It took 19 races, but defending NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Cole Custer finally picked up his first win of the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series season as he stormed to the lead with nine laps remaining in Saturday’s Explore the Pocono Mountains 225, and he never looked back.
Custer, who led 25 laps on the day and won Stage 2, held off Stage 1 winner Justin Allgaier by 0.670 sec. to secure the victory. William Byron came home in third, polesitter Sheldon Creed finished fourth, and Taylor Gray took his No. 19 car to a fifth-place finish.
Here are the complete race results from the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Explore the Pocono Mountains 225 at Pocono Raceway, race 19 of 33.
Explore the Pocono Mountains 225 Race Results
| Fin | St | No. | Driver | Team | Laps | Diff | Status | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | 00 | Cole Custer | Stewart-Haas Racing Haas Automation Ford | 90 | --- | Running | 59 |
| 2 | 3 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports Carolina Carports Chevrolet | 90 | 0.670 | Running | 46 |
| 3 | 6 | 17 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 90 | 0.862 | Running | 0 |
| 4 | 1 | 18 | Sheldon Creed | Joe Gibbs Racing Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota | 90 | 3.108 | Running | 38 |
| 5 | 4 | 19 | Taylor Gray | Joe Gibbs Racing Operation 300 Toyota | 90 | 3.427 | Running | 0 |
| 6 | 10 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing CELSIUS Chevrolet | 90 | 4.001 | Running | 42 |
| 7 | 11 | 21 | Austin Hill | Richard Childress Racing Global Industrial Chevrolet | 90 | 4.231 | Running | 43 |
| 8 | 15 | 48 | Parker Kligerman | Big Machine Racing Spiked Lite Tropical Coolers Chevrolet | 90 | 4.727 | Running | 29 |
| 9 | 9 | 8 | Sammy Smith | JR Motorsports Pilot Flying J Chevrolet | 90 | 5.713 | Running | 33 |
| 10 | 12 | 1 | Sam Mayer | JR Motorsports RTIC Outdoors Chevrolet | 90 | 5.853 | Running | 27 |
| 11 | 18 | 98 | Riley Herbst | Stewart-Haas Racing Monster Energy Ford | 90 | 6.79 | Running | 37 |
| 12 | 7 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | RSS Racing SciAps Ford | 90 | 7.042 | Running | 34 |
| 13 | 2 | 9 | Brandon Jones | JR Motorsports Menards / Cheez-It Chevrolet | 90 | 7.103 | Running | 24 |
| 14 | 16 | 5 | Anthony Alfredo | Our Motorsports Botticelli / Shop Rite Chevrolet | 90 | 7.296 | Running | 23 |
| 15 | 5 | 81 | Chandler Smith | Joe Gibbs Racing Smith General Contracting Toyota | 90 | 7.457 | Running | 39 |
| 16 | 25 | 26 | Corey Heim | Sam Hunt Racing Lehigh Valley Phantoms Toyota | 90 | 7.495 | Running | 0 |
| 17 | 20 | 10 | Daniel Dye | Kaulig Racing Champion Containers Chevrolet | 90 | 7.591 | Running | 0 |
| 18 | 22 | 11 | Josh Williams | Kaulig Racing Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet | 90 | 8.239 | Running | 19 |
| 19 | 34 | 20 | Ryan Truex | Joe Gibbs Racing Certified Collision Center Toyota | 90 | 8.588 | Running | 18 |
| 20 | 33 | 28 | Kyle Sieg | RSS Racing US Hydrations Ford | 90 | 8.765 | Running | 17 |
| 21 | 17 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Jordan Anderson Racing Puryear Tank Lines Chevrolet | 90 | 8.906 | Running | 16 |
