Cole Custer won Friday night’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway and clinched the regular season championship as well.
“Huge gift of momentum because our confidence was really going down the last month,” Custer told CW Sports post-race.
Custer’s win on Friday night at Bristol now gives him bonus points to carry into the playoffs after winning the regular season championship.
Custer heads into the playoffs as the reigning Xfinity Series champion and the 2024 regular season champion. Custer’s team Stewart-Haas Racing is closing down its doors following the end of the 2024 season. Gene Haas, however will keep one Cup series charter of which Cole Custer will run in 2025.
Rounding out the top five were Sheldon Creed in second, Chandler Smith in third, Jesse Love in fourth and Ryan Truex in tenth.
Sheldon Creed, who finished second marks his 11th career runner-up finish.
Rounding out the top ten were Brandon Jones in sixth, Dale Earnhardt Jr. in seventh, Ryan Sieg in eighth and AJ Allmendinger in tenth.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished seventh told the media in a press conference earlier in the day that Friday’s Xfinity series race could be his last race of his career as he has no races signed with his sponsor Hellman’s in 2025 but he did leave the door open of a possible race or two in 2026.
The 15-time NASCAR most popular driver had an eventful night but still managed to score a top ten. During the first stage, driver No.88 had no communication with his team due to an issue with the radio in his helmet, so he was forced to pit to change into a new helmet and four fresh tires. When Earnhardt Jr. switched helmets he forgot to get his eye glasses from his old helmet and would have to pit once again.
Earnhardt Jr., who turns 50 in October doesn’t plan on doing another Xfinity series race till 2026 due to his obligations with his new broadcast gig and the fact he had already fulfilled his obligations with his sponsor Hellman’s.
The NASCAR Xfinity series opens their playoffs Saturday, September 28th from Kansas Speedway at 4 p.m. Eastern on the CW.
Stage 1 Winner: Chandler Smith
Stage 2 Winner: Jeremy Clements
Race Winner: Cole Custer
- NCS: Alex Bowman leads Hendrick 1-2-3 in Bristol qualifying - September 21, 2024
- NXS: Cole Custer wins Xfinity series race at Bristol, claiming regular season Championship - September 21, 2024
- NCS: Joey Logano earns his spot in the Round of 12 with a win at Atlanta - September 9, 2024