Custer Victorious In Xfinity Race At Chicagoland

by Paul Gohde

There was oppressive heat, Monster Energy Cup driver Joey Logano and a rough, tire eating Chicagoland Speedway track all standing in the way of Cole Custer Saturday as he tried to win his fourth Xfinity Series race of 2019: the Camping World 300.

But the Stewart Haas Ford driver didn’t let any of that get in his way, leading 151/200 laps to outrun Logano and Michael Annett on a humid, 90-degree day.

“It took a little bit of everything to beat Joey,” explained Custer, who is working on his driving game in hopes of moving up to a Cup series seat in the future. “They told me I had to be consistent to make the move up and today I worked on running high by the wall,” a groove that allowed him to retake the lead several times when he had fallen behind.

Logano, who has run well at Chicagoland in the past, was making his first Xfinity Series start of the season, and the pole-winner did lead 20 laps, but was somewhat in awe of Custer’s winning run. “Cole was definitely better; he didn’t make mistakes. He looked better just from his practice times,” noted the Team Penske Ford driver. “We were too far off when we unloaded. We’ll try to win tomorrow (in the Cup race).”

For much of the race Custer, Logano, Christopher Bell and Michael Annett battled to hold off a flock of drivers who wanted to join the leaders. But some bad luck slowed Austin Cindric (black-flagged for a loose window), Annett (pit road speeding penalty) and Brandon Jones during the latter stages, allowing the leaders to slip ahead.

Annett, whose JR Motorsports Chevrolet was among several teams running on a different pit strategy, almost made it work, but finally got much-needed fuel during a late-race caution and worked his way back to third (originally fourth) with Jones fifth and Cindric sixth.

Christopher Bell was flagged third at the finish, admitting that, “the car drove good all day, but we were on the edge of our balance and couldn’t move up any farther.” His Joe Gibbs Toyota was dropped to 38th spot however after failing post-race inspection, moving all the finishers behind him up one spot.

Tyler Reddick, who dropped out early, leaves Chicago with the series’ points lead (693), with Custer second (-71) and Bell third.

Custer, who enjoyed a cold towel after the hot race, hoped that his win might be a decision-maker for car-owner Gene Haas. “We had no trouble taking the lead back today and holding it at the end. It’s a matter of getting the little things better and maybe today we showed them some of that.”

Logano seemed to agree.

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