Christopher Bell dominated the first two stages and took home two playoff points. That was while the sun was up, but with two slow pit stops, Bell needed a little help in the final stage. Unfortunately for the young Joe Gibbs Racing driver. Cole Custer, his biggest competition for the title was on the prowl.
The driver they call The General, Cole Custer took the lead with 89 laps and one more pit stop to go.
After a spirited battle with Chase Briscoe, Custer negotiated his Ford to the top spot, but plenty of time was left.
Sticky Stuff
The PJ1 traction compound was a big discussion prior to the race. Both for Cup and Xfinity, most drivers felt that it was going to have a bigger impact in turns three and four. After the race, Custer said the compound did have an impact, but it never really came in down in turns one and two. Custer adds that it did wear out pretty good, and isn’t sure what NASCAR will do in regards to reapplying the PJ1 for the cup race on Saturday.
As the night wore on, green flag pit stops were the name of the game with 50 laps to go. Bell and the other front runners pitted a lap prior to Custer and hoped new tires would close the gap. Custer came off of pit road and was coming up to speed as Christopher Bell and his No. 20 Toyota raced through turns one and two, as the pair reached turn three, the leaders were nose to tail. Bell pressured the back bumper of the double zero Ford, but clean air was big. “I’m not sure, if I could have gotten by him (Bell, had he gotten the lead). Custer added. Clean air was so important, but I believe we had a good enough car to do it.”
That’s win number five for the 21 year old Stewart-Haas Racing driver. While they say it’s one race at a time. Many believe this is the team to beat for the championship. But, for Custer and crew chief, Mike Shipplet. “We’ve got a lot of racing left to go. “We’ll think about Homestead, when we get to Homestead. Shipplet said after the race.