Cole Custer celebrates his NASCAR K&N Pro Series East win at Richmond International Raceway Saturday with a burn out. Photo by Getty Images for NASCAR
Cole Custer made it look easy.
Sixteen-year-old Custer, of Ladera Ranch, CA, won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East’s Blue Ox 100 on Saturday at Richmond International Raceway. He passed teammate and pole sitter Nick Drake on lap 49 and led the rest of the way to collect his third series win in 16 starts.
A pair of wins last season came at Iowa Speedway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The driver of the No. 00 NAPA Auto Parts / Haas Automation Chevrolet also collected his first NASCAR K&N Pro Series West win in the 2014 season opener at Phoenix International Raceway in February.
“We followed Nick in the early part, but part of it was I spun the tires on the first couple of restarts,” said Custer. “I finally figured it out and we got him on the restart.”
With no planned stops in the 100-lap race on the .75-mile oval, saving tires was certainly part of the equation.
“I was trying to save what I could, but when you’re out front, it’s hard to figure out how much,” he stated. “I thought (Rhodes) was definitely going to get me. I thought I went too early, but we were able to hang on.”
Points leader Ben Rhodes finished second for his fourth top-five showing in five outings this season.
“It was as good race for us. I was just being patient in the beginning,” said the 17-year-old out of Louisville, KY. “When I saw Cole go, I knew I’d better go. I just wasn’t able to catch him. It was a good day and a good points day, and I’m really happy with our finish.”
Drake, who won his first series career pole award in qualifying Friday, battled to finish third.
“We led the first half of the race or so before Cole got around us,” said the 18-year-old Drake. “We struggled with grip pretty much all day, but I’ll take a third. It was a pretty good day.”
Austin Hill crossed the line in fourth followed by Ronnie Bassett, Jr. in fifth while Cameron Hayley, Brandon Jones, Brodie Kostecki, Jeremy Burns and Jesse Little rounded out the top-10 finishers on the day.
Daniel Suárez, who made his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut with Joe Gibbs Racing on Friday, battled electrical problems and finished 32nd.
Custer, along with Rhodes, Hill and Little, were introduced as 2014-15 members of the NASCAR Next class Friday. NASCAR Next is a program that spotlights the sport’s emerging stars.
In the standings, Rhodes leads Gaulding by 18 points followed by Hayley, Suárez and Little.
The race was originally scheduled to be run following the NASCAR Nationwide Series event on Friday, but a three-hour rain delay in getting that race underway pushed the Blue Ox 100 to Saturday morning.
The Blue Ox 100 will be telecast by FOX Sports 1 on Friday, May 2 at 4:30 p.m. ET.
The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East is back in action next on Saturday, May 17 for the Casey’s General Stores 150 at Iowa Speedway in Newton.
NASCAR K&N Pro Series East
Richmond International Raceway – Richmond, VA
Blue Ox 100 – April 26, 2014
| Fin | Str | Car | Driver | Team | Laps | Points | B/Points | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 00 | Cole Custer | NAPA Auto Parts/Haas Automation Chevrolet | 100 | 48 | 5 | Running |
| 2 | 5 | 41 | Ben Rhodes * | Alpha Energy Solutions Chevrolet | 100 | 42 | Running | |
| 3 | 1 | 15 | Nick Drake * | NAPA Auto Parts Toyota | 100 | 42 | 1 | Running |
| 4 | 21 | 22 | Austin Hill * | Don-Rich Ford/A&D Welding Ford | 100 | 40 | Running | |
| 5 | 9 | 04 | Ronnie Bassett, Jr. * | Butler Trailer Mfg. Toyota | 100 | 39 | Running | |
| 6 | 16 | 98 | Cameron Hayley | Cabinets by Hayley Chevrolet | 100 | 38 | Running | |
| 7 | 8 | 33 | Brandon Jones | Wolfpack Energy Services Chevrolet | 100 | 37 | Running | |
| 8 | 6 | 43 | Brodie Kostecki * | Arcoplate Toyota | 100 | 36 | Running | |
| 9 | 30 | 81 | Jeremy Burns * | BBR Chevrolet | 100 | 35 | Running | |
