Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-45):
● Cole Custer started 10th, finished seventh. Earned four bonus points.
● Custer piloted the Thompson Pipe Group Ford inside the top-10 for the majority of the stage.
● He noted tight-handling conditions throughout the stage.
● Custer pitted at the conclusion of the stage for four tires, fuel and air pressure adjustments. He gained five positions on pit road.
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 46-90):
● Custer started second, finished 14th.
● Custer maintained his car inside the top-four until he was caught behind a loose-handling car on a lap-75 restart.
● During a lap-81 caution, Custer pitted for four tires and fuel along with the majority of the cars in the top-10. He restarted 17th.
Final Stage Recap (Laps 91-200):
● Custer started fourth, finished fourth.
● He continued to run inside the top-five, but noted tight-handling conditions during the first half of the stage.
● Crew chief Jeff Meendering radioed Custer to the pits on lap 142 for four tires and fuel. He was in the third position.
● After green-flag pit stops cycled through, Custer was scored in fourth place.
● Custer battled the Thompson Pipe Group Ford Mustang in the top-five for the remainder of the race and qualified for the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway next weekend.
Notes:
● This marks Custer’s third top-five at Texas, first top-five of the season and fourth straight top-10 of the season.
● This was Custer’s third straight top-five at Texas.
● This was Custer’s best Xfinity Series finish at Texas.
● Custer earned four bonus points in the My Bariatric Solutions 300.
● Only 10 of the 40 cars entered into the race finished on the lead lap.
● The race featured eight cautions for a total of 42 laps.
● Ryan Blaney won the My Bariatric Solutions 300 to score his seventh career Xfinity Series victory, first of the season and first at Texas. His margin of victory over second-place Christopher Bell was 2.327 seconds.
Cole Custer, driver of the No. 00 Thompson Pipe Group Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing With Biagi-DenBeste:
“I was happy with our day. We were definitely a top-three car today. Our Thompson Pipe Group Mustang just ran solid all day. It is pretty amazing to be able to compete in the Dash 4 Cash prize at Bristol and it’s a really awesome thing that Xfinity does for the series. You get to race hard and race for a lot of money. We are going to get after it. We have been good there in the past and I’m looking forward to going there and try to win $100,000 for our team. That would be pretty awesome.”
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300 on Saturday, April 14 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. The race starts at 1 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1.
