Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-75):
● Custer started first, finished third and earned eight bonus points.
● Custer held the Code 3 Associates Ford in the lead for the first 43 laps of Stage 1.
● After a lap-64 caution, Custer restarted fourth and moved up to third before the stage ended.
● He pitted for four tires and fuel at the conclusion of the stage.
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 76-150):
● Custer started eighth, finished fifth and earned six bonus points.
● Five cars pitted before the conclusion of Stage 1, putting Custer in the eighth position.
● Custer was caught in traffic on the restart and noted loose-handling conditions when he got back to the gas.
●Custer took four tires, fuel and air pressure adjustments at the conclusion of the stage.
Final Stage Recap (Laps 151-250):
●Custer started eighth, finished sixth.
● During the pit stop at the end of Stage 2, the No. 00 team received a penalty for an uncontrolled tire and forced Custer to the rear of the field.
● Following a lap-164 caution, Custer powered his way back into the top-10 in less than 10 laps.
● Custer continued to wheel the Code 3 Associates Ford through the field and fought his way up to sixth when the race concluded.
Notes:
● Custer earned his and Stewart-Haas Racing with Biagi-DenBeste’s second straight pole.
● This marks Custer’s second Xfinity Series top-10 at Richmond and sixth straight top-10 of the season.
● Custer earned 14 bonus points in the Richmond 250.
● Custer led once for a total of 43 laps.
● Five cautions slowed the race for 49 laps.
● Only 15 of the 40 drivers finished on the lead lap.
● No NASCAR Cup Series drivers were entered in the Richmond 250.
● Christopher Bell won the Richmond 250 to score his second career Xfinity Series victory, first of the season and first at Richmond. His margin of victory over second-place Noah Gragson was .423 seconds.
Cole Custer, driver of the No. 00 Code 3 Associates Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing With Biagi-DenBeste:
“We had such a fast car. At the start of the race we were really good and then the middle stage we were a little bit off. We made the Code 3 Associates Ford pretty good there at the end, but we got that penalty, which I guess was a little bit of a close call. We’ll look at it but it’s just frustrating because I think we had a really good car. I’ve got to thank everybody at Code 3 and hopefully come back better next time.”
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the Sparks Energy 300 on Saturday, April 28 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. The race starts at 3 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX.
TSC PR/Photo Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
