Allgaier, Custer distance themselves from the cutline at Homestead-Miami

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — With two spots already clinched in the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ Championship Four, the two drivers with the most points still have work to do to punch their ticket next week at Martinsville to punch their ticket to Phoenix.

Cole Custer finished second to race winner Austin Hill in the Credit One NASCAR Amex Credit Card 300. Hill passed Custer for the lead with 11 laps to go.

The two drivers were the clear class of the field Saturday. Hill led 82 laps to Custer’s 67.

It was a good points day for Custer, finishing fifth in stage one and third in stage two. He put himself in prime position to fight for the win in the final stage, but the No. 21 team had other ideas. 

“Second-to-last run, we were really, really good,” Custer said. “Last run, I didn’t think we were that bad but the 21 got a lot better so I was a little bit confused by that part but overall a really solid day. I wish we got the win obviously but kinda is what it is.” 

As for what exactly the No. 00 car needed to match the No. 21 car, Custer wasn’t exactly sure. 

“Probably a little bit of everything,” Custer said. “They were just really, really good on the long run. The second-to-last run, they really fell off for whatever reason and then they seemed to pick up a lot of speed that last time so I don’t know.” 

Custer appeared confident in his ability to bring the fight to Martinsville next week. The man with the most points in the Xfinity Series, Justin Allgaier, also seemed confident. Allgaier has also built himself a solid points gap heading to the half-mile paper clip. Custer will have a 28-point gap while Allgaier will enjoy a 35-point gap to the cutline when the green flag flies next Saturday.

Allgaier reassured that while his cushion is substantial, anything and everything can happen at Martinsville. 

“I’ve been blessed to do this for a long time,” Allgaier said. “In that long time, my gray hairs have come from knowing that the only thing certain is uncertainty. So we’ll go to Martinsville and have some fun and see what happens.” 

The 35-point gap was built thanks to a solid run from the No. 7 car, finishing eighth at Homestead. He also collected stage points, finishing fourth in stage one and seventh in stage two. 

Part of putting together that solid day was staying out of trouble. It’s a hard thing to do at a track like Homestead and Allgaier had an interesting take as to how he prepared to do that heading into Saturday. 

“I studied a lot this week of how to get out of the wall,” Allgaier said. “I know that sounds really dumb but there are guys that are really good at it and there are some that are really bad at it. So for me, getting out of the wall was probably equally as important as running that line.” 

The physical demands of Homestead cannot be overstated, as well as the mental demands of having to hit your marks perfectly every time to keep pace and avoid trouble. Many drivers got out of their cars looking exhausted and drained, but Allgaier looked cool as a cucumber. 

However, he made it clear that he himself felt the demands of Homestead as much as his competitors. 

“My chill out definitely did me some favors,” Allgaier said. “My hands are pretty tore up, I got some blisters on my hands, but in all reality this place is so physically demanding. Mentally, it’s demanding. You’re just on edge every lap, even when your car is great, I can promise you Austin’s arms are worn out and he was hanging on there at the end I’m sure.” 

The two drivers below the cutline, Chandler Smith in fifth and Jesse Love in sixth, both looked like they had just ran a marathon when they exited their vehicles. Love even received some assistance next to his racecar from his team to cool off and rehydrate. 

Love explained that his issue wasn’t necessarily from any issues with his cool suit or fans, but simply due to the physical and mental demands of a track like Homestead, especially with so much on the line.

“Just mentally drained,” Love said. “I thought I had to get to the 20 and I was trying hard. I was trying to work so many different lanes that I was just mentally drained.” 

Smith carries a 28-point disadvantage to Martinsville while Love sits -35 to the cutline. Both of them will very likely need to win the race next Saturday to advance to the Championship 4.