Rain and yes, even snow, forced NASCAR to cancel all on-track activity at Auto Club Speedway on Saturday, February 25th, 2023, meaning that the Xfinity Series race was held on Sunday as soon as the checkered flag dropped on the Cup Series race. While a handful of Chevy racers battled a Toyota for the win near the end, the NASCAR Ford teams just couldn’t finish up front, enduring a mishap-filled race to take home a Blue Oval-best seventh-place finish, while many other Mustang racers finished deep in the field.
The No. 00 Ford Mustang of Cole Custer was arguably the best race car in the field. He led 46 laps, swept both Stage 1 and Stage 2, but a flat tire caused his race car to hit the wall on Lap 91. Custer’s No. 00 Mustang sustained heavy damage as the No. 10 Chevy Camaro of Austin Dillon couldn’t avoid him, and ultimately, Custer finished near the rear of the field one lap off the pace.
Overall, there were 10 caution periods that lasted 41 laps, especially toward the end of the race. Riley Herbst, driver of the No. 98 NASCAR Ford, managed to survive incident and finished seventh. The next-best Ford racer was the No. 25 Mustang of Brett Moffitt. Meanwhile, the No. 20 Toyota Supra of John Hunter Nemechek held off the field to take the win.
The Xfinity Series race was the last event to be held on Auto Club Speedway in its current form. NASCAR’s presence in Fontana, California is currently unclear. Much of the property on which the speedway sits has already been sold off, and there are current unconfirmed plans to reconfigure the two-mile oval into a half-mile short track, although NASCAR recently stated that it is currently evaluating market interest in continuing to hold events in the area.
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 20 | John Hunter Nemechek | Vons/Albertsons Toyota | 150 | 49 | Toyota Supra |
| 2 | 22 | 1 | Sam Mayer | Accelerate Pros Talent Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 3 | 3 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | BRANDT Chevrolet | 150 | 8 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 4 | 5 | 16 | Chandler Smith # | Quick Tie Products Inc Chevrolet | 150 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 5 | 19 | 8 | Josh Berry | Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Chevrolet | 150 | 3 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 6 | 1 | 21 | Austin Hill | Bennett Transportation Chevrolet | 150 | 4 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 7 | 6 | 98 | Riley Herbst | Monster Energy Ford | 150 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 8 | 15 | 10 | Austin Dillon(i) | LA Golf Chevrolet | 150 | 10 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 9 | 25 | 25 | Brett Moffitt | AM Technical Solutions Ford | 150 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 10 | 23 | 48 | Parker Kligerman | Big Machine Racing Spiked Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 11 | 14 | 19 | Joe Graf Jr. | CoverSeal Toyota | 150 | 0 | Toyota Supra |
| 12 | 35 | 11 | Daniel Hemric | Poppy Bank Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 13 | 29 | 26 | Kaz Grala | Fire Department Coffee Toyota | 150 | 0 | Toyota Supra |
| 14 | 16 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | CMRoofing.com Ford | 150 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 15 | 18 | 38 | Kyle Sieg | TopPools.com Ford | 150 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 16 | 9 | 92 | Josh Williams | Call 811/Alloy Employer Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 17 | 17 | 78 | Anthony Alfredo | Dude Wipes Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 18 | 11 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | PacWest First Pacific Funding Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 19 | 13 | 18 | Sammy Smith # | Pilot Flying J Toyota | 150 | 14 | Toyota Supra |
| 20 | 4 | 31 | Parker Retzlaff # | FUNKAWAY Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 21 | 20 | 45 | Rajah Caruth(i) | Circle Pay Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 22 | 7 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Contractor Rewards/State Water Heaters Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 23 | 31 | 2 | Sheldon Creed | Whelen Chevrolet | 150 | 15 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 24 | 38 | 91 | Ross Chastain(i) | JAG Metals LLC Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 25 | 30 | 6 | Brennan Poole | TeamJDMotorsports.com Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 26 | 26 | 44 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Jesus Revolution – The Movie Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 27 | 8 | 0 | Cole Custer | Production Alliance Group Ford | 149 | 46 | Ford Mustang |
| 28 | 28 | 28 | Alex Labbe | G Coin/LARUE Ford | 149 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 29 | 34 | 35 | Joey Gase | OneLegacy/CA Highway Patrol Toyota | 149 | 0 | Toyota Supra |
| 30 | 36 | 4 | Bayley Currey | KSDT CPA Chevrolet | 149 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 31 | 33 | 7 | Blaine Perkins # | AUTOParkit.com Chevrolet | 149 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 32 | 37 | 66 | Timmy Hill(i) | Klutch Vodka Ford | 149 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 33 | 10 | 9 | Brandon Jones | Menards/Patriot Lighting Chevrolet | 149 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 34 | 32 | 43 | Ryan Ellis | Costa Oil Chevrolet | 149 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 35 | 21 | 2 | David Starr | Our Motorsports Chevrolet | 148 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 36 | 24 | 24 | Tyler Reddick(i) | GearWrench Toyota | 148 | 0 | Toyota Supra |
| 37 | 27 | 53 | CJ McLaughlin | Sci Aps Chevrolet | 147 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 38 | 12 | 8 | Gray Gaulding | North South Machinery/Panini Ford | 26 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
Subscribe to Ford Authority for more Ford racing news, NASCAR news, and ongoing Ford news coverage.
No Comments yet