Cole Custer, driver of the No. 00 NASCAR Ford Mustang, started from the pole for the Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas on March 2nd, 2024. His race car was fast all day, but not fast enough to reel in the race winner when it mattered most.
Custer spent some time mired in the pack before nosing back into second place after the final round of green-flag pit stops. However, he wasn’t able to track down John Hunter Nemechek, who took off in the No. 20 Toyota TRD Supra and put almost five seconds between his race car and Custer’s NASCAR Ford machine at the checkered flag.
Custer surmised that 70 mph winds in the Mojave that day might have played a role in how his race car handled.
“It’s definitely not ideal, you know,” he said in an interview. “The biggest thing is just making sure you don’t over-drive the corner, because Turn 3, you’re going in there five to ten miles an hour faster than what we normally would so you have to really stay disciplined on just not going that little bit too much because you’ll miss the corner and cost yourself three-tenths.”
Ryan Sieg also put up a decent fight against the weather and other cars on track, bringing his No. 39 NASCAR Ford home in seventh place.
Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 12 | 20 | John Hunter Nemechek(i) | Safeway/Albertsons Toyota | 200 | 99 | Toyota TRD Supra |
2 | 1 | 00 | Cole Custer | Production Alliance Group Ford | 200 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
3 | 2 | 81 | Chandler Smith | QuickTie Toyota | 200 | 74 | Toyota TRD Supra |
4 | 5 | 21 | Austin Hill | Bennett Transportation Chevrolet | 200 | 6 | Chevrolet Camaro |
5 | 11 | 98 | Riley Herbst | Monster Energy Ford | 200 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
6 | 3 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Action Industries Chevrolet | 200 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
7 | 6 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | Sci Aps Ford | 200 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
8 | 8 | 8 | Sammy Smith | Pilot Flying J/BTI Chevrolet | 200 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
9 | 13 | 9 | Brandon Jones | Menards/Jeld-Wen Chevrolet | 200 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
10 | 36 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | BRANDT Chevrolet | 200 | 11 | Chevrolet Camaro |
11 | 7 | 48 | Parker Kligerman | Spiked Lite Coolers Chevrolet | 200 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
12 | 10 | 19 | Aric Almirola | He Gets Us Toyota | 200 | 0 | TOyota TRD Supra |
13 | 16 | 26 | Corey Heim(i) | GearWrench Toyota | 200 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
14 | 32 | 11 | Josh Williams | Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet | 199 | 10 | Chevrolet Camaro |
15 | 28 | 15 | Hailie Deegan # | AirBox Ford | 199 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
16 | 37 | 5 | Anthony Alfredo | Dude Wipes Chevrolet | 199 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
17 | 15 | 2 | Jesse Love # | Whelen Chevrolet | 199 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
18 | 19 | 42 | Leland Honeyman # | LH Waterfront Construction Chevrolet | 199 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
19 | 18 | 44 | Brennan Poole | Macc Door Systems Chevrolet | 199 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
20 | 27 | 28 | Kyle Sieg | TOPPOOL.com Ford | 199 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
21 | 20 | 91 | Kyle Weatherman | DriveSmartWarranty.com Chevrolet | 199 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
22 | 23 | 43 | Ryan Ellis | Classic Collision Chevrolet | 199 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
23 | 21 | 27 | Jeb Burton | State Water Heaters Chevrolet | 198 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
24 | 22 | 14 | JJ Yeley | Chevrolet | 198 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
25 | 17 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | First Pacific Funding Chevrolet | 197 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
26 | 9 | 18 | Sheldon Creed | Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota | 197 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
27 | 31 | 92 | Nick Leitz | Precision Measurements Inc Chevrolet | 197 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
28 | 30 | 07 | Patrick Emerling | Frontline Optics Chevrolet | 196 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
29 | 33 | 6 | Garrett Smithley | Teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet | 195 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
30 | 38 | 35 | Joey Gase | Nevada Donor Network Chevrolet | 195 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
31 | 29 | 29 | Blaine Perkins | AutoParkit.com Ford | 195 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
32 | 24 | 78 | BJ McLeod | BJ McLeod Motorsports Chevrolet | 195 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
33 | 34 | 38 | CJ McLaughlin | Viking Motorsports Ford | 194 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
34 | 26 | 4 | Dawson Cram # | KSDT CPA Chevrolet | 192 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
35 | 4 | 31 | Parker Retzlaff | FUNKAWAY Chevrolet | 115 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
36 | 35 | 32 | Sage Karam | EasyCare Chevrolet | 104 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
37 | 25 | 97 | Shane Van Gisbergen # | Focused Health Chevrolet | 27 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
38 | 14 | 1 | Sam Mayer | Club Car Chevrolet | 7 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
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