Cole Custer, driver of the No. 00 Ford Mustang, and Riley Herbst, driver of the No. 98 Mustang, both Xfinity Series regulars, were vying for position on the last lap at New Hampshire on Saturday, July 15th, 2023, but both crashed on the last lap and watched victory slip away. Neither driver was very happy, according to postrace interviews with Frontstretch.
Almost immediately after taking the white flag, Custer in the No. 00 NASCAR Ford was racing for third place with the No. 2 Chevy Camaro of Sheldon Creed, and the two made contact, forcing the latter into the wall while Custer’s No. 00 spun low and collected several competitors. He would ultimately finish 22nd after running with the leaders for most of the race. Herbst’s No. 98 Mustang was also swept into the accident, severely damaging his race car and relegating him to a 20th-place result.
“Yeah, I just felt like [Creed] tried to clear himself on me. He didn’t have me cleared, and I got shoved up a half lane out of the groove,” Custer explained. “I’m just trying to miss the wall and got loose on exit…I came down and hit him, and now we’re all wrecking. Sucks. We had a really fast car.”
Herbst had a different perspective. “We were really far back,” he said. “Just a bunch of smoke…I can’t really tell you much on the last lap.”
The wreck allowed John Hunter Nemecheck, driver of the No. 20 Toyota TRD Supra, to get away with the win, and the NASCAR Ford teams will have to find Victory Lane another day.
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 20 | John Hunter Nemechek | Persil Toyota | 206 | 137 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 2 | 1 | 16 | Chandler Smith # | Quick Tie Products Inc. Chevrolet | 206 | 10 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 3 | 8 | 21 | Austin Hill | Bennett Transportation Chevrolet | 206 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 4 | 11 | 11 | Daniel Hemric | Campers Inn RV Chevrolet | 206 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 5 | 7 | 18 | Sammy Smith # | TMC Toyota | 206 | 18 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 6 | 4 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | BRANDT Chevrolet | 206 | 27 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 7 | 20 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Rocky Chevrolet | 206 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 8 | 22 | 92 | Josh Williams | Sleep Well/Alloy Chevrolet | 206 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 9 | 12 | 25 | Brett Moffitt | AM Technical Solutions Ford | 206 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 10 | 33 | 8 | Mason Massey | BRUNT Ford | 206 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 11 | 5 | 9 | Brandon Jones | Menards/Watts Chevrolet | 206 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 12 | 21 | 91 | Alex Labbe | VR Victoriaville Chevrolet | 206 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 13 | 38 | 26 | Kaz Grala | Island Coastal Lager Toyota | 206 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 14 | 28 | 35 | Patrick Emerling | Chevrolet | 206 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 15 | 16 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Spartan Waste/Fox Sports 98.3 Chevrolet | 206 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 16 | 9 | 10 | Austin Dillon(i) | LA Golf Chevrolet | 206 | 4 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 17 | 3 | 8 | Josh Berry | Jarrett Logistics Systems Chevrolet | 206 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 18 | 10 | 1 | Sam Mayer | Accelerate Pros Talent Chevrolet | 206 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 19 | 29 | 43 | Ryan Ellis | Costa Oil Chevrolet | 206 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 20 | 14 | 98 | Riley Herbst | Monster Energy Ford | 206 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 21 | 17 | 2 | Sheldon Creed | Whelen Chevrolet | 205 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 22 | 6 | 00 | Cole Custer | HAAS Automation Ford | 205 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 23 | 26 | 28 | Kyle Sieg | Onsite Power Academy Ford | 205 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 24 | 24 | 6 | Brennan Poole | 511Auction.com Chevrolet | 204 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 25 | 32 | 02 | Blaine Perkins # | Inflatable Park Chevrolet | 203 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 26 | 25 | 24 | Connor Mosack | FW Webb Company Toyota | 203 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 27 | 23 | 4 | Kyle Weatherman | TEAMJDMOTORSPORTS.COM Chevrolet | 202 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 28 | 35 | 53 | CJ McLaughlin | SciAps Chevrolet | 201 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 29 | 19 | 19 | Joe Graf Jr. | Rocky's ACE Hardware Toyota | 196 | 8 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 30 | 31 | 38 | Chris Hacker(i) | Morgan & Morgan Ford | 195 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 31 | 13 | 31 | Parker Retzlaff # | FUNKAWAY Chevrolet | 190 | 2 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 32 | 15 | 48 | Parker Kligerman | Spiked Light Coolers Chevrolet | 70 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 33 | 37 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | CMRroofing.com Ford | 70 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 34 | 18 | 78 | Anthony Alfredo | Steele Group Chevrolet | 70 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 35 | 34 | 66 | Chad Finchum | Wild Willies Ford | 60 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 36 | 30 | 7 | Stefan Parsons | Ollie's/Rich Mar Florist Chevrolet | 48 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 37 | 27 | 44 | Rajah Caruth(i) | Circle Chevrolet | 47 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 38 | 36 | 45 | Greg Van Alst | CB Fabricating Chevrolet | 17 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
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