| 22 | 19 | 2 | Jesse Love | Richard Childress Racing Whelen Chevrolet | 90 | 8.908 | Running | 15 |
| 23 | 21 | 91 | Kyle Weatherman | DGM Racing DriveSmartWarranty.com Chevrolet | 90 | 8.985 | Running | 14 |
| 24 | 23 | 38 | Matt DiBenedetto | RSS Racing Recycled Materials Association Ford | 90 | 9.126 | Running | 13 |
| 25 | 28 | 42 | Leland Honeyman | Young's Motorsports Randco Industries Chevrolet | 90 | 10.541 | Running | 12 |
| 26 | 27 | 44 | Brennan Poole | Alpha Prime Racing Members 1st Chevrolet | 90 | 10.76 | Running | 11 |
| 27 | 14 | 15 | Josh Berry | AM Racing VIVA Tequila Seltzer Ford | 90 | 11.026 | Running | 0 |
| 28 | 37 | 4 | Thomas Annunziata | JD Motorsports Teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet | 90 | 12.477 | Running | 9 |
| 29 | 31 | 14 | Mason Massey | SS-GreenLight Racing Real American Beer Chevrolet | 90 | 14.753 | Running | 0 |
| 30 | 24 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Jeremy Clements Racing Spartan Waste / FOX Sports 98.3 FM Chevrolet | 90 | 23.603 | Running | 7 |
| 31 | 26 | 97 | Shane Van Gisbergen | Kaulig Racing WeatherTech Chevrolet | 90 | 74.744 | Running | 6 |
| 32 | 13 | 31 | Parker Retzlaff | Jordan Anderson Racing FUNKAWAY Chevrolet | 89 | 1 lap | Running | 5 |
| 33 | 32 | 07 | Patrick Emerling | SS-GreenLight Racing Camelback Resorts Chevrolet | 89 | 1 lap | Running | 4 |
| 34 | 35 | 29 | Blaine Perkins | RSS Racing AutoParkit Ford | 72 | 18 laps | Out | 3 |
| 35 | 38 | 35 | Stephen Mallozzi | Joey Gase Motorsports Great Pocono Homes Chevrolet | 68 | 22 laps | Out | 0 |
| 36 | 30 | 43 | Ryan Ellis | Alpha Prime Racing Sweetwater Construction Corp Chevrolet | 47 | 43 laps | Out | 1 |
| 37 | 29 | 92 | Josh Bilicki | DGM Racing Rita's Ice Chevrolet | 8 | 82 laps | Out | 1 |
| 38 | 36 | 74 | Dawson Cram | Mike Harmon Racing 10 Mil Brewing Co. Chevrolet | 1 | 89 laps | Out | 0 |
Lead Changes
| Lead Change | No. | Driver | From | To | Total Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pole | 18 | Sheldon Creed | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| 1 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | 8 | 22 | 15 |
| 2 | 2 | Jesse Love | 23 | 25 | 3 |
| 3 | 00 | Cole Custer | 26 | 41 | 16 |
| 4 | 17 | William Byron | 42 | 50 | 9 |
| 5 | 2 | Jesse Love | 51 | 54 | 4 |
| 6 | 17 | William Byron | 55 | 61 | 7 |
| 7 | 21 | Austin Hill | 62 | 62 | 1 |
| 8 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | 63 | 66 | 4 |
| 9 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | 67 | 81 | 15 |
| 10 | 00 | Cole Custer | 82 | 90 | 9 |
Cautions / Incidents
| Caution | Lap | Description | Free Pass |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Dawson Cram incident Turn 1 | |
| 2 | 22 | Stage 1 end | 9 |
| 3 | 28 | Debris Turn 1 | 15 |
| 4 | 42 | Stage 2 end | 15 |
| 5 | 48 | Thomas Annunziata, Josh Berry, Kyle Sieg, Parker Retzlaff, Leland Honeyman, Ryan Ellis, Brennan Poole incident | |
| 6 | 70 | Stephen Mallozzi stalled backstretch | 29 |
| 7 | 76 | Mason Massey, Jeremy Clements incident Turn 2 | 98 |
| 8 | 84 | Sam Mayer, Shane van Gisbergen incident Turn 2 | 2 |
| 87 | Shane van Gisbergen incident frontstretch |
