Cole Custer Wins Xfinity Championship in Phoenix

Timothy D. Easley - AP

AVONDALE, AZ – RIS – Cole Custer was sent back to the NASCAR Xfinity Series the last two seasons after a less than spectacular 2020 season.  Tonight he proved that he does not give up.  Tonight, Custer pulled away from Justin Allgaier during a two-lap overtime shootout to win his first NASCAR Xfinity Series championship Saturday night at Phoenix Raceway.  It was an exciting finish with Custer, JustinAllgaier and John Hunter Nemechek three-wide on the next-to-last lap, with Allgaier’s JR Motorsports Chevrolet finding some room in between the other two cars. But Custer — who went to the inside — pulled away while the others battled for position.

“I can’t believe we won that thing,” Custer said.

Custer, who had a Cup ride for the Ford Stewart-Haas Racing team the past three seasons before being demoted this year to the Xfinity Series. It’s also a bright spot in a tough season for the Stewart-Haas racing, which hasn’t won a race in the Cup Series this season.

The four championship drivers were in the top four spots for the final restart, which was brought on after Anthony Alfredo spun out with five laps remaining. Custer — who was the Xfinity Series runner up in both 2018 and 2019 — went low as Nemechek stayed high, with Allgaier making a brief run up the middle that brought the crowd to its feet.

Allgaier finished third, Sam Mayer finished fifth and Nemechek fell to 28th after hitting the wall on the final lap.

“The restart was fantastic — we did everything right,” Allgaier said. “I’m gonna replay this one in my head a couple times.”

Allgaier tried to go low on the apron, bumping against Nemechek before spinning out and falling back to 36th. But the 37-year-old made up ground in a hurry, moving all the way up to third after his pit stop following the first stage.

Allgaier won four times this season, compared to Custer’s two, earning a spot in the championship round by beating Sheldon Creed in a door-to-door finish to win at Martinsville last week.

Nemechek, son of former Xfinity Series champion Joe Nemechek, had an ill-fated Cup Series debut for Front Row Motorsports in 2020. He was in a tough situation during NASCAR’s COVID-19 “bubble” season, his only seat time coming during races because there was no practice or qualifying, but now, he is a champion, the first for SHR.

After the race, team co-owner Tony Stewart was all smiles and even took at job at the Craftsman Truck Series race on Friday night.

"Cole made all the right decisions.  Maybe that's a lesson for the truck series," Stewart said.  "You don't have to wreck everybody to win a championship."

