Date: Aug. 19, 2023
Event: Shriners Children’s 200 (Round 23 of 33)
Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series
Location: Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International (2.45-mile, seven-turn road course)
Format: 82 laps, broken into three stages (20 laps/20 laps/42 laps)
Note: Race extended four laps past its scheduled 82-lap distance due to a green-white-checkered finish.
Race Winner: Sam Mayer of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Ty Gibbs of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: Ty Gibbs of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
SHR Race Finish:
● Cole Custer (Started 4th / Finished 7th, completed 86 of 86 laps)
● Riley Herbst (Started 10th / Finished 35th, completed 37 of 86 laps)
SHR Points:
● Cole Custer (4th with 775 points, 111 out of first)
● Riley Herbst (10th with 610 points, 276 out of first)
SHR Notes:
● Custer earned his 14th top-10 of the season and his third top-10 in five career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Watkins Glen.
● Custer has never finished outside the top-12 at Watkins Glen in the Xfinity Series.
● This was Custer’s fifth straight top-12 at Watkins Glen.
● This was Custer’s second straight top-10. He finished sixth last Saturday at the Indianapolis road course.
● Custer finished ninth in Stage 1 to earn two bonus points and fifth in Stage 2 to earn six more bonus points.
● Custer led once for one lap – his first laps led at Watkins Glen.
● Herbst finished eighth in Stage 1 to earn three bonus points.
Race Notes:
● Sam Mayer won the Shriners Children’s 200 to score his second career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory, his second of the season and his first at Watkins Glen. His margin over second-place Sheldon Creed was .909 of a second.
● There were five caution periods for a total of 18 laps.
● Twenty-one of the 38 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
● Austin Hill leaves Watkins Glen as the championship leader with a nine-point advantage over second-place John Hunter Nemechek.
Sound Bites:
“We had a fast No. 00 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang today. To go from dead last to ninth at the end of the first stage was huge and just showed the amount of speed we had. We probably could’ve competed for a win with the No. 19 with the speed we had, but you know, it’s hard to say. Overall, we just had a really fast car, and the guys did a great job putting it together. We were in position to go for the win when we were passing the No. 17, and I just pushed too hard. I should’ve been smarter, but that’s part of it. I would’ve liked to have the trophy, but the good news is that we have a fast racecar heading into these final races of the regular season.“ – Cole Custer, driver of the No. 00 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang
“I hate that these kind of things keep taking us out of races. The car was just acting up all day from practice until now. Just landed into the carousel too hard on that last lap, and the trackbar mount where it’s welded to the fuel cell just broke in half. It took us out. As far as the points situation, it’s just frustrating. I don’t think we should be in this position as it is, to be honest. Luckily, next week isn’t the cutoff race for us to make the playoffs, and we have some good tracks for us coming up, so I’m excited. It’s hard that things like this keep taking us out. Our luck will turn around one day, and when it does, we’ll be happy.“ – Riley Herbst, driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the Daytona 250 on Friday, Aug. 25 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. The race begins at 7:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by USA and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
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