Defending NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Cole Custer is back in Victory Lane in the second-tier series for the first time in 19 races, holding off Justin Allgaier and William Byron to win Saturday’s Explore the Pocono Mountains 225 at Pocono Raceway.
The 26-year-old racer managed to maneuver his way around Justin Allgaier with nine laps remaining to take over the lead, defending against the JR Motorsports driver on multiple late-race restarts to earn his first victory of 2024.
“This means so much. These guys have worked so hard this year and just haven’t gotten that final result. It is awesome to get it here at Pocono. This is such an awesome race track that is hard to win at. I can’t thank all of them enough. An unbelievable car,” said Custer post-race. “Doug Yates gave us awesome Roush Yates horsepower. Ford, we got a win in the Ford Mustang Dark Horse finally. We are pumped about that. We are ready to try to carry this into the playoffs. I couldn’t be here without Gene Haas everyone at Haas Automation and everyone at Stewart-Haas Racing. It is an awesome day.”
It’s the 14th career win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for Custer, and his second at the 2.5-mile triangle-shaped racetrack. The victory also marks the first win of 2024 for Ford Performance in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Justin Allgaier attempted to regain the lead on the race’s final restart, but couldn’t quite make the charge stick, having to settle for a runner-up finish in his No. 7 Carolina Carports Chevrolet Camaro, after leading a race-high 30 laps.
William Byron, driving the part-time Xfinity Series entry for Hendrick Motorsports, finished third place at Pocono, after rebounding from an early tire issue. Byron was running inside the top five throughout the opening laps of the race, when the No. 17 experienced a puncture on the right-rear tire, dropping him outside the top-30.
Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Sheldon Creed and Taylor Gray rounded out the top five in Saturday’s 90-lap contest. Gray, a regular in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, recorded a solid finish in his first time working with Tyler Allen, who swapped over from the No. 20 Toyota GR Supra team for the first of four events this season.
AJ Allmendinger rebounded from a mid-race spin (which didn’t draw a caution) to finish in sixth, while Austin Hill, Parker Kligerman, Sammy Smith, and Sam Mayer completed the top-10 in the race’s finishing order.
RESULTS: 2024 NXS Explore The Pocono Mountains 225 at Pocono
With Pocono in the books and Cole Custer celebrating in Victory Lane, the Stewart-Haas Racing driver has now extended his regular-season points lead to 51 points over Justin Allgaier, who sits runner-up in points. Chandler Smith, Austin Hill, and now AJ Allmendinger complete the top-five in standings.
Next for the NASCAR Xfinity Series is a return to the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as the drivers will tackle the historic 2.5-mile oval in Indiana next weekend, along with the NASCAR Cup Series.
