Cole Custer was declared the winner of Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Sports Clips VFW 200 after Denny Hamlin’s car failed post-race inspection.
NASCAR took away the win from Denny Hamlin, who took the checkered flag after starting at the rear in a backup car, when his his No. 18 Toyota did not meet the minimum requirement for the left-front height.
Custer was then awarded the victory, his sixth of the season, after he did not lead a lap. He crossed the finsh line .602 seconds behind Hamlin, who will now finish last in 38th place.
“I was just standing by the hauler and everybody started going around the tech shed and I got a call from my crew chief,” Custer said. “He was standing about 15 feet away from me and he was like, ‘They’re too low.’ And so it was pretty crazy. And then you’re just praying you make it through tech, so it was a strange way to win that’s for sure.”
Series points leader Tyler Reddick, who led a race-high 70 laps, wound up second for his eighth straight top five of the season.
Pole-sitter Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell and Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the top five. For Earnhardt, today’s finish came in his first series start since Richmond last year.
“I had a lot of fun,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “You just never know how good you are until you come back and try it…We did alright.”
Chase Briscoe, Brandon Jones, Noah Gragson, Justin Allgaier and Austin Cindric completed the top 10.
Gragson clinched a playoff spot on points with his finish.
Reddick now leads the point standings by 51 points over Bell.
