Cole Custer confronts Chandler Smith, vows revenge after Kansas

Today at Kansas, Cole Custer came close to winning back-to-back NASCAR races but fell short as Aric Almirola sped by him in the last laps. Chandler Smith hassled Custer for many laps, not letting him pass. On a restart, Custer ended up in the fence and he blames Smith.

Due to that contact with the wall, Cole Custer is holding a grudge. He is vowing revenge on Chandler Smith for costing him a very important win in the first round of the playoffs.

“It really made me mad when he put us in the fence on that restart. He’s going to pay the consequences for that and I’m going to race him like he races me. … He put me in the fence and he’s going to pay for it,” Custer said on The CW broadcast after the race. Tough words from the Stewart-Haas Racing driver.

Daniel McFadin of Fronstretch caught Custer confronting Smith on pit road.

“You raced me like a f***ing clown! … You put me in the f***ing fence when I was on your right rear. It’s over [the conversation].”

“You raced me like a f—-ing clown.”

Cole Custer confronts Chandler Smith.#NASCAR @Frontstretch pic.twitter.com/aUWngK5l0c

— Daniel McFadin (@danielmcfadin) September 28, 2024

After this season, Cole Custer is heading back to the Cup Series. It is clear that he still cares very much about earning a second Xfinity Series championship based on his reaction to Chandler Smith.

Drivers get squeezed at times. Late restarts are rough and tumble in NASCAR. But Custer was not having any of whatever Smith was handing out this afternoon.

Fresh off the win at Bristol, Custer wanted another. It’s an addiction for these drivers and P2 just doesn’t scratch the same itch as P1.

Cole Custer fuming after Aric Almirola wins

Today, Aric Almirola played playoff spoiler and won at Kansas Speedway. He took down Cole Custer for the win in a tight finish. This is the second win of the NASCAR season for Almirola and the eighth win for this No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team.

Coach Gibbs put together a very solid all-star team in this No. 20 car. Drivers are winning races in this car almost every other week. While Almirola has had ups and downs on and off the track this year, he’s back in Victory Lane.

Aric Almirola watched Chandler Smith and Cole Custer fight for multiple laps. Then, when the time was right, he made his move.

This race had a lot of green flag laps, but the end was pure drama. A final restart with a little more than 50 laps to go set us up for a fantastic battle between Custer, Smith, and Almirola. In the end, the experienced veteran made the right moves to get past the young drivers and win at Kansas.