Call811.com Every Dig. Every Time. 200
Two hundred laps for two hundred miles were on deck at Phoenix Raceway. Cole Custer was on the pole for the Call811.com Every Dig. Every Time. 200. Custer won last year’s season finale at the same track, so he was picking up where he left off.
Sammy Smith, starting 16th, was last year’s spring Phoenix race winner. Corey Heim rolled off third while Riley Herbst was in fourth and Justin Allgaier in fifth.
There were a couple NASCAR Cup Series veterans in the race – Aric Almirola (eighth) and William Byron (28th). NASCAR Xfinity Series rookie Shane van Gisbergen, our resident kiwi, started in 23rd. The stages were 45 laps, 45 laps, and 110 laps.
Setting the Stage
Custer and Chandler Smith took the green and S. Smith assumed the lead right off the bat.
John Hunter Nemechek got squeezed by Jesse Love and shuffled back. Almirola used his experience and pushed ahead to fifth early. There was a quick caution after six laps when Jeremy Clements got into, and spun, Josh Williams. It has not been a good start for Williams as he just stepped into a much bigger team in Kaulig Racing. His career has had some ups and more downs, but he has been positive about his new role at Kaulig.
Early on, Allgaier was complaining about the No. 2 car (Jesse Love) and Nemechek made huge moves early in the run on the lap 11 restart to move up to sixth.
All the track surface was used from the start as the entire field fanned out across the track. Byron shot through the field and was broke into the top 15 on lap 20 after starting deep in the field. Allgaier moved into third, while Heim complained about being snappy loose on lap 30. That is not good early in the race, however the Toyota’s looked good early in the race.
“Malcom in the Middle” star and actor Frankie Muniz was looking to complete all the laps.
While he was a lap down early in the race, he did what he set out to do, early on at least.
Nemecheck seemed to use his stuff early in the stage as he fell a bit later in the first stage. C. Smith led wire to wire to take the green checkered flag and win the first stage.
Stage 2
A slow front, left tire change for C. Smith gave Custer the lead, and the advantage, out of the pits after stops. Custer sped off upon the restart of stage two. Allgaier had a bad restart and C. Smith scampered into second. Meanwhile, Muniz was two laps down after sixty laps completed.
Allgaier gathered himself after his bad restart and caught up to the leaders with Almirola in tow. During this time, Allgaier confirmed he spun his tires during the restart.
As the stage hit the halfway point, the top six cars were separated by a second and a half.
Track position was proving to be more than critical as C. Smith struggled to pass Custer in the lead and continued to take shots at each other, seemingly not making up ground on each other but racing hard.
On lap 70, Byron finally cracked the top 10. At this time, Allgaier passed C. Smith as did Almirola. Despite his starting spot, Heim was minus sixteen positions through 75 laps. A very shaky right rear tire was the cause of Heims misfortune. Van Gisbergen sat 20th with four laps to go. As the laps wound down, the track started to change with clouds moving in, but Custer led every lap in the second stage. Allgaier finished in second and Almirola in third.
Stage 3
Once again, Custer won the race off pit road. Allgaier did not let the stage start before once again complaining about the lack of racing respect. To start the final stage, Custer lined up on the inside lane and Allgaier chose the outside.
The race for the lead got intense as C. Smith caught up to Custer. He used him up and C. Smith resumed the lead. Custer had a long-run car for the most part of the race.
The clouds cleared out in the early part of stage three, which changed the track again. Custer fell to sixth and with Sam Mayer chasing him.
Then, trouble began for numerous drivers. Notably, AJ Allmendinger did not have the day he wanted, as he began to have engine trouble in the third stage. Hailie Deegan put her car in the wall and Frankie Muniz retired his car.
What should have been the final pit stops put Nemechek out in the lead with Allgaier in second. Allgaier took off upon the restart and assumed the lead, making him only the third leader in the race to that point.
Trouble Strikes
Then, more trouble struck. Nemechek was wrecked by his teammate, C. Smith, with a ton of damage. Very close racing for the same space was the culprit. A red flag was thrown for the thirteen-car wreck while a lot of speedy dry was put on the track to clean up the fluids.
After the red flag turned to yellow, Allgaier reassumed the lead with 50 laps to go. The green flag resumed the race with a three-wide battle for third between Sheldon Creed, Custer, and Love. C. Smith caught Allgaier with 42 laps left and Van Gisbergen got up to 12th.
With 20 to go, it seemed that Allgaier had set sail as he was over two seconds ahead of second place. Love caught Creed for third position. Then, what seemed to be a sure win was trashed after the left rear tire on Allgaier’s car gave out and he spun, hitting the wall. No one had any fresh tires to put on their cars.
Trouble at the front of the field collects multiple cars! pic.twitter.com/MwO8vuTj4m
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) March 9, 2024
This incident led to NASCAR overtime in the desert. C. Smith and Creed restarted on the front row. C. Smith took the lead upon the restart and came around for the white and the checkered flag for the Call811.com Every Dig. Every Time. 200.
What’s on Marvin’s Mind?
I love the Cup drivers in the booth during the Xfinity race. They add so much information to the broadcast as, usually, they were just on the track for practice or qualifying. Joey Logano and Daniel Suarez were in the booth for this weekend’s race. Many may not like Logano, but he is incredibly experienced and knowledgeable about the series and the tracks. He can use all of that and add so much information to the broadcast. They have great chemistry and are such a value to the FOX broadcast.
