The No. 00 NASCAR Ford Mustang of Cole Custer was able to hang close to the leaders at during the Xfinity Series race at the Charlotte Roval on October 7th, 2023, but unfortunately, his car didn’t handle quite right when he needed it to. Instead, Custer settled for a second-place result while the No. 1 Chevy Camaro of Sam Mayer darted across the finish line in first.
On a restart on Lap 63, Custer took the green flag ahead of Mayer, but he was passed a short while later as the Chevy driver muscled around him in Turns 3 and 4. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to regain the position.
“We struggled on the short run, for sure,” Custer said after the race. “It’s frustrating. There are definitely things on the replay I could have done different, but our guys did a great job all day, getting our car to where we could compete for a win – but we just needed a little more.”
Even so, Custer advances into the Round of 8 – although as it stands right now, that’s as far as he’ll get, as he’s below the cutoff line that will determine which four drivers are able to compete in the 2023 Xfinity Series championship. He’s currently the only NASCAR Ford driver still eligible for the Playoffs.
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1 | Sam Mayer (P) | Accelerate Pros Talent Chevrolet | 67 | 50 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 2 | 7 | 00 | Cole Custer (P) | Haas Automation Ford | 67 | 4 | Ford Mustang |
| 3 | 3 | 8 | Josh Berry (P) | High Rock Vodka Chevrolet | 67 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 4 | 9 | 98 | Riley Herbst | Monster Energy Ford | 67 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 5 | 14 | 26 | Kaz Grala | CRUSH Strawberry Lemonade Toyota | 67 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 6 | 6 | 48 | Parker Kligerman (P) | Spiked Light Coolers Chevrolet | 67 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 7 | 4 | 10 | Daniel Hemric (P) | Action Industries Chevrolet | 67 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 8 | 38 | 20 | John Hunter Nemechek (P) | Mobil 1 Toyota | 67 | 2 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 9 | 8 | 21 | Austin Hill (P) | Bennett Transportation Chevrolet | 67 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 10 | 5 | 2 | Sheldon Creed (P) | Whelen/Team Fox Chevrolet | 67 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 11 | 22 | 18 | Sammy Smith # (P) | Pilot Flying J Toyota | 67 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 12 | 17 | 16 | Chandler Smith # (P) | Barger Precast/Quick Tie Products Inc. Chevrolet | 67 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 13 | 25 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | Sci Aps Ford | 67 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 14 | 31 | 19 | Myatt Snider (P) | Tree Top Toyota | 67 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 15 | 10 | 91 | Alex Labbe | Chevrolet | 67 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 16 | 12 | 11 | Jordan Taylor | LA Golf Chevrolet | 67 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 17 | 32 | 6 | Brennan Poole | Azalea Gynecology Chevrolet | 67 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 18 | 29 | 08 | Stefan Parsons | Miller Street Dance Academy Chevrolet | 67 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 19 | 28 | 44 | Rajah Caruth(i) | Circle Chevrolet | 67 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 20 | 33 | 92 | Josh Williams | Alloy Employer/Call 811 Chevrolet | 67 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 21 | 26 | 45 | Leland Honeyman | Eighth Order Chevrolet | 67 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 22 | 23 | 31 | Parker Retzlaff # | FUNKAWAY Chevrolet | 67 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 23 | 15 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Kevin Whitaker Chevrrolet Chevrolet | 67 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 24 | 16 | 24 | Connor Mosack | Sherry Strong Toyota | 67 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 25 | 18 | 07 | Josh Bilicki | Engine Parts Plus Ford | 67 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 26 | 13 | 4 | Kyle Weatherman | TeamJDMotorsports.com Chevrolet | 67 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 27 | 20 | 66 | Sage Karam | Custom Patch Hats Ford | 67 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 28 | 24 | 02 | Blaine Perkins # | Gratis Chevrolet | 67 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 29 | 11 | 9 | Brandon Jones | Menards/Pentair Myers Chevrolet | 67 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 30 | 21 | 78 | Anthony Alfredo | Blue Otter Polarized Chevrolet | 67 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 31 | 35 | 38 | Joe Graf Jr. | G-Coin Ford | 67 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 32 | 36 | 28 | Kyle Sieg | Ford | 67 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 33 | 37 | 35 | Alex Guenette | National Fire Protection Association Toyota | 67 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 34 | 19 | 27 | Jeb Burton (P) | Fly Alliance/Puryear Chevrolet | 66 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 35 | 34 | 53 | Conor Daly(i) | National Fire Protection Association Chevrolet | 66 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 36 | 30 | 43 | Ryan Ellis | Southern Elevator Chevrolet | 63 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 37 | 2 | 7 | Justin Allgaier (P) | BRANDT/BRANDT Foundation Chevrolet | 60 | 10 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 38 | 27 | 25 | Brett Moffitt | Superior Pools & Spas Ford | 40 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
P – Playoffs eligible
Subscribe to Ford Authority for more Ford racing news, NASCAR news, and ongoing Ford news coverage.
No Comments yet