Unofficial Results: NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship, November 4, 2023 - Phoenix Raceway
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 7, Cole Custer (P), No. 00 Haas Automation Ford, 202, 2, 1, 4, 96, 6, 40, Running
2) 5, Sheldon Creed, No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet, 202, , 8, 1, 4, , 38, Running
3) 8, Justin Allgaier (P), No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet, 202, 7, 9, , , , 34, Running
4) 9, Riley Herbst, No. 98 Monster Energy Ford, 202, , 10, , , , 34, Running
5) 16, Sam Mayer (P), No. 1 Accelerate Pros Talent Chevrolet, 202, 5, 2, , , , 32, Running
6) 15, Josh Berry, No. 8 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Chevrolet, 202, , 7, , , , 35, Running
7) 2, Austin Hill, No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet, 202, 4, 4, 1, 21, , 44, Running
8) 6, Chandler Smith #, No. 16 Quick Tie Products Inc. Chevrolet, 202, 3, 5, , , , 43, Running
9) 1, Sammy Smith #, No. 18 Pilot Flying J Toyota, 202, 6, , 1, 11, , 33, Running
10) 24, Kaz Grala, No. 26 Ruedebusch Toyota, 202, , , , , , 27, Running
11) 20, Brandon Jones, No. 9 Menards/Tuscany Faucets Chevrolet, 202, 8, 6, , , , 34, Running
12) 18, Jeb Burton, No. 27 Bommarito.com/EasyCare Chevrolet, 202, , , , , , 25, Running
13) 14, Parker Retzlaff #, No. 31 FUNKAWAY Chevrolet, 202, , , , , , 24, Running
14) 13, Rajah Caruth(i), No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 202, , , , , , 0, Running
15) 19, Brett Moffitt, No. 25 AM Technical Solutions Ford, 202, 10, , , , , 23, Running
16) 30, Parker Kligerman, No. 48 Spiked Light Coolers Chevrolet, 202, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 21, Kyle Weatherman, No. 91 Fanttik Chevrolet, 202, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 11, Ryan Sieg, No. 39 Sci Aps Ford, 202, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 17, Dawson Cram, No. 07 TITAN CONSTRUCTION Chevrolet, 202, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 25, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 Impel Union Chevrolet, 202, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 12, Daniel Hemric, No. 10 Action Industries Chevrolet, 202, , , 1, 4, , 16, Running
22) 4, Myatt Snider, No. 19 Tree Top Toyota, 202, 9, , , , , 17, Running
23) 34, Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 45 ForeverLawn Chevrolet, 202, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 38, Anthony Alfredo, No. 78 RTIC Chevrolet, 202, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 26, Josh Williams, No. 92 Seacrest Studios/ALLOY Chevrolet, 202, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 27, Ryan Ellis, No. 43 Spider Energy Drink Chevrolet, 202, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 28, Joey Gase, No. 35 Donate Life Arizona Ford, 202, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 3, John Hunter Nemechek (P), No. 20 Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota, 202, 1, 3, 5, 66, 1, 9, Running
29) 29, Brennan Poole, No. 6 KSDT CPA Chevrolet, 202, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 33, Timmy Hill(i), No. 66 Angry Crab Shack Ford, 200, , , , , , 0, Running
31) 37, Joe Graf Jr, No. 28 Bucked Up Ford, 200, , , , , , 6, Running
32) 32, Blaine Perkins #, No. 02 Gratis Chevrolet, 200, , , , , , 5, Running
33) 36, Stefan Parsons(i), No. 4 Jupiter Rings Buffalo Sauce Chevrolet, 194, , , , , , 0, Running
34) 10, Connor Mosack, No. 24 Toyota Outfitters Toyota, 180, , , , , , 3, Accident
35) 31, Chris Hacker(i), No. 53 Morgan & Morgan Chevrolet, 178, , , , , , 0, Suspension
36) 35, JJ Yeley, No. 08 Fan Controlled/Safelite Ford, 101, , , , , , 1, Accident
37) 23, Derek Kraus(i), No. 11 Western States Flooring Chevrolet, 84, , , , , , 0, Accident
38) 22, Kyle Sieg, No. 38 JW Sports Cards Ford, 14, , , , , , 1, Vibration
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie, (P) Playoffs

Race Length: 202 Laps - 202. Miles
Time of Race: 2:13:53
Average Speed: 89.530 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.601 Second

Stage 1 Top 10: 20, 00, 16, 21, 1, 18, 7, 9, 19, 25
Stage 2 Top 10: 00, 1, 20, 21, 16, 9, 8, 2, 7, 98

Comments: Cole Custer has won the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship race at Phoenix Raceway, his 13th career victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

Prior to the start, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reason(s) indicated: Nos. 78 (engine change) and 02 (unapproved adjustments).

Failed to Qualify: (2) No. 44 Leland Honeyman, No. 74 Brad Perez.

Cautions: 8 for 46 laps;
Laps: 4-7 (No. 7 Spin Turn 1 [None]);
9-12 (No. 38 Incident Frontstretch [None]);
47-52 (Stage 1 Conclusion [35]);
87-95 (No. 11 Incident Turn 2 / Stage 2 Conclusion [53]);
103-109 (No. 08, 53 Incident Backstretch [10]);
138-142 (No. 19 Incident Turn 4 [35]);
182-188 (No. 24 Incident Turn 3 [6]);
197-200 (No. 78, 07 Incident Turn 4 [19]).
Lead Changes: 12 among 6 drivers;
S. Smith # 1-11;
A. Hill 12-32;
J. Nemechek (P) 33-52;
C. Custer (P) 53-90;
J. Nemechek (P) 91;
C. Custer (P) 92-108;
J. Nemechek (P) 109-126;
S. Creed 127-130;
J. Nemechek (P) 131-156;
C. Custer (P) 157-183;
J. Nemechek (P) 184;
D. Hemric 185-188;
C. Custer (P) 189-202.

