Cole Custer steals regular season title from Justin Allgaier with late Bristol win
Cole Custer entered this race with an improbable shot at the regular season title, but a disastrous run at Bristol for Justin Allgaier gave Custer the opportunity to claim the Xfinity Series regular season title.
“Man, it’s unbelievable,” said Custer, who hopes to defend his 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship in the playoffs. “Just a testament to these guys. Really hard month, but everyone at the shop really kept their heads in it… Unbelievable car all night. So ready to get to the playoffs.”
He added that “it’s huge to get the momentum” that comes from winning the regular season crown, which is mostly symbolic but does come with some very real and valuable bonus points.
Custer crossed the line 1.1 seconds clear of Sheldon Creed, who now has 13 runner-up finishes in his NASCAR Xfinity career with zero race wins. Chandler Smith was third, Jesse Love fourth, and Ryan Truex fifth. Brandon Jones, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ryan Sieg, Sam Mayer, A.J. Allmendinger rounded out the top-ten.
While Custer got his trouble out of the way early, Allgaier’s entire race was plagued by misfortune. While leading the race, he lost the rear bumper after the wrecked car of Austin Green came across the track. He fought his back to the front, only to then crash into the inside wall after Sheldon Creed got into him. While the team made repairs to the car, the frantic scene saw Allgaier leave the pit box with a sawzall pinned under the splitter. And finally, he spun on his own while limping around the track, multiple laps down.
“What a frustrating night, said Allgaier, who lost his entire 43-point advantage entering the night. “We did all the right things, we led the beginning of the race, really thought we had the best car in the field … And then when the No. 32 blew the right-front and kind of came back across, ripped the rear bumper cover off — that obviously changed the game for us (and) put us behind.”
Losing the regular season title by just three points to Custer in the end, after the race Allgair said he was “Disappointed, frustrated, sad — I don’t even know what all the emotions I got right now are. But we’ll rebound.” The only good news is that he enters the playoffs as the top seed.
The playoff field is now set with Parker Kligerman and Sammy Smith joining the other ten drivers who were already locked in entering the race weekend. Other drivers who will fight for the 2024 title: Justin Allgaier, Cole Custer, Austin Hill, Chandler Smith, Shane van Gisbergen, Jesse Love, Sam Mayer, Riley Herbst, Sheldon Creed, and A.J. Allmendinger.
Be part of Motorsport community
Join the conversation
Share Or Save This Story
Play along
