Cole Custer will roll from the pole in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Call811.com Before You Dig 250 at Martinsville Speedway, as he turned a 20.057 sec. lap in Friday’s qualifying session.
Custer’s fast lap in the No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang was 0.017 sec. faster than the time that John Hunter Nemechek laid down in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Tundra. This qualifying run will mark Custer’s second pole position of the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series season and it’s the 14th pole of his NASCAR Xfinity Series career.
Custer explains that qualifying at Martinsville is one of the most frightening things for drivers.
“It’s always very nerve-racking qualifying coming here in qualifying because you never know how good your tires are going to come in,” Custer said. “But it never feels great, but you hope when you they say your lap time afterward that it was a good one. Luckily, had a good one.”
While Custer is excited to have the pole for Saturday’s race, he understands that he is a long way away from snagging the win in this weekend’s race.
“This is a hard place. It’s not easy to get a trophy here, and a clock. You have to dodge a lot of bullets throughout the race,” Custer warned. “Hopefully, I can stay up front and doge all of them.”
Sheldon Creed and Parker Retzlaff will line up behind Custer and Nemechek in Row 2. For Retzlaff, this is his third start inside the top-15 this season. Sam Mayer recorded the fifth-fastest lap in qualifying in his No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro.
Josh Berry, Sammy Smith, Justin Allgaier, Riley Herbst and Brandon Jones will round out the top-10 starters in Saturday’s race.
40 cars were vying for 38 spots in the NASCAR Xfinity Series field, which meant that unfortunately, two cars did not make it into the show. Garrett Smithley, in the No. 4 JD Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro, and Chad Finchum in the No. 66 MBM Motorsports machine were the two drivers that failed to make the field.
Here is the complete starting lineup for the 2023 Call811.com Before You Dig 250 at Martinsville
Qualifying Results: 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series Call 811 Before You Dig 250 at Martinsville