Unofficial Points: NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship - Phoenix Raceway
Rank) Driver Car Starts GL Points Ldr Nxt Race Wins Stage Wins Playoff Pts
1) Cole Custer (P) 00 33 3 4040 0 0 3 9 18
2) Justin Allgaier (P) 7 33 0 4034 -6 6 4 13 35
3) Sam Mayer (P) 1 33 -2 4032 -8 2 4 0 20
4) John Hunter Nemechek 20 33 -1 4009 -31 23 7 11 55
5) Austin Hill 21 33 0 2273 -1767 1736 4 4 39
6) Sammy Smith # 18 33 0 2248 -1792 25 1 2 6
7) Sheldon Creed 2 33 2 2225 -1815 23 0 4 8
8) Daniel Hemric 10 33 -1 2224 -1816 1 0 0 3
9) Chandler Smith # 16 33 1 2219 -1821 5 1 2 9
10) Parker Kligerman 48 33 -2 2209 -1831 10 0 1 2
11) Josh Berry 8 33 0 2172 -1868 37 0 3 9
12) Jeb Burton 27 33 0 2126 -1914 46 1 1 6
13) Riley Herbst 98 33 0 904 -3136 1222 1 2 0
14) Brandon Jones 9 33 0 793 -3247 111 0 0 0
15) Brett Moffitt 25 33 0 680 -3360 113 0 0 0
16) Parker Retzlaff # 31 33 0 662 -3378 18 0 0 0
17) Kaz Grala 26 33 0 617 -3423 45 0 0 0
18) Ryan Sieg 39 33 0 606 -3434 11 0 0 0
19) Jeremy Clements 51 33 0 533 -3507 73 0 0 0
20) Anthony Alfredo 78 33 0 454 -3586 79 0 0 0
21) Josh Williams 92 32 0 446 -3594 8 0 0 0
22) Kyle Sieg 38 31 0 428 -3612 18 0 0 0
23) Joe Graf Jr 28 33 0 395 -3645 33 0 0 0
24) Brennan Poole 6 31 0 366 -3674 29 0 0 0
25) Ryan Ellis 43 31 0 366 -3674 0 0 0 0
26) Kyle Weatherman 91 25 0 336 -3704 30 0 0 0
27) Jeffrey Earnhardt 45 24 1 272 -3768 64 0 0 0
28) Connor Mosack 24 24 -1 270 -3770 2 0 0 0
29) Blaine Perkins # 02 30 0 258 -3782 12 0 0 0
30) Alex Labbe 14 0 246 -3794 12 0 0 0
31) Ryan Truex 6 0 197 -3843 49 1 2 0
32) Myatt Snider 19 6 4 166 -3874 31 0 0 0
33) Josh Bilicki 11 0 164 -3876 2 0 0 0
34) Patrick Emerling 17 0 164 -3876 0 0 0 0
35) Sage Karam 12 0 160 -3880 4 0 0 0
36) Joey Gase 35 14 2 152 -3888 8 0 0 0
37) Gray Gaulding 11 2 132 -3908 20 0 0 0
38) Garrett Smithley 13 2 125 -3915 7 0 0 0
39) Cj Mclaughlin 10 2 103 -3937 22 0 0 0
40) Leland Honeyman 8 2 93 -3947 10 0 0 0
41) Mason Massey 5 2 76 -3964 17 0 0 0
42) Parker Chase 6 2 76 -3964 0 0 0 0
43) Trevor Bayne 3 2 72 -3968 4 0 0 0
44) Layne Riggs 3 2 71 -3969 1 0 0 0
45) Miguel Paludo 3 2 63 -3977 8 0 0 0
46) Dawson Cram 07 9 5 59 -3981 4 0 0 0
47) David Starr 5 1 54 -3986 5 0 0 0
48) Dale Earnhardt 2 1 48 -3992 6 0 0 0
49) Preston Pardus 4 1 45 -3995 3 0 0 0
50) Brad Perez 5 2 40 -4000 5 0 0 0
51) Caesar Bacarella 3 2 38 -4002 2 0 0 0
52) Chad Finchum 4 2 35 -4005 3 0 0 0
53) Alex Guenette 3 2 27 -4013 8 0 0 0
54) Jordan Anderson 1 2 22 -4018 5 0 0 0
55) Jordan Taylor 2 2 21 -4019 1 0 0 0
56) Dylan Lupton 2 2 21 -4019 0 0 0 0
57) JJ Yeley 08 4 2 20 -4020 1 0 0 0
58) Stanton Barrett 2 2 18 -4022 2 0 0 0
59) Ryan Reed 1 2 17 -4023 1 0 0 0
60) Dexter Stacey 2 2 14 -4026 3 0 0 0
61) Jade Buford 2 2 13 -4027 1 0 0 0
62) Spencer Pumpelly 1 2 9 -4031 4 0 0 0
63) Jesse Iwuji 1 2 7 -4033 2 0 0 0
64) Natalie Decker 2 2 5 -4035 2 0 0 0
65) Brent Sherman 1 2 3 -4037 2 0 0 0
66) Max Mclaughlin 1 2 3 -4037 0 0 0 0
67) Andre Castro 2 2 2 -4038 1 0 0 0
68) BJ Mcleod 1 2 1 -4039 1 0 0 0
69) Devin Jones 1 2 1 -4039 0 0 0 0
70) Justin Marks 1 2 1 -4039 0 0 0 0
71) Katherine Legge 1 2 1 -4039 0 0 0 0
72) Ryan Newman 1 2 1 -4039 0 0 0 0
73) AJ Allmendinger(i) 5 2 0 -4040 1 2 3 0
74) Ty Gibbs(i) 8 2 0 -4040 0 1 5 0
75) Kyle Larson(i) 3 2 0 -4040 0 1 3 0
76) Aric Almirola(i) 2 2 0 -4040 0 1 0 0
77) Denny Hamlin(i) 1 2 0 -4040 0 1 0 0
