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.

Rob Carr/Getty Images

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

Busch Brothers Duel in Kentucky

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kurt Busch won the Quaker State 400 from Kentucky Speedway on Saturday night,

Busch took the lead after the final restart of overtime, and he outran his younger brother Kyle to get to victory lane.

Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

Last weekend, Busch lost the lead during a lightning delay that ended the race at Daytona, and he said this race made up for the loss last weekend.

“When we got the yellow at the end, that put us back in it,” Busch said.  “Last week was whatever, because this week we got the trophy.”

Busch has had a strong car on 1.5 mile tracks throughout the season, but was winless coming into Saturday’s race. 

The victory was the first for Busch with the new team, and he said the victory was a first for many on the team.

“A lot of first wins with this group of guys,” Busch said.  “The way that we got together and had speed, we just weren’t competing…now we’re all winners.”

Kyle Busch said he was disappointing in finishing second in a close finish to his older brother.

“It was a thriller, just unfortunate that we were on the wrong end of the deal,” Busch said.  “It’s obviously cool to put on great races and great finishes.  Been a part of a lot of them…in fact none with my brother.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kurt Busch

2. Kyle Busch

3. Erik Jones

4. Kyle Larson

5. Denny Hamlin

6. Clint Bowyer

7. Joey Logano

8. Daniel Suarez

9. Ryan Newman

10. Chris Buescher

11. Paul Menard

12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

13. Ryan Blaney

14. Aric Almirola

15. Chase Elliott

16. Matt DiBenedetto

17. Alex Bowman

18. William Byron

19. Martin Truex Jr.

20. Brad Keselowski

21. Ryan Preece

22. Kevin Harvick

23. Bubba Wallace

24. Daniel Hemric

25. Michael McDowell

26. Ty Dillon

27. Matt Tifft

28. Corey LaJoie

29. David Ragan

30. Jimmie Johnson

31. Ross Chastain

32. Landon Cassill

33. Bayley Currey

34. Quin Houff

35. Austin Dillon

36. BJ McLoed

Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

Truex Dominates in Kentucky

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Martin Truex Jr. won the Quaker State 400 from Kentucky Speedway on Saturday night.

Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Truex won both stages and led a race-high 174 laps on his way to a dominant victory.  Truex did the same thing last year at Kentucky, and it propelled him into his championship run.

Truex said his team has the perfect notebook for Kentucky.

“We love coming here,” Truex said.  “We made it look easy last year but it certainly wasn’t.”

Truex started on the pole for Saturday’s race, and he said his team worked overnight to make the car better from practice and qualifying.

“We thought we were good yesterday and we tweaked on it for today,” Truex said.

Ryan Blaney finished second on Saturday, and he said it was a step in the right direction following a few weeks of poor finishes.

“After the last few weeks we’ve had, this is a very good positive for us,” Blaney said.  “Hopefully we can get it going in the right direction.”

Unofficial results:

1. Martin Truex Jr.

2. Ryan Blaney

3. Brad Keselowski

4. Kyle Busch

5. Kevin Harvick

6. Kurt Busch

7. Erik Jones

8. Aric Almirola

9. Kyle Larson

10. Joey Logano

11. Paul Menard

12. Clint Bowyer

13. Chase Elliott

14. Jimmie Johnson

15. Daniel Suarez

16. Denny Hamlin

17. Jamie McMurray

18. David Ragan

19. Matt Kenseth

20. William Byron

21. Ryan Newman

22. Austin Dillon

23. Chris Buescher

24. Michael McDowell

25. Kasey Kahne

26. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

27. Darrell Wallace Jr.

28. Ross Chastain

29. Ty Dillon

30. AJ Allmendinger

31. Corey LaJoie

32. BJ McLeod

33. Landon Cassill

34. Timmy Hill

35. Jesse Little

36. Garrett Smithley

37. Matt DiBenedetto

38. JJ Yeley

39. Alex Bowman

Sarah Crabill/Getty Images

Truex Dominates in Kentucky

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Martin Truex Jr. dominated the Quaker State 400 from Kentucky Speedway on Saturday night to pick up his third win of the season.

Truex led a race-high 152 laps and won both stages on his way to victory lane.  Truex was leading when the caution came out with two laps to go, and he said he thought he was going to lose the race when he chose to stay out when the rest of the field pitted.

Robert Laberge/Getty Images

“I thought we were dead,” Truex said.  “Fortunately we were able to hold them off…and a good push from [Kyle] Larson helped us a bunch.”

While Truex was leading over a long green-flag run in the final 50 laps, he said he was waiting for the inevitable caution that would make the end interesting.

“I was worried every lap, just waiting for a caution,” Truex said.  “Especially at the end, you’re just counting them down.”

“It felt like we had a shot last year and it got away from us on fuel mileage.  I wanted to win so bad after that, so this is sweet redemption.”

Kyle Larson was not able to get through pre-qualifying inspection, so he had to start last on Saturday.  Larson rebounded to finish second, but he said an ill-timed speeding penalty on pit road may have had an effect on the final result.

