NASCAR: Cole Custer goes four-wide to take first win at Kentucky

Rookie Cole Custer secured the first victory of his NASCAR Cup Series career at Kentucky Speedway after a late four-wide pass for the lead.

Last week at this time, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer was considered by many to be the most underperforming rookie in a stacked 2020 NASCAR Cup Series rookie class.

His best finish was ninth place through 15 races, but he was able to collect a solid fifth place result at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last Sunday evening.

Now you can throw 25th place in the championship standings and a whopping 87 points below the playoff cut line out the window. Custer is a race a winner and is playoff-bound after a thrilling victory at Kentucky Speedway in the Quaker State 400.

Custer started the 267-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) oval in Sparta, Kentucky back in 29th place in his #41 Ford, and he pulled off a victory after making a four-wide move on the outside of Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. for the lead on the final lap.

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Custer won the race by 0.271 seconds ahead of Truex, who finished in second place in his #19 Toyota. Wood Brothers Racing’s Matt DiBenedetto finished in a strong third place in his #21 Ford after giving Custer a great push on the outside on the final restart. Custer had restarted in sixth ahead of DiBenedetto in eighth.

Harvick had to settle for fourth place in his #4 Ford ahead of Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kurt Busch in fifth in his #1 Chevrolet. Blaney had to settle for sixth in his #12 Ford.

Leavine Family Racing rookie Christopher Bell finished in seventh place in his #95 Toyota ahead of Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola in eighth in his #10 Ford. Almirola dominated much of the race and led 128 laps, but he did not lead after lap 137.

Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski and Richard Childress Racing rookie Tyler Reddick rounded out the top 10 by finishing in ninth and 10th place in their #2 Ford and #8 Chevrolet, respectively.

This race featured 13 lead changes among nine drivers. Almirola led more laps than anybody else in the field. Custer led just five laps en route to the win.

The race’s other seven leaders were Truex, Keselowski, Blaney, Harvick, DiBenedetto, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch, who started the race from the pole position, and Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron. Almirola won stage one and Keselowski won stage two.

There were nine caution flag periods throughout the race, although the first incident-related caution flag period did not take place until the second half. Four caution flag periods took place within the race’s final 38 laps. Of the 38 drivers who competed in the race, 35 finished and 26 finished on the lead lap.

Here are the full race results of the 2020 Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway.

Race Results
1st – Cole Custer
2nd – Martin Truex Jr.
3rd – Matt DiBenedetto
4th – Kevin Harvick
5th – Kurt Busch
6th – Ryan Blaney
7th – Christopher Bell
8th – Aric Almirola
9th – Brad Keselowski
10th – Tyler Reddick
11th – William Byron
12th – Denny Hamlin
13th – Austin Dillon
14th – Clint Bowyer
15th – Joey Logano
16th – Ty Dillon
17th – Ryan Newman
18th – Jimmie Johnson
19th – Alex Bowman
20th – Chris Buescher
21st – Kyle Busch
22nd – Erik Jones
23rd – Chase Elliott
24th – Michael McDowell
25th – Matt Kenseth
26th – Daniel Suarez
27th – Bubba Wallace
28th – Corey LaJoie
29th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
30th – J.J. Yeley
31st – Brennan Poole
32nd – Josh Bilicki
33rd – Garrett Smithley
34th – Joey Gase
35th – Quin Houff
36th – John Hunter Nemechek
37th – Timmy Hill
38th – Ryan Preece

The next points-paying race on the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is scheduled to take next Sunday, July 19 at Texas Motor Speedway. This race, the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500, is set to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET.

However, the next race on the schedule is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, July 15 at Bristol Motor Speedway. This race is the All-Star Race for $1 million. The All-Star Open is set to serve as the final chance for many drivers to qualify for the main event, and it is set to be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1 beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET. The All-Star Race is set to follow on the same channel at 8:30 p.m. ET.