Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-85):
● Cole Custer started first, finished third. He earned eight bonus points.
● Custer piloted the Haas Automation Ford inside the top-three for the duration of the stage.
● He noted tight-handling conditions through the center and off of the turns.
● At the conclusion of the stage, Custer pitted for four tires, fuel and chassis adjustments.
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 86-170):
● Custer started sixth, finished 13th.
● Custer dropped to 22nd before the start of the stage because of a pit lane speeding penalty during the stage break.
● Custer powered his way back to the sixth position before an accident on lap-141 that brought out the red flag.
● When the green flag waved, Custer appeared to secure a third-place finish until contact with Elliot Sadler dropped him to 13th.
Final Stage Recap (Laps 171-300):
● Custer started 12th, finished eighth.
● Battled inside the top-five before reporting tight-handling conditions around lap 245.
● On lap 278, Custer made contact with the outside wall forcing the No. 00 Ford one lap down.
● After the final caution, crew chief Jeff Meendering made the call to stay out of the pits to allow Custer to regain the lead lap and finish inside the top-10.
Notes:
● Custer earned his and Stewart-Haas Racing with Biagi-DenBeste’s first Xfinity Series career pole.
● Custer was the third of four Dash 4 Cash drivers to cross the finish line.
● This was Custer’s third Xfinity Series race at Bristol.
● Twelve cautions slowed the race for 93 laps.
● This marks Custer’s second top-10 at Bristol and fifth top-10 of the season.
● Only 12 of the 40 drivers finished on the lead lap.
● Ryan Preece won the Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300 to score his second career Xfinity Series victory, first of the season and first at Bristol. His margin of victory over second-place Justin Allgaier was .856 seconds.
Cole Custer, driver of the No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing With Biagi-DenBeste:
“We were pretty fast at the start and I made a mistake speeding on pit road that put us behind. We worked hard and I thought we had a better shot at it, but we’ll move on to Richmond. The Haas Automation Ford ran well enough to give us our fifth straight top-10, so we’ll keep the momentum going.”
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the Richmond 250 on Friday, April 20 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway. The race starts at 7 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1.
TSC PR/Photo Jerry Markland/Getty Images
