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Stewart Haas Racing driver Cole Custer will lead the NASCAR Xfinity field to the green flag for the second race in the Round of 8 at Homestead Miami Speedway.
Following a third-place finish at Vegas, the #00 Stewart Haas Racing driver is 15 points above the cutline. He occupies the final position among the four drivers advancing into the championship race at Phoenix.
Starting in pole position at Miami, Cole Custer is relieved that he has a buffer. He reckoned making up such a deficit is not easy when all playoff contenders are scoring stage points.
"Definitely, I feel way better about that than how I went into Vegas because we were too out. So I think it definitely gives you a better feeling because it's not easy to make up 15 points in the series just because a lot of the guys who are racing are gonna be in the stage points. That's really good that we made up those points..." he made the comments replying to Bob Pockrass.
Joe Gibbs Racing driver John Hunter Nemechek will join Custer on the front row. Behind the duo Justin Allgaier, Austin Hill, and Sammy Smith rounded off an all playoff driver top five.
Playoff driver Sheldon Creed, who announced his shock exit from Richard Childress Racing recently, will start ninth. Chandler Smith and Sam Mayer were the two playoff drivers to qualify outside the top 10 and will start 12th and 13th respectively.
Cole Custer will take the green flag for the Contender Boats 250 at 3.PM ET this Saturday, October 21.
Cole Custer aiming to increase the buffer at the Homestead playoff race
With a 15-point buffer to the cutline, many would imagine Cole Custer to be looking rearward heading into the second race in the penultimate playoff round. However, the #00 SHR driver is targeting to gain places in the standings.
None of the playoff contenders have booked their spot in the season finale. John Hunter Nemechek is likely to do so being 47 points above the cutline. Justin Allgaier and Austin Hill are second and third in the standings with 21 and 19 points advantages respectively.
Prior to the race at Homestead, Custer admitted he aims to hunt down Allgaier and Hill in the standings to increase in points buffer.
"...I thought it was really gonna be a three-car race. I thought the top three would have been pretty safe with the #21(Austin Hill), #7(Justin Allgaier) and #20(John H. Nemechek)," he said.
"But honestly, we are not too far back to the #7 and the #21 now. If we have a good day, hopefully, we could make a spot or two and that gives you a little more buffer going into Martinsville."
The Martinsville Speedway will host the elimination race next weekend, leaving four contenders for the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity title.
