For a second week in a row, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer has bagged pole position in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. After his impressive showings at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway last weekend, Custer has continued his show of speed by grabbing the pole position for tomorrow’s race at Phoenix Raceway.
With this achievement, Custer has now managed to rake in 20 pole positions in the Xfinity Series. He was the quickest of the bunch, clocking his best lap at 27.380 seconds at the 1-mile tri-oval banked racetrack. Finishing second was Chandler Smith, who will join Custer in the front row. Corey Heim, Riley Herbst, and Justin Allgaier rounded off the top five starting positions.
Custer is not taking anything for granted, despite his pole position at Phoenix
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Stewart-Haas Racing driver Cole Custer is slowly but steadily building steam for his championship charge for the season. Making it two out of two pole positions, the driver will be looking to make amends after his near-miss win at Las Vegas last weekend. He will be joined by Chandler Smith in the front row after the driver utilizes a tiebreaker based on owner points.
Corey Heim was the driver who was snubbed off the front-row start by Smith, as both of them had identical lap times. The Sam Hunt Racing driver will start in third place. Custer’s teammate, Ruler Herbst, secured a fourth-place starting spot for the event. While Justin Allgaier bagged the number-five spot.
Custer, after the qualifying rounds, spoke about a potential back-to-back win at the venue. “It’s pretty cool to be coming back in here through the garage and everything just kind of remembering how that all went last time we were here. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t owe you anything. Even if you are a champion. You got to go out there and make sure you’re bringing the intensity to go out there and win like we were last year. So I feel like we do have the potential and team to do it. It’s just a matter of putting it all together.”
High-fives all around! @ColeCuster wins the pole for today's race at @phoenixraceway! pic.twitter.com/7DHEcGuKmV
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) March 9, 2024
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The pole position is also significant in terms of championship contention for Cole Custer, who is starting to catch up with the leader, Austin Hill.
Cole Custer is looking to make a statement to defend his championship title
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Austin Hill from Richard Childress Racing has already secured two wins at Daytona and Atlanta. He also backed it up with a decent performance in Las Vegas with a #4 finish. With 148 points, he has already carved out a 22-point gap from the second-place driver, Chandler Smith. While one might argue that it’s just the start of the season, Hill could very well run away with his lead if not stopped in his tracks. This would exactly be the plan for Custer going into the race.
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Speaking of point standings, Custer is not too far off from the leading pack. In fact, he has had a better start to his season than last year’s championship-winning campaign. After a slow start with two top-20 finishes at Daytona and Atlanta, the SHR driver shifted gears and brought back his A-game at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. After winning the pole position last weekend, he rose to the top of the chart with a second-place finish, just behind John Hunter Nemechek. With this result, Custer is now 4th in the driver’s standings and looking to make a statement with yet another strong outing.
Considering he nearly converted his pole position into a win last weekend in Vegas, Custer will be backing himself to register his first win in the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series.