BY: TIM MOORE
LONG POND, P.A. - The NASCAR Xfinity Series continued action Saturday afternoon , July 1, at Pocono Raceway for the Explore The Pocono Mountains 225. Cole Custer came away victorious securing his first win of the season.
"Whenever you get a win here it's such a big deal," Custer said. "Teams bring their best stuff and if you win here it really shows what you got. "
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The race began with Sheldon Creed of Joe Gibbs Racing on pole along with Brandon Jones of J.R. Motorsports on the front row as both drivers looked to secure their first win of the season. The battle was intense at the drop of the green, but things quickly came to a hault as Dawson Cram of Mike Harmon Racing lost control in turn one ending his day as he severely damaged the back of his car.
On lap nine, Justin Allgaier also on JRM showed his speed as he rocketed to the lead. This began pit strategy though as both his teammate Jones and Josh Berry of A.M. Racing hit the pits. Both went a lap down but unfortunately for Berry bad luck struck as he popped a left rear tire causing him to lose multiple laps. Allgaier stayed on the race track winning his 11th stage win of the season. As for Jones he finished the stage a lap down from the slow stop and earned the lucky dog putting five cars back on the lead lap for the second stage.
Between the stage Stewart-Haas's Cole Custer won the battle in the pits as he beat out Allgaier to beat the field to the exit, but bad luck hit JRM yet again. Allgaier got called for equipment interference sending him to the rear of the field for the green. Jesse Love of Richard Childress Racing stayed out however to assume the lead.
Stage 2 began with a side by side battle for the lead between Custer and Love, but ultimately Custer prevailed. Unfortunately like stage one the caution fell immediately again as Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron who was doing the double this weekend cut down a right rear tire bringing out a caution. Byron continued on with minimal Damage while remaining on the lead lap .
On lap 30 the race went back green with Custer firing on all cylinders straight out of the restart zone. Only Chandler Smith of JGR challenged on the first corner, but come the tunnel turn Custer quickly cleared and began to show dominance. With three laps to go in the stage strategy began again as Love and JRM's Sam Mayer pit to flip the stage. Unlike Jones and Berry in the first stage, both stayed on the lead lap and was in prime position for the front row to start stage three.
Under the caution it was defending race winner Austin Hill of RCR who pulled out a perfect stop winning the race out of the pits. However he did not lead the field to green as Byron, Our Motorsport's Anthony Alfredo, Love and Mayer all stayed out.
After what was seemingly was disaster in the middle of the stage for Byron became opportunity as he fired off with a clear lead. Just like both stages before though, both of Alpha Prime Racing' drivers of Ryan Ellis and Brennan Poole got tangled up with Jordan Anderson Racing's Parker Retzlaff and Young's Motorsports's Leland Honeyman bringing out the quick caution. Three drivers repaired damage and continued, Ellis's day came to an end however.
Chaos continued on the restart as this time Jesse Love rocketed out to the lead while Kaulig Racing's A.J. Allmendinger spun onto the apron in turn one. The race though stayed green as Allmendinger and Retzlaff cut down tires needing to pit to repair damage. Things shifted back to Byron on lap 54 as he took the lead back in a three wide battle between Love and Hill.
Lap 60 pit stops began and Love saw his day take a turn as he had an uncontrolled tire on the left front causing him to have a pass through. He was not the only one however as SHR's RIley Herbst got caught speeding also forcing him to take a pass through. Herbst resumed on the tail end of the lead lap in 33rd while Love was in the 35th position one lap down.
Justin Allgaier after the penalty decided to stay out to save fuel but got a caution he did not want to see. On lap 68 Joey Gace Racing's Stephen Mallozzi who was making his Xfinity Series debut at his home track came to a stop jumbling the field back up together. This forced the rest of the field who was still on track that felt they couldn't make it on fuel to pit. The caution also allowed Ryan Sieg Racing's Blaine Perkins to get back on the lead lap.
On lap 74 the race restarted with Allgaier and Alfredo on the front row with JRM's Sammy Smith and Cole Custer right behind. The caution though came right back out as out of the tunnel turn Jeremy Clements racing for his own team, and Mason Massey of SS Greenlight Racing collided. There would be under fifteen laps to go when the race went back green with Allgaier being tight on fuel.
With twelve laps left the green went back out with Allgaier and Custer back together on the front row. Allgaier immediately again jumped back out to the lead with Custer tight on his tail. Sheldon Creed and William Byron also began to close the gap, but the lead changed hands again as Custer took the lead just before the entry to turn 2 with nine laps remaining. The lead lasted short however as with seven laps to go Kaulig Racing's Shane Van Gisbergen spun in the tunnel turn while running in 10th after contact with Sam Mayer setting up for a four lap dash. SVG continued on, but the spin hurt a solid day for the fan favorite as after spending most of the race around the top 20, he gained the most spots of anyone before the incident.
On the restart Justin Allgaier took the lead out of one but Custer crossed him over into the tunnel turn taking the lead back. For Custer that was all he needed as he tip toed away to earn his first victory of the season, expanding his points lead to 51. It was also Ford's first win of the season.
UP NEXT:
The NASCAR Cup Series will take on the Tricky Triangle tomorrow Sunday, July 21, at 2:30 p.m. ET on USA Network. Young phenom Ty Gibbs will start on pole as he too looks for his first career win. Next Saturday, the Xfinity Series returns to action at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval. That race can also be found on USA at 3:30 p.m. keep up with all the action you can follow along on X @MrtsprtsToday as well as @Motorsportstoday on TikTok and Sports Speak on YouTube.
Comments