Cole Custer bounced back from an early-race incident to win the Xfinity Series race at Bristol on September 20th, 2024. Not only did he win his second race of the season in the No. 00 NASCAR Ford Mustang Dark Horse, he soared ahead in the points to clinch the regular season title.
Custer tagged the wall early in the race, but suffered minimal damage to his No. 00 Mustang. His race car was blisteringly fast and recovered his lost positions with ease, ultimately making the race-winning pass on Lap 209 of 300. He went on to lead 104 laps, the most of any driver in the field on Friday night.
“This is huge, because our confidence was going down there the last month,” said Custer, reigning Xfinity Series champion. “It’s unbelievable. These guys never give up. It’s been a tough month, but to be able to lead into the Playoffs like this, we’re going to really bring it to them.”
Custer is one of two NASCAR Ford drivers who made the Xfinity Series Playoffs. The other is Riley Herbst, driver of the No. 98 Mustang, who finished 13th at Bristol. Ryan Sieg, driver of the No. 39 Mustang, finished eighth, but it wasn’t enough to propel him into the postseason championship fight. He missed the Playoffs by a mere 36 points.
The 12 drivers who will compete in the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs are as follows:
- Cole Custer, No. 00 Ford Mustang Dark Horse
- Justin Allgaier, No. 7 Chevy Camaro SS
- Austin Hill, No. 21 Chevy Camaro SS
- Chandler Smith, No. 81 Toyota TRD Supra
- Shane Van Gisbergen, No. 97 Chevy Camaro SS
- Jesse Love, No. 2 Chevy Camaro SS
- Sam Mayer, No. 1 Chevy Camaro SS
- Riley Herbst, No. 98 Ford Mustang Dark Horse
- Sheldon Creed, No. 18 Toyota TRD Supra
- AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Chevy Camaro SS
- Sammy Smith, No. 8 Chevy Camaro SS
- Parker Kligerman, No. 48 Chevy Camaro SS
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 00 | Cole Custer | HighPoint.com Ford | 300 | 104 | Ford Mustang |
| 2 | 14 | 18 | Sheldon Creed | Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota | 300 | 28 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 3 | 1 | 81 | Chandler Smith | Mobil 1 Toyota | 300 | 29 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 4 | 10 | 2 | Jesse Love # | Whelen Chevrolet | 300 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 5 | 16 | 20 | Ryan Truex | Toyota Genuine Parts Toyota | 300 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 6 | 8 | 9 | Brandon Jones | Menards/Pelonis Chevrolet | 300 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 7 | 13 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Hellmann's Chevrolet | 300 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 8 | 12 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | Sci Aps Ford | 300 | 5 | Ford Mustang |
| 9 | 20 | 1 | Sam Mayer | Carolina Carports Chevrolet | 300 | 55 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 10 | 5 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Barger Precast Chevrolet | 300 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 11 | 3 | 5 | Anthony Alfredo | Dumpkin Spice Dude Wipes Chevrolet | 300 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 12 | 7 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | One Stop/All South Electric Chevrolet | 300 | 17 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 13 | 15 | 98 | Riley Herbst | Monster Energy Ford | 300 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 14 | 17 | 21 | Austin Hill | Bennett Transportation Chevrolet | 300 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 15 | 21 | 8 | Sammy Smith | Pilot Flying J Chevrolet | 300 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 16 | 11 | 48 | Parker Kligerman | Big Machine Spiked Coolers Chevrolet | 300 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 17 | 29 | 44 | Brennan Poole | Cliff Bowman Chevrolet | 299 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 18 | 34 | 97 | Shane Van Gisbergen # | WeatherTech Chevrolet | 299 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 19 | 19 | 19 | Joe Graf Jr. | CoverSeal Toyota | 299 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 20 | 22 | 92 | Josh Bilicki | Rita's Ice Chevrolet | 299 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 21 | 32 | 11 | Josh Williams | Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet | 299 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 22 | 33 | 29 | Blaine Perkins | Caliber Steel Ford | 299 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 23 | 36 | 28 | Kyle Sieg | ReliableRVParts.Shop Ford | 299 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 24 | 26 | 43 | Ryan Ellis | Sweetwater Construction Corp Chevrolet | 299 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 25 | 25 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Fly Alliance/State Chevrolet | 299 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 26 | 9 | 91 | Kyle Weatherman | Crav'n Flavor Chevrolet | 298 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 27 | 35 | 15 | Logan Bearden | Mullis Construction Group Ford | 298 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 28 | 30 | 35 | Carson Ware | Key Heating and Cooling Chevrolet | 295 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 29 | 38 | 07 | Greg Van Alst | CB Fabricating Chevrolet | 292 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 30 | 4 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | BRANDT Chevrolet | 290 | 60 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 31 | 31 | 42 | Leland Honeyman # | Ohio Logistics Chevrolet | 290 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 32 | 18 | 14 | Chad Finchum | Elite Petroleum Ford | 280 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 33 | 23 | 45 | Stefan Parsons(i) | TruShine Car Wash Chevrolet | 276 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 34 | 24 | 38 | Matt DiBenedetto | ReMA Ford | 275 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 35 | 6 | 26 | Jeffrey Earnhardt(i) | K9 Grass by ForeverLawn Toyota | 205 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 36 | 37 | 53 | Garrett Smithley | Ford | 113 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 37 | 27 | 31 | Parker Retzlaff | The Visual Pak Companies Chevrolet | 51 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 38 | 28 | 32 | Austin Green | 3Dimensional.com Chevrolet | 50 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
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