William Byron Wins XFINITY Championship as Cole Custer Gets His First Win at Homestead

Byron celebrates the XFINITY Championship

LA Times Photo

View Image Gallery

HOMESTEAD, FL - RIS - A late-race pass of Elliot Sadler handed William Bryon, the 19-year old rookie, the NASCAR XFINITY driver's championship.  Sadler had moved out to a comfortable lead and while Bryon was closing, a car driven by Ryan Preece got together with Sadler and that was that.  Byron will be driving the iconic No.24 car in the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series in 2018.

“I don’t know that I took a breath the last 20 laps,” Byron said. “That was incredible. I just have to thank this team. This is awesome. Elliott raced me clean, and we just raced hard for it. I just can’t believe this.

While Custer was celebrating his first XFINITY Series win, a heartbroken and angry Elliott Sadler confronted the driver he believed cost him a long-coveted NASCAR title.

Custetr dominated the race in his No. 00 car, crossing the finish line 15.405 seconds ahead of second-place Sam Hornish Jr., who delivered the owners’ championship to Roger Penske. The real action, however, occurred three-quarters of a lap behind the winner.

Sadler had passed Byron, his JR Motorsports teammate on Lap 165 of 200. The 42-year-old veteran stayed out front until Lap 191, when he closed on the No. 18 Toyota of Ryan Preece and lost momentum. Byron charged past Sadler into third place—and into the lead among the four drivers battling for the title.

With four laps left, Sadler pulled up to Byron’s bumper. Byron shot past Preece’s Toyota, clearing him to the inside. Sadler tried to follow but couldn’t complete the pass, and slid up into Preece’s Camry, with the right front of Sadler’s No. 1 Chevrolet clipping the left rear of the Toyota.

Sadler hit the wall and his title hopes were gone. The driver finished second in the NASCAR Xfinity Series standings for the fourth time, and his disappointment stood in marked contrast to the elation of his young teammate.

Watching with interest was team co-owner Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and knowing what was going to be a championship for his team since all four vying for the title were JR Motorsports cars.

“Man, that is tough watching those guys battle like that together,” Earnhardt said. “William did a great job running an awesome race. To be as young as he is, he drove like a veteran tonight. I know Elliott is probably really disappointed. It’s hard to watch any of your guys lose one, but at least we will be taking the trophy back to Mooresville tonight.

As is always the case, Custer's win was not the spectacle, Byron's championship run.  Pulling away steadily after a restart on Lap 97, Custer posted the largest margin of victory in the series this season and the largest ever at the 1.5-mile track. Custer not only led 182 of 200) laps, and all three stages in the race, he had a perfect driving score, the first time that's been done in 2017.

“We knew we were going be really good this weekend, but our Haas Automation Mustang was unreal,” Custer said. “We really wanted to have a good showing at Ford Championship Weekend.  Even though we weren’t in it (the Championship 4), we wanted to win.”

Preece was racing for the owners’ championship against the No. 22 Ford of Hornish and the No. 9 Chevrolet of Byron after Christopher Bell fell out with engine problems after 78.

“To be honest with you, if there’s a person you don’t want to cost a championship to, it’s Elliott Sadler,” said Preece. “You know, I’m just trying to do team orders here. I was racing for an owner championship. Yeah, we weren’t racing for the win right there, but we were still racing the 9 (Byron)."

“It’s not where I want to be right there. Obviously, I hate it, but I can’t take it back.”

With Sam Hornish running second, Team Penske won the team championship with Hornish, Ryan Blaney, Adam Cindric, Brad Keselowski, and Joey Logano taking turns in the No. 22.  

