Cole Custer started on pole at the wet New Hampshire track for the Sci Aps 200. (Photo Credit: Cole Custer | 𝕏)[/caption]
NXS Race Recap: Sci Aps 200
It was a rainy weekend in Loudon, New Hampshire. That gave Cole Custer the pole as qualifying and practice were canceled. The green flag was moved up to be more accommodating to the impending weather. The stage breaks came at lap 45 and 90 with the final stage being 110 laps and wet weather tires were issued to the teams as a precaution. No practice or qualifying and a clean racetrack set quite a bit of unknowns for what was to come.
Rain Rain Go Away
As they made their way out onto the track to take the green flag, rain was spotted falling onto the cars. The cars rolled around the track and parked in their pit boxes to wait for the decision on what tires to be used. NASCAR ultimately made the decision to start on the wet weather tires. Parker Kligerman went as far to say he could not tell where the track was wet and dry.
Stage 1
Cole Custer was first in turn one on wet weather tires and made it stick, however, Matt DiBenedetto did not get off the line at all, he said he could not get it into gear. Parker Retzlaff was made to do a pass-through penalty for an unapproved adjustment. The track dried off as the cars completed laps.
Riley Herbst maintained a second behind his teammate in first, but Austin Hill made the biggest moves early. After starting in thirteenth, he passed his way into the top five quickly. A competition caution was thrown at lap ten.
Chandler smith fell 21 spots in the first ten laps. NASCAR then made the decision to put slick tires on under the caution. Custer won the race off pit road with Hill following him out.
Seven laps were spent under the caution. When the race restarted with Custer and Hill in front, Hill snagged the lead. The lap times dropped by about a second on the slick tires. Custer was able to stay with Hill and eventually got back around him for the lead. The second caution came out when Patrick Emerling stopped his car on the track.
Twelve laps remained in the stage when they restarted the race. Another caution came out when Herbst got into Allmendinger who hit Kligerman, spinning him out. This caution brought the leaders down to pit road. Kligerman was not happy with Allmendinger under the caution.
Alex Bowman restarted the race on the front row alongside Sammy Smith. Sam Mayer quickly passed Smith for the lead. He was able to maintain about a second lead and won his first stage of the year.
Stage 2
Christopher Bell and Justin Bonsignore restarted the race with Bell taking the lead. Bell extended his lead to about a second. Custer showed his experience and patience running behind Corey Heim, who is not experienced in this series. Custer passed Heim and then quickly scampered away.
Chandler Smith, Justin Allgaier and Heim battled hard, even swapping paint. Their battling led to Brandon Jones catching up to them. Sam Mayer had radio issues that plagued his race, but he did not let that slow him down. He fought Jesse Love and Allmendinger with radio problems. Allgaier also had radio issues very similar to Mayer. The same noise came over the radio repeatedly. Bell opened his lead to almost four seconds over Bonsignore and won the stage.
Cautions, Cautions go away
Bonsignore, with his inexperience, had troubles on pit road. Custer and Bell led the field to green for the restart for the final stage. Custer charged out to the lead and Bell slid right through turn three, which let Chandler Smith to pass him. Then, Armani Williams brought out a caution after he spun out in turn four.
The green flag came out with 95 to go in the race. Custer maintained the lead over Bell. Bell fell to third and could not get past Chandler Smith. Hill got into Herbst trying to make the pass but was unable to complete it. Bell managed to pass C. Smith with 75 laps to go. Bell was still over two seconds behind Custer. Bonsignore passed C. Smith using his experience at the track. Herbst used his bumper to pass Mayer. Bell was the first car of the leaders to pit. He pitted with 51 laps to go. S. Smith, and Herbst joined him for four tires and fuel. Custer followed them in on the next lap. Heim had a slow stop when the car was dropped onto a tire gun.
Carson Kvapil assumed the lead with all the pit stops taking place. Bowman pitted late but had an uncontrolled tire, so he had to serve a penalty. Kvapil surrendered the lead with 33 to go. Custer assumed the lead with a four second lead. Armani Williams spun out to bring out another caution. Most of the leaders used this opportunity to pit again. Custer and Bell were the first two off pit road. Jesse Love and Kvapil restarted on the front row.
Restarts Lead to Cautions
All the track used on the restart saw Kvapil pull out to the lead. Custer quickly moved into second. Chandler Smith got spun around for the eighth caution of the day. Kvapil and Custer restarted on the front row, but they couldn’t make it into turn three before another caution came out. Bonsignore got some help from S. Smith that turned him around. Hill received the most damage. He complained of something being bent. Custer was in front of Kvapil when the caution was thrown.
Twelve laps to go as Custer snatched the lead on the restart. Kvapil was swallowed up by Creed and Allgaier. Haley Deegan and Nathan Byrd brought out a caution. Byrd took all the damage and Deegan was able to drive off. Deegan seemed to drive through the turn into Byrd. Custer and Bell took the front row for the restart with six laps to go. Custer had a great launch, but Bell did not give up. Side by side they raced for the lead. Another caution came out for a big wreck that put door foam all over the track. Ryan Ellis was the culprit of spilling the foam. He got hit in the back of the pack.
Nascar Overtime
Custer and Bell, again, restarted the race on the front row. Creed and Allgaier were behind them. Custer had a great launch with Creed in tow. Creed bulldogged his way into the lead. Custer fought back with his bumper which allowed Bell to take the lead. Ultimately, Bell went on to win the race in overtime! Sheldon Creed finished second and Custer in third.
