Custer’s flat tire paves way for Mayer’s Homestead win, Xfinity Series Championship 4 spot
Cole Custer’s flat tire with 48 laps to go paved the way for 20-year-old Sam Mayer to win the Contender Boats 300 on Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway and become the first Xfinity Series driver to secure a Championship 4 spot.
Mayer led the final 30 laps after a pair of late cautions to win the race, beating Riley Herbst by 0.227 seconds. Mayer, driving the JR Motorsports No. 1 Chevrolet Camero, advances to the Xfinity Series championship for the first time in his career.
“It’s all about putting a full race together,” Mayer said,” and I’m so proud of these guys. They kicked tail on pit road and we made it happen.”
This came after Custer dominated for the first three-quarters of the race. The 25-year-old in the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 00 Ford Mustang led all 45 laps of Stage 1 and 105 of the first 151 overall before having to go to pit road for the flat tire.
Custer finished 13th.
Four of the eight drivers still in the playoff field finished in the top six in the race. John Hunter Nemechek finished third, Austin Hill fourth and Daniel Hemric sixth.
Justin Allgaier had to pit on Lap 120 after dealing with a loose tire that plagued him for the first 30 laps of Stage 3. That forced him to pit twice before that caution with 37 laps left and had him one lap behind the field when the race resumed with 31 to go. He finished 15th.
Sheldon Creed struggled down the stretch and finished 26th.
And Chandler Smith, the eighth driver still in the playoff field, spun after a multiple-car collision as Stage 3 began and finished 34th. Brandon Jones, Brett Moffitt and Derek Kraus were also involved in the crash.
All four championship spots remained open heading into Homestead after none of the playoff contenders won the first of three Round of 8 races last week at Las Vegas.
Custer started Saturday in pole position and led all 45 laps in Stage 1. Mayer took a brief lead early in Stage 2 that lasted one lap. Custer then dropped to third after a caution midway through Stage 2 with Kraus winning the stage. It was a calculated move to preserve tires for the 110-lap final stage.
The move nearly paid off.
Custer re-took the lead out of pit road during the scheduled caution between Stages 2 and 3 and fell to second behind Allgaier after the restart following the Smith collision but by Lap 111 was back in the lead and stayed there until the flat tire spoiled a good day of racing.
“It really stings not getting the win today,” Custer said. “... It just sucks knowing you had a dominant car today.”
The final Xfinity Series race to set the Championship 4 field is the Dead on Tools 250 at Martinsville Speedway next weekend. A win by any of the seven remaining drivers secures a championship berth. The remaining spots — two or three, depending on the outcome of the race — will be decided by points.
This story was originally published October 21, 2023 at 6:01 PM.
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