It couldn’t get any better in the Xfinity Series finale at Phoenix! In the end, it was a long-time veteran versus the defending champion. What a story it has been in the final stages, Justin Allgaier in his 7th championship 4 race and Cole Custer going for a back-to-back as SHR’s last championship hope before they shut operations. Naturally, with the stakes so high, it was going to become a high-octane thriller. And that’s exactly what it was!

Allgaier is the 2024 champion as Custer finished in P2, followed by Austin Hill in 3rd and AJ Allmendinger taking up 4th. While Allgaier showed his race prowess, you have got to feel it for Custer, who came so close to a second championship, inches away from joining the elite club of back-to-backers in the Xfinity. At the end of the race, the #00 driver smiled through the disappointment, as he knew the championship was in his grasp, missing out on giving the veteran SHR team a well-deserved farewell.

Cole Custer misses out on SHR’s last championship chance

The dramatic finish commenced with 7 laps to go when Custer was leading and Allgaier was up against his bumper. However, on the very next lap, Allgaier took the inside line and passed the SHR driver to take the lead in the championship battle. As the JR Motorsports driver held to the lead, a caution flag was raised when Leland Honeyman in the #42 car spun. The story was in for another twist as the championship drivers pitted for fresher tires. Austin Hill, having exhausted all his fresh sets got the scrums on the right and was the fastest to get out in P1, followed by Custer and then Allgaier with all fresh tires.

On the restart, all three drivers chose the top line and stacked behind each other, with Hill trying to defend both. But Allgaier, showing his prowess, quickly took the inside line, passing both for the lead. But Cole Custer could not pass Hill as the two dropped outside the top 5 with another caution. After the final restart of the race, Allgaier, leading, was passed by Riley Herbst for the checkered flag, but a P2 was enough to bag the championship. Custer finished 8th in the race, followed by Hill in 10th.

Naturally, the #00 driver was disappointed but accepted the results congratulating Allgaier for his brilliant run. Custer said, “I can’t say congratulations enough to Justin and all those guys he’s definitely a deserving champion. They were fast all night. I hate that it came down to tire strategies and stuff like that. I mean I can’t say enough about our group, everything they have done of the last few years, I just wish we could have ended it with a championship for SHR. It just wasn’t meant to be on those restarts, I’ll try to find if somehow I could have done it better.”

Custer lost his contention on that first restart when Hill was leading. Had he picked the inside line, he would have probably ended up ahead of the #7. The SHR driver, examining if he could have done anything on the restart, said, “Oh for sure. I think any driver can do a little something different. I tried to go high, I tried to go through the middle, I tried to go everywhere I could, but he made his car pretty wide, which is his right. I mean we are all going for the championship. It just sucks that it ended up screwing us over worse than it did to the 7 (Justin Allgaier) and he was able to slip by,” He added.

The California native is now headed for the Cup Series in the 2025 season as he will pilot the one-driver Hass Factory Team. While Custer was disappointed in giving Tony Stewart a well-deserved farewell, a high teammate made sure to end SHR’s Xfinity season on a high note.

Riley Herbst wins the Xfinity Series finale, while his future is uncertain

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In the last lap of the race, Herbst chased down Justin Allgaier to take the checkered flag and his third Xfinity win. Even though Herbst wasn’t in championship contention, he was the most dominant driver in the race. After starting the race in P3, he also won both stages of the race. And with SHR shutting down, the #98 dedicated his win to all the employees of the veteran team.

Post the race Herbst said, “It’s for the 300 plus employees that it was an emotional week last week. There was a lot of crying people in that race shop. It’s been home to a lot of good people for a long time, including myself. It was validating to win for myself, to win for Davin and everybody on the 98 team, but all the men and women at the shop who don’t get the notoriety and they work 9:00 to 5:00 every single day of the week, even the off-season. Those guys mean the most to us, and this win is just as much theirs as it is mine. I’m excited for all of them and to go out on top.”

Like the 300 employees, even Herbst’s future is also uncertain. In the 2025 season, the Las Vegas native is left without a ride. However, his win and racing prowess have shown that this won’t be the case for long. Whether his performance impressed his future employer or not Herbst considers it a personal gain. “I don’t know if this has anything to do with it (his future). Mainly just more to myself. Just more validation to myself. Now I’m a multiple-time winner in this series at the highest level and really unique circumstances, all three different circumstances…it’s just an all-around good win for myself to be confident in whatever I hop into next year and to know that I can run with the best of them and go win.”

Where do you think Herbst will end up in the 2025 season? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.