78) William Byron(i) 1 2 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
79) Chase Elliott(i) 1 2 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
80) Ross Chastain(i) 7 2 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
81) Kyle Busch(i) 4 2 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
82) Justin Haley(i) 5 2 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
83) Carson Hocevar(i) 5 2 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
84) Zane Smith(i) 1 2 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
85) Derek Kraus(i) 11 8 -53 0 -4040 0 0 1 0
86) Austin Dillon(i) 2 1 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
87) Alex Bowman(i) 1 1 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
88) Corey Heim(i) 4 1 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
89) Daniel Su?rez(i) 2 1 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
90) Rajah Caruth(i) 17 12 1 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
91) Stefan Parsons(i) 4 15 -54 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
92) Tyler Reddick(i) 2 0 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
93) Ty Dillon(i) 3 0 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
94) Chris Hacker(i) 53 4 0 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
95) Daniel Dye(i) 2 0 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
96) Matt Mills(i) 4 0 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
97) Chad Chastain(i) 4 0 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
98) Bayley Currey(i) 4 0 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
99) Akinori Ogata(i) 2 0 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
100) Timmy Hill(i) 66 5 1 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
101) Mason Maggio(i) 5 -1 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
102) Nick Leitz(i) 1 0 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
103) Conor Daly(i) 1 0 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
104) Greg Van Alst 2 0 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
104) Greg Van Alst 2 0 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
105) Kaden Honeycutt(i) 1 0 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
106) Cameron Lawrence 0 0 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
107) Jason White(i) 0 0 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
108) Dexter Bean 0 0 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
109) Camden Murphy 0 0 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
110) Andy Lally 0 0 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
111) Ryan Vargas(i) 0 0 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
112) Baltazar Leguizamon 0 0 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
113) Casey Carden 0 0 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
114) Mason Filippi(i) 0 0 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
115) Will Rodgers(i) 0 0 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
116) Boris Said 0 0 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
117) Mike Harmon 0 0 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
118) Colin Garrett(i) 0 0 0 -4040 0 0 0 0
-Ldr/-Nxt = Points behind Leader/Next higher, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series