| 10 | 20 | 97 | Jesse Little | NASCAR Technical Institute/PFC Brakes Chevrolet | 100 | 34 | Running | |
| 11 | 7 | 20 | Gray Gaulding | Krispy Kreme Chevrolet | 100 | 33 | Running | |
| 12 | 3 | 29 | Chad Finley * | Auto Value/Air Lift Ford | 100 | 32 | Running | |
| 13 | 29 | 52 | Matt Tifft | Federated Auto Parts Dodge | 100 | 31 | Running | |
| 14 | 13 | 31 | Kaz Grala * | OzLINK Chevrolet | 100 | 30 | Running | |
| 15 | 14 | 21 | Mackena Bell | Special Smiles Pediatric Dentistry Toyota | 100 | 29 | Running | |
| 16 | 18 | 1 | David Garbo, Jr. * | Big Machine Records/Garbo Lobster Toyota | 100 | 28 | Running | |
| 17 | 12 | 45 | Josh Berry * | Speedco Ford | 100 | 27 | Running | |
| 18 | 4 | 34 | Scott Heckert | Turner Scott Motorsports Chevrolet | 100 | 26 | Running | |
| 19 | 28 | 46 | Brandon Gdovic | American Messaging/Windstax.com Toyota | 100 | 25 | Running | |
| 20 | 32 | 14 | Trey Hutchens * | All-Star Trucking Chevrolet | 100 | 24 | Running | |
| 21 | 10 | 11 | Lee Pulliam * | NISCO/NRC Toyota | 100 | 23 | Running | |
| 22 | 27 | 2 | Ryan Gifford | UTI/NASCAR Technical Institute Toyota | 100 | 22 | Running | |
| 23 | 34 | 12 | Beto Monteiro * | Lenovo/Champion Oil Dodge | 99 | 21 | Running | |
| 24 | 37 | 63 | John Salemi | John Salemi Racing Toyota | 99 | 20 | Running | |
| 25 | 25 | 18 | Sam Hunt | DRIVE Technology Toyota | 98 | 19 | Running | |
| 26 | 23 | 24 | Brennan Newberry | Qore24 Chevrolet | 98 | 18 | Running | |
| 27 | 11 | 71 | Eddie MacDonald | Grimm Const./National MS Society Chevrolet | 89 | 17 | Rear Seal | |
| 28 | 19 | 42 | Jay Beasley * | Toyota Racing Development Toyota | 86 | 16 | Brakes | |
| 29 | 26 | 7 | Michael McGuire * | Woods Towing & Transportation Toyota | 83 | 15 | Brakes | |
| 30 | 24 | 4 | Sergio Pena | Toyota Racing Development Toyota | 68 | 14 | Accident | |
| 31 | 36 | 56 | Akinori Ogata | ENEOS Toyota | 50 | 13 | Accident | |
| 32 | 15 | 6 | Daniel Suarez | Silent Circle/Telcel Toyota | 40 | 12 | Electrical | |
| 33 | 31 | 91 | Jordan Anderson | Tab, Inc. Toyota | 35 | 11 | Accident | |
| 34 | 22 | 07 | Clint King * | Nashville Wire/Warehouse Design Toyota | 34 | 10 | Accident | |
| 35 | 17 | 96 | Kenzie Ruston | Ben Kennedy Racing Chevrolet | 34 | 9 | Accident | |
| 36 | 33 | 55 | Jerry Dawson * | EXIT Realty Toyota | 22 | 8 | Overheating | |
| 37 | 35 | 19 | Chuck Buchanan, Jr. * | Spring Drug Chevrolet | 18 | 7 | Handling |
RACE STATISTICS
Fastest Qualifier: Nick Drake *, Time: 22.175 Seconds, Speed: 121.759 mph
Time of Race: 0 hrs., 59 mins, 33 secs Average Speed: 75.567 mph Margin of Victory: .178 Seconds
Caution Flags:Laps 27-33 (#55 Spin Turn 3 – FP #4); 35-39 (#96, #91, #07 Turn 3&4 – FP 4); 41-47 (#6, #63, #21, #1, #24, #2 – FP #4); 51-58 (#56 Spin Backstretch – No FP); 86-90 (#42 Turn 4 – FP #2). 5 for 32 laps.
Lap Leaders: Nick Drake * 1-48, Cole Custer 49-100.
Total Laps Led:Cole Custer 52, Nick Drake * 48. 1 changes involving 2 drivers.
Top 10 Driver Points:Ben Rhodes * 202, Gray Gaulding 184, Cameron Hayley 180, Daniel Suarez 165, Jesse Little 163, Austin Hill * 160, Kaz Grala * 160, Brandon Jones 156, Nick Drake * 154, Brodie Kostecki * 154
It is recommended that your blood clotting time (INR) is closely monitored if bicalutamide is cialis 40 mg added to warfarin treatment. Exercise has http://frankkrauseautomotive.com/cars-for-sale/2004-chevrolet-silverado-2500hd-4×4-crew-cab-long-8-bed/ viagra online canada many benefits and one of the strongest antioxidants on the planet. When you are really in cialis pharmacy prices need of Physiotherapy for any of your illness you must visit a store which offers everything in generic medicines. The damage to the nerve can affect cialis sample any body part like kidney, hormonal imbalance, neurological disorders, heart and vascular diseases, clogged blood vessels, over consumption of alcohol, eating unhealthy food, smoking and drugs abuse etc.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.