Cole Custer bests Justin Allgaier, earns first win of the season at Pocono Raceway

First win of the season for Cole Custer, first win of the season for Ford in the NASCAR Xfinity Series today at Pocono Raceway. Custer entered the day as the points leader and he leaves with more points and a checkered flag.

Cole Custer and Justin Allgaier duked it out throughout the day. It was a great battle between those two with appearances from William Byron as well in the mix.

If he can win the regular season championship, a repeat of last year isn’t out of the question for Custer. He could be on his way to being a back-to-back Xfinity Series champion.

Repost to congratulate Cole Custer on his first NASCAR Xfinity Series win of the season. The defending champ gets it done in Pocono! pic.twitter.com/ZkOoDzFrYf

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) July 13, 2024

This race had its fair share of cautions, and that was both good and bad. It was a hard-fought battle between the leaders, though.

Justin Allgaier gets out to a good start

In the first stage, Sheldon Creed got things going on the front row. The pole winner, it felt like this could be one of those races where Creed contends for the win, his first career win in the Xfinity Series.

However, it wouldn’t be long before we saw the 18 car going backward. This allowed for other drivers, like Justin Allgaier to move up through the field. Allgaier wouldn’t take long before he got to the front of the field.

It hasn’t been the easiest season for Allgaier. However, picking up 10 stage points and another playoff point isn’t all that bad. Allgaier fired the first shot.

Cole Custer fires back at Justin Allgaier

This was not going to be all about Justin Allgaier. Cole Custer, the defending Xfinity Series champion, had a thing or two to say about it. Custer is searching for his first win of the season and he made it known he wanted it today.

Cautions in these first two stages caused issues. It made the race feel slow and the action was lagging. These drivers did all they could when they had the green flag, though.

Cole Custer was able to go out and win the second stage over Justin Allgaier. It was needed with Custer entering today with only two playoff points. Stage win nets him one more point.

Weather threatens a good time, but Cole Custer wins

For a while, it looked like there was going to be rain at Pocono Raceway again. Last night there was a pause in the Truck Series race due to rain. Today, it stayed away. Thankfully, the Xfinity Series race had no delays due to weather.

This final stage was like the rest of them, it was a two-car race with a little bit of William Byron. Cole Custer and Justin Allgaier were the two best drivers and had the two best cars. They put on a great battle in the final 20 laps of this race, too.

The fight was interrupted late by Sam Mayer punting Shane van Gisbergen. Just overdrove into the turn and put his bumper straight to the 97 car. It would have possibly been a top-10 finish for SVG if he hadn’t been spun out.

Even with the late caution, Cole Custer pulled away from Allgaier and Byron. He was determined to win this race. The 7 and 17 car finished behind him. Sheldon Creed was P4, followed by Taylor Gray, AJ Allmendinger, Austin Hill, Parker Kligerman, Sammy Smith, and Sam Mayer.