With a track record like Cole Custer has at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the Stewart-Haas Racing driver enters the Contender Boats 300 as the clear-cut favorite for the victory – which would advance him to the Final Four in Phoenix.
Custer, driving the No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang, pulled no punches in time trials on Friday, scoring the pole position ahead of Sunday’s annual 300-mile contest at the 1.5-mile facility in Miami, Florida.
With a time of 32.608 seconds (165.604mph), Custer picked up his sixth NASCAR Xfinity Series pole of the year — and the 18th of his career, in the second of three races in the Xfinity Series Playoffs ‘Round of 8’.
John Hunter Nemechek will start alongside Custer in Saturday’s event at Homestead-Miami Speedway, after back-to-back weekends of starting at the rear of the field, due to mechanical issues suffered during practice.
Justin Allgaier will start from third place, while regular-season champion Austin Hill and Sammy Smith rounded out the top five. Brett Moffitt will start from sixth place in Saturday’s event, with Riley Herbst, Josh Berry, Sheldon Creed, and Parker Kligerman rounding out the top-10.
Chandler Smith (12th) and Sam Mayer (13th) were the only two playoff-eligible drivers to qualify outside the top-10 on Friday, which will put both drivers behind when the green flag drops in Saturday’s event.
With 41 drivers entered for Saturday’s Contender Boats 300, three drivers were sent packing from Homestead early, those being Matt Mills (#53 Emerling-Gase Motorsports), JJ Yeley (#4 JD Motorsports), and Natalie Decker (#07 SS GreenLight Racing).
Qualifying Results – 2023 Xfinity Series Contender Boats 300 at Homestead
Qualifying Results: 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series Contender Boats 300 at Homestead
