Cole Custer wins Xfinity Series race at Bristol, 2024 regular season championship: Cole Custer recovered from an early brush with the outside wall to win Friday’s Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway, the race that set the field for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs.(Read more)(9-20-2024)

Rebounding from a flat tire in the opening laps of the race, #00-Cole Custer won the Food City 300 Xfinity Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. It is Custer’s second win of the season and his first at Bristol. Custer made up 46 points on #7-Justin Allgaier to win the regular season championship by three points.
For the 13th time in his career, #18-Sheldon Creed finished runner-up. Polesitter #81-Chandler Smith finished third, with #2-Jesse Love and #20-Ryan Truex rounding out the top five.
#9-Brandon Jones placed sixth, as #88-Dale Earnhard Jr., #39-Ryan Sieg, #1-Sam Mayer and #16-AJ Allmendinger completed the top 10.
#81-Smith won the first stage, his sixth stage victory of the season. #51-Jeremy Clements used strategy to win Stage 2, his first career stage victory.
There were 11 lead changes among nine drivers and seven cautions for 57 yellow flag laps.
The average speed of the race was: 79.344 mph.
See race details at: Race Results, Driver Points Standings, Owner Points Standings, Driver Points Before Reset, Owner Points Before Reset, Cumulative Report, Penalty Report.

Bristol Paint Schemes

Race Fast Facts – Bristol:
Cole Custer won the Food City 300, his 15th victory in 169 Xfinity Series races.
This is his second victory and 18th top-10 finish in 2024.
This is his first victory and sixth top-10 finish in eight races at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Sheldon Creed (second) posted his first top-10 finish in three races at Bristol Motor Speedway. It is his 17th top-10 finish in 2024.
Chandler Smith (third) posted his second top-10 finish in two races at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Jesse Love (fourth) was the highest finishing rookie.
Cole Custer leads the point standings by 3 points over Justin Allgaier, and wins the regular season championship.

Xfinity Series Standings after Bristol(Race 26 of 33):
1)#7-Justin Allgaier 2,034, +27
2)#00-Cole Custer 2,028, +21
3)#21-Austin Hill 2,025, +22
4)#81-Chandler Smith, 2,024, +17
5)#97-Shane van Gisbergen 2,017, +10
6)#2-Jesse Love 2,013, +6
7)#1-Sam Mayer 2,011, +4
8)#98-Riley Herbst 2,010, +3
Below elimination line
9)#18-Sheldon Creed 2,007, -3
10)#16-AJ Allmendinger 2,006, -4
11)#8-Sammy Smith 2,001, -9
12)#48-Parker Kligerman 1,098, -12
See the Drivers Points Standings and Owners Points Standings.

Race Updates:
Lap 300: #00-Custer wins at Bristol — and makes up 46 points on #7-Allgaier to win the regular season championship.
Lap 290: #00-Custer leads #18-Creed by nine-tenths of a second with 10 laps remaining.
Lap 280: #00-Custer continues leading, 1.2 seconds ahead of #18-Creed.
Lap 265: #9-Jones clears #88-Earnhardt for sixth after Earnhardt spent the entire run on the bumper of #20-Truex in fifth.
Lap 252: #18-Creed slides through Turns 3 and 4 and bounces off the wall.
Lap 244: The fight is on for second between #18-Creed, #81-Smith and #2-Love. #00-Custer leads by a second.
Lap 225: #00-Custer has stretched the lead to one-second over #18-Creed. #81-Smith runs third, 1.5 seconds back.
Lap 209: #18-Creed gets loose in Turns 3 and 4, allowing #00-Custer to sneak by for the lead.
Lap 199: Allgaier spins after blowing a right-rear tire.
Lap 193: #81-Smith takes third from #20-Truex. #00-Custer is beginning to reel in #18-Creed for the race lead.
Lap 181: #18-Creed takes the lead from #00-Custer on the restart.
Lap 173: #51-Clements, #48-Kligerman, #16-Allmendinger and #8-Smith all pit.
Lap 170: #51-Clements wins Stage 2, his first stage victory of the season. #00-Custer, #20-Truex, #18-Creed, #81-Smith, #2-Love, #98-Herbst, #1-Mayer, #48-Kligerman and #88-Earnhardt earn stage points.
Lap 163: #48-Kligerman comes up the track and pinches #00-Custer into the wall. #51-Clements has over a one-second lead.
Lap 156: #7-Allgaier tried to beat the pace car off pit road and took the saw with him.
Lap 153: #18-Creed and #7-Allgaier make contact off the exit of Turn 2 and Allgaier noses into the inside wall. #51-Clements, #8-Smith and #48-Kligerman stayed out.
Lap 151: #00-Custer clears #1-Mayer for the race lead in Turns 3 and 4.
Lap 148: #00-Custer gets next to #1-Mayer for the race lead but Mayer prevails on the outside.
Lap 141: #14-Finchum gets into the wall but limps back to pit road.
Lap 137: #00-Custer rolls the top and clears #7-Allgaier for second.
Lap 133: #1-Mayer has drove to a half-second lead. #00-Custer and #7-Allgaier have been side-by-side for second position for a handful of laps.
Lap 120: #48-Kligerman brings out the caution after going for a big slide through Turns 1 and 2. #44-Poole got into the rear of Kligerman.
Lap 109: #88-Earnhardt gets loose while battling #18-Creed for fifth and drops to ninth position.
Lap 108: #38-DiBenedetto is slow on the track and lost power.
Lap 103: #88-Earnhardt has cracked the top five for the first time all race.
Lap 96: #1-Mayer shoots to the outside on the restart to make a three-wide pass for the lead.
Lap 91: #48-Kligerman had an uncontrolled tire penalty.
Lap 90: #18-Creed gains two spots on pit road to take the lead. #81-Smith drops to third. #20-Truex gained six spots in the pits; #98-Herbst and #48-Kligerman gained seven apiece. #39-Sieg stayed out and is the race leader. The five JR Motorsports cars run second through sixth.
Lap 85: #81-Smith wins Stage 1, his sixth stage victory of the season. #2-Love, #18-Creed, #16-Allmendinger, #5-Alfredo, #51-Clements, #00-Custer, #26-Earnhardt, #20-Truex and #19-Graf earn stage points.
Lap 70: #07-Van Alst gets out of control at the back of the field and runs into #42-Honeyman. #88-Earnhardt had to make an evasive move to avoid damage.
Lap 66: #81-Smith clears for the lead on the restart. #2-Love is up to second with #16-Allmendinger in third.
Lap 63: #88-Earnhardt pits again under this caution for a wiring harness.
Lap 60: #7-Allgaier, #39-Sieg, #8-Smith, #1-Mayer, #92-Bilicki and others pit.
Lap 59: #88-Earnhardt pits under caution to swap helmets.
Lap 52: #32-Green blows a right-front tire and catches the bumper of #7-Allgaier. #31-Retzlaff piled into his Jordan Anderson Racing teammate.
Lap 30: #7-Allgaier and #81-Smith have gapped the field and are in lap traffic. #5-Alfredo runs third with #2-Love and #26-Earnhardt rounding out the top five.
Lap 15: #45-Parsons joins the field after the team couldn’t change engines in time to get him out for the initial green flag.
Lap 8: #88-Earnhardt is still having radio issues and is discussing possibly changing helmets under the next caution.
Lap 5: #88-Earnhardt pits to repair his radio after he and the team couldn’t hear each other clearly in the opening laps.
Lap 3: The caution is out for #00-Custer cutting a flat tire and smacking the outside wall.
Lap 1: #7-Allgaier leads the opening lap from the outside of the front row. #45-Parsons started the race behind the wall as Alpha Prime Racing changed the engine after qualifying.

