Cole Custer, defending champion and driver of the No. 00 NASCAR Ford Mustang Dark Horse in the Xfinity Series, was oh-so-close to victory once again on Saturday, June 29th, 2024. Unfortunately, he surrendered the lead on the final restart after driving too deep into Turn 1, and could only watch as a Toyota went on to win.
Custer washed up the track on the final restart, giving John Hunter Nemecheck, driver of the No. 20 Toyota TRD Supra, the opening he needed to get by. Custer floundered and attempted to get back up front, but the Toyota was just too quick, and Custer had to settle for ninth after his mistake.
“I think I overdrove on that restart a little bit into Turn 1,” Custer explained. “There’s a couple things I could have done better. Everyone’s got dirty air, and man, it was hard to make speed. I felt like we were solid when we were in the top three cars, but once we got back there, it was tough to get the car to handle.”
He added, “I can’t say enough about our guys. We’re bringing cars that compete for wins every week, it’s just heartbreaking every week not to win. We’re bringing good cars and leading laps, we’ll get it eventually. We’ll keep digging.”
Noah Gragson, driver of the No. 30 NASCAR Ford, led The Blue Oval at Nashville, finishing fifth. Meanwhile, the sixth-place No. 98 Mustang of Riley Herbst finished well despite a cooling suit malfunction that left poor Herbst to deal with the Tennessee heat inside the cockpit without relief.
Up front, Nemechek went on to win.
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 | 20 | John Hunter Nemechek(i) | Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota | 188 | 76 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 2 | 8 | 81 | Chandler Smith | Barger Precast Toyota | 188 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 3 | 38 | 2 | Jesse Love # | C4 Ultimate Energy Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 4 | 5 | 21 | Austin Hill | Global Industrial Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 5 | 7 | 30 | Noah Gragson(i) | Priestly Demolition Ford | 188 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 6 | 9 | 98 | Riley Herbst | Monster Energy Ford | 188 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 7 | 4 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Celsius Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 8 | 6 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | Hellmann's/On Track to Read Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 9 | 2 | 00 | Cole Custer | Haas Automation Ford | 188 | 64 | Ford Mustang |
| 10 | 24 | 1 | Sam Mayer | Huck's Market Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 11 | 3 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | Sci Aps Ford | 188 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 12 | 30 | 88 | Carson Kvapil | Clarience Technologies Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 13 | 13 | 9 | Brandon Jones | Menards/Best Air Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 14 | 11 | 26 | Tyler Reddick(i) | Yahoo! Toyota | 188 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 15 | 28 | 97 | Shane van Gisbergen # | WeatherTech Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 16 | 10 | 48 | Parker Kligerman | Spiked Lite Coolers Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 17 | 21 | 31 | Parker Retzlaff | FUNKAWAY Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 18 | 17 | 5 | Anthony Alfredo | Dude Mint Chill Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 19 | 19 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Hawkins Homes/Screaming Eagle Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 20 | 1 | 19 | Ty Gibbs(i) | He Gets Us Toyota | 188 | 48 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 21 | 18 | 44 | Brennan Poole | Macc Door Systems Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 22 | 16 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | All South Electric/One Stop Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 23 | 23 | 43 | Ryan Ellis | Classic Collision Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 24 | 26 | 11 | Josh Williams | Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet | 187 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 25 | 25 | 42 | Leland Honeyman # | Hardscape Contractors Chevrolet | 187 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | Kyle Sieg | Reliable RV Parts and Service Ford | 187 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 27 | 20 | 92 | Ross Chastain(i) | Use Your Melon Chevrolet | 187 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 28 | 31 | 15 | Hailie Deegan # | AirBox Ford | 187 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 29 | 22 | 38 | Matt DiBenedetto | Rema Ford | 187 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 30 | 12 | 8 | Sammy Smith | Pilot Flying J Chevrolet | 187 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 31 | 29 | 91 | Kyle Weatherman | DriveSmartWarranty.com Chevrolet | 186 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 32 | 37 | 35 | Logan Bearden | Key Heating and Cooling Chevrolet | 185 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 33 | 14 | 18 | Sheldon Creed | Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota | 185 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 34 | 35 | 14 | Chad Finchum | Ted Russell Ford of Knoxville Ford | 184 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 35 | 34 | 29 | Blaine Perkins | AutoParkit.com Ford | 184 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 36 | 36 | 6 | Garrett Smithley | Trophy Tractor Chevrolet | 183 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 37 | 32 | 4 | Dawson Cram(i) | Wilderness at the Smokies Chevrolet | 183 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 38 | 33 | 07 | Patrick Emerling | 70 Acre Farm Motorsports Chevrolet | 183 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
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