Custer wins the Pocono Green 250 at Pocono Raceway

The NASCAR Xfinity Series enjoyed a beautiful Saturday at Pocono Raceway in the Pocono Green 250 Recycled by J.D. Mascaro & Sons.  It was an even better day for Stewart Haas Racing (SHR) with one car winning and another car finishing third.

Cole Custer in his No.00 SHR Ford completely dominated the first stage of the race and was leading until a late caution flag came out.  Tyler Reddick took over the lead until the final turn when he slipped up just enough for Custer to make the pass and win in overtime.

“Tyler gave me a great push down there and I have no idea how we made it stick when he drove down into turn one.” He added, “Our Fims Ford Mustang was just awesome, they’re just awesome people.” Custer stated, “I was nervous once he {Reddick} got by me but he just drove into the corner real deep and lost the track a little bit I and I played it right and got by him. I just can’t thank all the guys enough.”

Stage 1 started with Custer on the pole and Christopher Bell on the outside of the front row. The first caution flag flew when Brandon Jones spun and hit the wall ending his day early. Only a few laps later Joey Gase, Chad Finchum, and Todd Peck tangled up bringing out the second caution. Finchum received heavy damage and was done for the day. On lap 16 Bell got loose and spun bringing out the third caution. Custer handily won the stage having led every lap.

Stage 2 started with John Hunter Nemechek and Jeffrey Earnhardt taking the green after several cars had pitted before the end of stage 1. It looked as if Bell would run away with the stage however, Allgaier had other ideas and took over the top spot. Coming down to the end of the stage Tyler Reddick and Allgaier had a great battle for the stage win but a lapped car unwittingly helped Allgaier take the stage win. There were several great battles going on, but everyone kept it straight and the stage ran caution free.

The final stage Justin Allgaier took the lead for a few laps during green flag pit stops, but once they had cycled through it was Custer back in charge. Things got a little dicey in the closing laps and the caution flag waived when it appeared Austin Cindric got tangled up with Jeffrey Earnhardt and turned him around. Allgaier spun with only a few laps to go sending the race into overtime. Reddick had the lead when the white flag waived but it was Custer with a last lap pass that took the checkered flag and won the race.

Reddick in his No.2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet just didn’t quite have enough at the end to hold back Custer, but still had a great run coming in second place.

“I heard he drove it in deep so I tried to cover the bottom.” Reddick said, “ We were so good at the beginning of the race I just don’t know what changed and the car went a little away from us there. I was just too tight to hold the bottom there. I got loose and it right back to him.  It was really fun to battle with him today, I hope the fans enjoyed it.”

Ryan Preece and Christopher Bell would round out the top five. Noah Gragson, Austin Cindric, Michael Annett, Justin Haley, and Austin Dillon finished sixth through 10th respectively.

Reddick leads the Xfinity Series standings by 76 points over Bell.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series will head next to Michigan International Speedway on Sat. June 8.

Xfinity Series Race Number 12
Race Results for the 4th Annual Pocono Green 250 Recycled by J.P. Mascaro – Saturday, June 1, 2019
Pocono Raceway – Long Pond, PA – 2.5 – Mile Paved
Total Race Length – 103 Laps – 257.5 Miles