Custer Wins Following Thrilling Kentucky Finish

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Cole Custer won the Quaker State 400 from Kentucky Speedway on Sunday afternoon to pick up his first career victory.

Custer became the first rookie to win at Kentucky since the Cup Series began racing there in 2011.

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Custer, who has struggled adapting to the competition of the Cup Series so far this season, said he was not expecting to get the victory at a track where drivers consistently struggle to pass.

“We were so good all day,” Custer said.  “Our car was so good; obviously it wasn’t the easiest track to pass on so we were kind of stuck back there.  I didn’t think we were coming here coming to win.”

After two wild restarts late in the race, Custer took the leaders four-wide coming to the white flag to take the lead.  While Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick battled on the inside, Matt DiBenedetto gave Custer a push that sent the rookie to victory lane.

With the victory, Custer became the first rookie to win in the Cup Series since Chris Buescher went to victory lane in 2016 at Pocono.

Custer said he and his team have been focused on getting acclimated to the Cup Series competition.

“It definitely wasn’t the start to the year that I wanted,” Custer said.  “We were definitely off at some places, but this was…an unbelievable car.  We put it all together and I just can’t thank everybody enough.”

Martin Truex Jr. finished second on Sunday after starting at the back of the field for failing pre-race inspection twice.

Truex found himself on the losing end of two calls by NASCAR late in the race, when the cautions came out while he was side-by-side with the leader.

Truex said he had to shift his focus after losing out on those two calls with the laps winding down.

“At the end there, just a bit unlucky,” Truex said.  “That’s just kind of how these things go sometimes.”

“Just an unbelievable racecar.  Everybody back at Joe Gibbs Racing just went to work this week trying to get back to what we used to do here.  Proud of the effort; feel like we’re back in the game now.”

Unofficial results:

1. Cole Custer

2. Martin Truex Jr.

3. Matt DiBenedetto

4. Kevin Harvick

5. Kurt Busch

6. Ryan Blaney

7. Christopher Bell

8. Aric Almirola

9. Brad Keselowski

10. Tyler Reddick

11. William Byron

12. Denny Hamlin

13. Austin Dillon

14. Clint Bowyer

15. Joey Logano

16. Ty Dillon

17. Ryan Newman

18. Jimmie Johnson

19. Alex Bowman

20. Chris Buescher

21. Kyle Busch

22. Erik Jones

23. Chase Elliott

24. Michael McDowell

25. Matt Kenseth

26. Daniel Suarez

27. Bubba Wallace

28. Corey LaJoie

29. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

30. JJ Yeley

31. Brennan Poole

32. Josh Bilicki

33. Garrett Smithley

34. Joey Gase

35. Quin Houff

36. John Hunter Nemechek

37. Timmy Hill

38. Ryan Preece

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images