Cole Custer previously competed at the Cup Series level before taking control of the No. 00 NASCAR Ford Mustang in the Xfinity Series in 2023. He showed the racing world that he’s still got it, piloting the race car to the win at Phoenix Raceway on November 4th, 2023 and earning the overall Xfinity Series championship.
Custer and other championship contenders took it three-wide on a late-race Overtime restart, going side-by-side with the No. 7 Camaro of Justin Allgaier and the No. 2 Camaro of Sheldon Creed in a bid for the top spot. Custer was able to eke ahead of the others and held onto the lead as the while flag fell, leading Allgaier by 0.601 seconds on his way to the win.
“I thought it was over,” said Custer after the race. “I mean, went from first to third, and I was able to shift the car all night. And Doug Yates’ horsepower worked out, pulled me off the corner. I can’t believe we won that thing after going back to third on that restart.”
When asked about returning to the Xfinity Series after a less-than-successful Cup Series stint, Custer said, “You get knocked down a little bit and you just want to prove that you can go out there and do it. I think these guys have just really always believed in me all year and I just can’t thank them enough for giving me really fast race cars and still believing in me when things weren’t going great.”
He added, “That was crazy. Having it three-wide there at the end. I can’t believe we went from third to first there when we dropped back. Man, it was such a fast car.”
His championship win marks the seventh time a NASCAR Ford team has won the Xfinity Series, and is the second for his race team, Stewart-Haas Racing. He was also part of a Blue Oval sweep of all three of NASCAR’s top divisions, joining Ryan Blaney’s Cup Series championship win and Ben Rhodes’ Truck Series victory.
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | 00 | Cole Custer (P) | Haas Automation Ford | 202 | 96 | Ford Mustang |
| 2 | 5 | 2 | Sheldon Creed | Whelen Chevrolet | 202 | 4 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 3 | 8 | 7 | Justin Allgaier (P) | BRANDT Chevrolet | 202 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 4 | 9 | 98 | Riley Herbst | Monster Energy Ford | 202 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 5 | 16 | 1 | Sam Mayer (P) | Accelerate Pros Talent Chevrolet | 202 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 6 | 15 | 8 | Josh Berry | Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Chevrolet | 202 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 7 | 2 | 21 | Austin Hill | Bennett Transportation Chevrolet | 202 | 21 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 8 | 6 | 16 | Chandler Smith # | Quick Tie Products Inc. Chevrolet | 202 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 9 | 1 | 18 | Sammy Smith # | Pilot Flying J Toyota | 202 | 11 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 10 | 24 | 26 | Kaz Grala | Ruedebusch Toyota | 202 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 11 | 20 | 9 | Brandon Jones | Menards/Tuscany Faucets Chevrolet | 202 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 12 | 18 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Bommarito.com/EasyCare Chevrolet | 202 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 13 | 14 | 31 | Parker Retzlaff # | FUNKAWAY Chevrolet | 202 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 14 | 13 | 17 | Rajah Caruth(i) | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 202 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 15 | 19 | 25 | Brett Moffitt | AM Technical Solutions Ford | 202 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 16 | 30 | 48 | Parker Kligerman | Spiked Light Coolers Chevrolet | 202 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 17 | 21 | 91 | Kyle Weatherman | Fanttik Chevrolet | 202 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 18 | 11 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | Sci Aps Ford | 202 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 19 | 17 | 07 | Dawson Cram | TITAN CONSTRUCTION Chevrolet | 202 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 20 | 25 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Impel Union Chevrolet | 202 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 21 | 12 | 10 | Daniel Hemric | Action Industries Chevrolet | 202 | 4 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 22 | 4 | 19 | Myatt Snider | Tree Top Toyota | 202 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 23 | 34 | 45 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | ForeverLawn Chevrolet | 202 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 24 | 38 | 78 | Anthony Alfredo | RTIC Chevrolet | 202 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 25 | 26 | 92 | Josh Williams | Seacrest Studios/ALLOY Chevrolet | 202 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 26 | 27 | 43 | Ryan Ellis | Spider Energy Drink Chevrolet | 202 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 27 | 28 | 35 | Joey Gase | Donate Life Arizona Ford | 202 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 28 | 3 | 20 | John Hunter Nemechek (P) | Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota | 202 | 66 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 29 | 29 | 6 | Brennan Poole | KSDT CPA Chevrolet | 202 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 30 | 33 | 66 | Timmy Hill(i) | Angry Crab Shack Ford | 200 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 31 | 37 | 28 | Joe Graf Jr | Bucked Up Ford | 200 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 32 | 32 | 02 | Blaine Perkins # | Gratis Chevrolet | 200 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 33 | 36 | 4 | Stefan Parsons(i) | Jupiter Rings Buffalo Sauce Chevrolet | 194 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 34 | 10 | 24 | Connor Mosack | Toyota Outfitters Toyota | 180 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 35 | 31 | 53 | Chris Hacker(i) | Morgan & Morgan Chevrolet | 178 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 36 | 35 | 08 | JJ Yeley | Fan Controlled/Safelite Ford | 101 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 37 | 23 | 11 | Derek Kraus(i) | Western States Flooring Chevrolet | 84 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 38 | 22 | 38 | Kyle Sieg | JW Sports Cards Ford | 14 | 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