Cole Custer Finishes Ninth at New Hampshire

Race Winner: Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) 

Stage 1 Winner: Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Stage 2 Winner: Brad Keselowski of Team Penske (Ford) 

 

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-45):

● Custer started fourth, finished seventh and earned four bonus points. 

● Due to a penalty from the pole sitter, Custer started the race in the third position. 

● He noted loose-handling conditions that caused him to fall to seventh place after seven laps. 

● Custer pitted for four tires, fuel and adjustments at the end of the stage. 

 

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 46-90):

● Custer started seventh, finished 13th.

● Custer noted that his previous loose-handling conditions were shifting to become tighter.

● After a lap-79 caution, Custer pitted for four fresh tires, fuel and more adjustments. 

● He restarted 13th and piloted his car in that position until the end of the stage. 

 

Final Stage Recap (Laps 91-200):

● Custer started third, finished ninth.

● Custer ran as high as second place in the final stage. 

● Due to handling issues, Custer fell outside the top-five.

● He pitted under green-flag conditions on lap 163 for four tires and fuel.

● After a final caution on lap 178, he restarted in eighth place and ran inside the top-10 before the checkered flag waved.

 

Notes:               

● This marks Custer’s 14th top-10 of the season and second at New Hampshire.

● Seven cautions slowed the race for 33 laps. 

● Only 18 of the 40 drivers finished on the lead lap.

● Christopher Bell won the Lakes Region 200 to score his third career Xfinity Series victory, third of the season and first at New Hampshire. His margin of victory over second-place Brad Keselowski was .416 of a second. 

 

Cole Custer, driver of the No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing With Biagi-DenBeste:       

“We fought it all day. We weren’t the best on the short run or the long run, so it was a struggle. We did whatever we could to keep track position and we did a good job there. We’ll try and make it better, but this is definitely not our strong suit.”

 

Next Up:           

The next event on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the U.S. Cellular 250 on Saturday, July 28 at Iowa Speedway in Newton. The race starts at 5 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBCSN.

 

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