“I felt like I had the second-best car today, and it would have been interesting to get a restart with him earlier,” Larson said.  “My speeding penalty there…I’m mad at myself for making that mistake.  I don’t really know if that affected the outcome, but you never know.”

Unofficial results:

1. Martin Truex Jr.

2. Kyle Larson

3. Chase Elliott

4. Denny Hamlin

5. Kyle Busch

6. Erik Jones

7. Jamie McMurray

8. Joey Logano

9. Kevin Harvick

10. Ryan Blaney

11. Darrell Wallace Jr.

12. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

13. Clint Bowyer

14. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

15. Danica Patrick

16. Chris Buescher

17. Matt Kenseth

18. Daniel Suarez

19. Austin Dillon

20. AJ Allmendinger

21. Paul Menard

22. Ryan Newman

23. Michael McDowell

24. David Ragan

25. Matt DiBenedetto

26. Landon Cassill

27. Ryan Sieg

28. Reed Sorenson

29. Jeffrey Earnhardt

30. Kurt Busch

31. Timmy Hill

32. BJ McLeod

33. Ty Dillon

34. Cole Whitt

35. Gray Gaulding

36. Joey Gase

37. Trevor Bayne

38. Kasey Kahne

39. Brad Keselowski

40. Jimmie Johnson

Sarah Crabill/Getty Images

Keselowski Stretches Fuel to Win at Kentucky

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

Brad Keselowski won the Quaker State 400 from Kentucky Speedway on Saturday night, stretching his fuel to last the final run.

Photo courtesy Brian Ohigashi/Getty Images

Keselowski led 75 laps on Saturday night, winning his second-straight race.  Keselowski stretched his fuel over the final run, and said his team did a good job calculating his fuel mileage.

“It became obvious that you were going to have to save fuel at the end, but I’d already used so much,” Keselowski said.  “It was a testament to our guys to have the fuel mileage we did to be able to get back what we burnt up at the beginning of the run.”

Keselowski won on a newly-repaved Kentucky Speedway, which also saw a smaller rear spoiler to reduce downforce.  Keselowski said the cars were tough to drive.

“These cars were tough to drive today,” Keselowski said.  “They were a good tough, and it was a hard-fought battle.”

“Usually these repaves are my Achilles heel.  I know it’s been a good track for us in the past, but this isn’t the same Kentucky.”

Keselowski also said that his team is just getting hot as the summer moves on.

“This is our best stretch, and we’re really proud of that.  We’ve just got to follow the course.”

Carl Edwards finished second to Keselowski.  Edwards caught and almost passed Keselowski on the final lap, but said Keselowski was perfect at the end.

“I’ve got to give credit where credit is due, Brad played that perfectly,” Edwards said.  “He baited me in there…and then he just went.”

Unofficial results:

1. Brad Keselowski

2. Carl Edwards

3. Ryan Newman

4. Kurt Busch

5. Tony Stewart

6. Greg Biffle

7. Jamie McMurray

8. Matt Kenseth

9. Kevin Harvick

10. Martin Truex Jr.

11. Trevor Bayne

12. Kyle Busch

13. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

14. Kasey Kahne

15. Denny Hamlin

16. Austin Dillon

17. Danica Patrick

18. Paul Menard

19. Kyle Larson

20. Aric Almirola

21. Cole Whitt

22. David Ragan

23. Clint Bowyer

24. Josh Wise

25. Ty Dillon

26. Michael Annett

27. Reed Sorenson

28. Jeffrey Earnhardt

29. Landon Cassill

30. Casey Mears

31. Chase Elliott

32. Jimmie Johnson

33. Brian Scott

34. Regan Smith

35. Ryan Blaney

36. AJ Allmendinger

37. Chris Buescher

38. Matt DiBenedetto

39. Joey Logano

40. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Photo courtesy Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

Austin Dillon Ready for Kentucky: "You Feel Like Superman"

Austin Dillon said he was ready to race at Kentucky this weekend just days after a horrifying crash on the final lap of Sunday's Coke Zero 400.

Dillon had a busy morning of media availablity on Tuesday, which included appearances on the Today Show and SportsCenter before a NASCAR teleconference.  Dillon walked the media through the accident from his perspective.

"When [Hamlin] got turned...I kind of knew were in a bad situation at that point," Dillon said.  "I just remember getting launched up, and then the first violent part of the wreck was when we turned upside down."

Photo courtesy Getty Images

Dillon said he tensed up and grabbed the wheel when his car was headed towards the catchfence.  He went on to say that the hardest hit was when Brad Keselowski lost control of his car and made contact with Dillon.

"I thought it was over, and then when Brad came through and hit us at the end, it was pretty hard, that last lick."

Dillon went on to say that the accident will not affect his performance on the track.  He said he was mentally and physically prepared to race this weekend at Kentucky Speedway.

"As a driver you try not to let that emotion creep into your head, because I'm confident as I've ever been right now because of the safety," Dillon said.  "I believe I'm still strong and confident.  If I was shaken...I wouldn't be getting in that car next weekend.  But I feel fine."

"If I can take a lick like that and feel as good as I do right now, I feel like I can do anything.  You feel like Superman."