 Cole Custer said on Friday afternoon that his No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing NASCAR Xfinity Series team might be ready to peak in time for the Playoffs. Clearly, Custer is ahead of schedule, after a convincing victory in Friday night\u2019s ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway. After […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":25186,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[257,16,181,486],"class_list":["post-25180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-cole-custer","tag-nascar","tag-nascar-xfinity-series","tag-richmond-raceway"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/RIR_NXS_CheckeredFlag_041219.jpg?fit=5184%2C3456&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-6y8","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25180"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25180\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25188,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25180\/revisions\/25188"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}