Unofficial Race Results for the 23rd Annual Ford Ecoboost 300 - Nov 18, 2017 - Homestead-Miami Speedway
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Pts, Status, Tms, Laps, Playoff Pts
1) 2, Cole Custer #, No. 00 Haas Automation Ford, 200, 1, 1, 60, Running, 3, 182, 
2) 8, Sam Hornish Jr., No. 22 REV/Fleetwood Ford, 200, , 2, 44, Running, , , 
3) 6, William Byron # (P), No. 9 Liberty University Chevrolet, 200, , 5, 34, Running, , , 
4) 1, Tyler Reddick, No. 42 BBR/Granger Smith Chevrolet, 200, 2, 3, 50, Running, 3, 18, 
5) 5, Ryan Preece, No. 18 Safelite AutoGlass Toyota, 200, 5, 4, 45, Running, , , 
6) 7, Brennan Poole, No. 48 DC Solar Chevrolet, 200, , 7, 35, Running, , , 
7) 10, Matt Tifft #, No. 19 Dollar Shave Club #DSC500 Toyota, 200, , , 30, Running, , , 
8) 14, Elliott Sadler (P), No. 1 OneMain Financial Chevrolet, 200, 8, 6, 29, Running, , , 
9) 18, Michael Annett, No. 5 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet, 199, , , 28, Running, , , 
10) 9, Ty Majeski, No. 60 Ford EcoBoost Ford, 199, 6, 8, 35, Running, , , 
11) 12, Casey Mears, No. 98 GEICO Military Ford, 199, , , 26, Running, , , 
12) 16, Justin Allgaier (P), No. 7 BRANDT/TradeMark Nitrogen Chevrolet, 199, , 9, 25, Running, , , 
13) 23, Brendan Gaughan, No. 62 South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet, 199, , , 24, Running, , , 
14) 20, Brandon Jones, No. 33 Jeld Wen/Menards Chevrolet, 199, , , 23, Running, , , 
15) 17, Corey LaJoie, No. 24 youtheory Toyota, 199, , 10, 23, Running, , , 
16) 11, Blake Koch, No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 199, , , 21, Running, , , 
17) 19, Ross Chastain, No. 4 Florida Watermelon Association Chevrolet, 198, , , 20, Running, , , 
18) 25, Ben Kennedy #, No. 2 Rheem/Emerson Chevrolet, 198, , , 19, Running, , , 
19) 28, Spencer Gallagher #, No. 23 Allegiant Airlines Chevrolet, 198, 3, , 26, Running, , , 
20) 15, Ryan Reed, No. 16 Lilly Diabetes Ford, 198, , , 17, Running, , , 
21) 13, Scott Lagasse Jr., No. 3 Fight Colorectal Cancer/Screen Your Machine Chevrolet, 198, 4, , 23, Running, , , 
22) 21, JJ Yeley, No. 14 TriStar Motorsports Toyota, 198, 9, , 17, Running, , , 
23) 29, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 RepairableVehicles.com Chevrolet, 197, , , 14, Running, , , 
24) 26, Garrett Smithley, No. 0 KSDT & Company Chevrolet, 196, , , 13, Running, , , 
25) 27, Ray Black II, No. 07 ScubaLife.com Chevrolet, 196, , , 12, Running, , , 
26) 24, Ryan Sieg, No. 93 Code Rum Chevrolet, 196, , , 11, Running, , , 
27) 22, Joe Nemechek(i), No. 01 Fleetwing Chevrolet, 196, 10, , 0, Running, , , 
28) 33, Josh Williams, No. 90 Starbrite Startron Chevrolet, 196, , , 9, Running, , , 
29) 32, Joey Gase, No. 52 Donate Life/Premier Millwright Chevrolet, 195, , , 8, Running, , , 
30) 36, Chad Finchum, No. 40 Buddy Gregg RV's & Motorhomes Toyota, 194, , , 7, Running, , , 
31) 30, Caesar Bacarella, No. 8 Alpha Prime Apparel Chevrolet, 193, , , 6, Running, , , 
32) 38, David Starr, No. 99 Mahindra Tractors Chevrolet, 192, , , 5, Running, , , 
33) 35, BJ McLeod, No. 78 Main Gate Enterprises/Tattered Flag Project Chevrolet, 191, , , 4, Running, , , 
34) 4, Daniel Hemric # (P), No. 21 Poppy Bank Chevrolet, 187, 7, , 3, Running, , , 
35) 37, Stephen Leicht, No. 39 RSS Racing Chevrolet, 102, , , 2, Brakes, , , 
36) 3, Christopher Bell(i), No. 20 GameStop/PowerA Toyota, 78, , , 0, Engine, , , 
37) 34, Timmy Hill, No. 13 OCR Gaz Bar Dodge, 54, , , 1, Vibration, , , 
38) 39, John Graham, No. 74 Magellan Aviation Dodge, 31, , , 1, Parked, , , 
39) 31, Harrison Rhodes, No. 15 Masters Properties/Industrial Piping Solutions Chevrolet, 19, , , 1, Electrical, , , 
40) 40, Jeff Green, No. 38 RSS Racing Chevrolet, 10, , , 1, Clutch, , , 
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Time of Race: 02 Hrs, 12 Mins, 13 Secs.
Average Speed: 136.140 MPH
Margin of Victory: 15.405 Seconds
Race Comments: Cole Custer won the Ford EcoBoost 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, his first victory in the NASCAR XFINITY Series. 
Failed to Qualify: (3) 46 Quin Houff, 55 Matt Mills(i), 89 Morgan Shepherd.
Caution Flags: 3 for 14 laps: Laps: 20-23 (No. 14 Incident Turn 2 [8]); 47-51 (Stage 1 Conclusion [78]); 92-96 (Stage 2 Conclusion [14]).
Lead Changes: 5 among 2 drivers: T. Reddick 1-2; C. Custer  3-23; T. Reddick 24-26; C. Custer 27-48; T. Reddick 49-61; C. Custer # 62-200.
Coors Light Pole Award:  Tyler Reddick, No. 42 165.624 mph
Duralast Brakes "Brake In The Race" Award:  Cole Custer, No. 00 
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race:  Roush-Yates Engines, No. 00 
Mobil 1 Driver of the Race:  Cole Custer, No. 00 
Sunoco Rookie of the Race:  Cole Custer, No. 00