Cars to the rear: #1-Sam Mayer, #11-Josh Williams, #31-Parker Retzlaff, #42-Leland Honeyman (unapproved adjustments); #45-Garrett Smithley (engine change).

Pit Stall Selections

It took until the final car in Xfinity Series qualifying at Bristol Motor Speedway, but #81-Chandler Smith blistered the field at 121.366 mph. It’s his second pole of the season, coming in commanding fashion.
#00-Cole Custer will start alongside in second (120.490 mph). #5-Anthony Alfredo scored his best qualifying effort of the season in third (120.414 mph), with defending race winner #7-Justin Allgaier (120.339 mph) and #16-AJ Allmendinger (119.611 mph) rounding out the top five.
#26-Jeffrey Earnhardt earned his best qualifying effort on a non-superspeedway in sixth. #51-Jeremy Clements, #9-Brandon Jones, #91-Kyle Weatherman and #2-Jesse Love complete the top 10. #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. will start 13th, two positions better than last year.
Did Not Qualify: #74-Dawson Cram
See the complete Bristol Starting Lineup.

Qualifying Fast Facts — Bristol
Chandler Smith won the Pole Award for the Food City 300 with a lap of 15.81 seconds, 121.366 mph.
This is his fifth pole in 62 NASCAR Xfinity Series races.
This is his second pole and 20th top-10 start in 2024.
This is his first pole in two races at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Cole Custer (second) posted his 19th top-10 start of 2024 and his eighth in eight races at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Anthony Alfredo (third) posted his first top-10 start at Bristol Motor Speedway. It is his sixth in 26 races this season.
Jesse Love (10th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

Qualifying Order

Practice for the Food City 300 Xfinity Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway is complete. The top five, slowest, news and notes:
#7-Justin Allgaier 119.514 mph
#00-Cole Custer 119.002 mph
#26-Jeffrey Earnhardt 118.855 mph
#1-Sam Mayer 118.840 mph
#81-Chandler Smith 118.825 mph
Slowest: #74-Dawson Cram 114.051 mph
Most laps run: #19-Joe Graf Jr., 50
Notes: There were no issues in the session. #7-Allgaier was fastest on the 10 lap average at 118.360 mph. #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. ranked 17th in the session.
See full Bristol Practice Results.

Crew Rosters

Goodyear Tire Notes

There are 39 drivers/teams on the entry list for the Food City 300 Xfinity Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. One car will miss the show.
Notables: #07-Greg Van Alst, #14-Chad Finchum, #15-Logan Bearden, #19-Joe Graf Jr., #20-Ryan Truex, #26-Jeffrey Earnhardt, #32-Austin Green, #35-Carson Ware, #45-TBA, #53-Garrett Smithley, #74-Dawson Cram, #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr.
See the full Bristol Entry List.

Bristol At-Track Schedule