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Cole Custer wins pole award for The LiUNA! 300 at Las Vegas

JHby:Jonathan Howard•03/01/24•

Jondean25

Cole Custer Cabo Wabo
Mandatory Credit: Mike Dinovo-USA TODAY Sports

Tomorrow’s The LiUNA! 300 will be led to green by Cole Custer. The reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series champion wins the pole award.

Chandler Smith and AJ Allmendinger gave Cole Custer a run for his money. However, it was that Ford Mustang Dark Horse out front when the qualifying session was through. That doesn’t mean we won’t see some surprises on Saturday.

Custer’s teammate Riley Herbst won by a comfortable margin last fall in Las Vegas. Will Stewart-Haas Racing win again at Las Vegas Motor Speedway?

This is the third time that Cole Custer has won the pole award at Las Vegas. He finished P4 and P3 in his last two pole-sitting ventures in Sin City. Last season he finished P12 in the Spring race and P3 in the Fall.

Custer, Chandler Smith, AJ Allmendinger, Parker Retzlaff, Austin Hill, Ryan Sieg, Parker Kligerman, Sammy Smith, Sheldon Creed, and Aric Almirola make up the top-10 in the starting lineup.

Cole Custer needs a solid result in Las Vegas

Last season, Cole Custer got off to a slow start. He had issues finishing races well. This year, he has started with results of P13 and P16. For a driver that was champion in 2023, that is not the kind of start that he wants.

Now, he still has time to get things going. This weekend he should be focused on bringing his car home in the top-5 or potentially getting a win. We know that these Stewart-Haas cars are fast at this track, Ford was fast in qualifying overall – so now it’s time to get it done.

Austin Hill won this race last year. He already has two wins to start the 2024 season. If Hill somehow makes it three for three to start the year then this could be quite the season. We have a lot of laps to run tomorrow, but it’s something to keep an eye on.

I’d feel pretty good about my chances if I was Cole Custer. Your teammate won at this track in the playoffs last year, you have the pole award, now go execute. If Custer wants to repeat as champion he will have to start getting solid finishes and sooner or later, wins.