Cole Custer wins ToyotaCare 250 and Dash 4 Cash at Richmond Raceway

Carol D'Agostino for Skirts and Scuffs

Friday at Richmond Raceway provided fans with a little of everything – one practice session each for both the Monster Energy Series and the Xfinity Series, a little bit of rain, and the return of its favorite native son, Elliott Sadler. But when the final lap was run it was Cole Custer who stole the headlines, winning both the race and the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash prize.

Custer led the most laps with 122. He started the race fourth on the grid based on owner’s points since qualifying was cancelled due to rain. The victory was Custer’s second of the season, sixth top-10 finish in six races at Richmond, and his fourth victory in 79 Xfinity Series starts.

Austin Cindric finished second and led seven laps. It was Cindric’s sixth top-10 finish this season. Justin Allgaier won Stage 1 and it looked like it was going to be a runaway win for him, but the No. 7 car started losing balance halfway through Stage 2. He ultimately finished third and led 86 laps. This was Allgaier’s seventh top-10 finish in 17 races at Richmond Raceway.

As the race progressed, the drivers seemed to be racing against the weather as well as their competitors. In fact, race-winning crew chief Mike Shiplett joked that his weather forecasting won the race. “I kept telling Cole that rain was eminent to make him go faster whether it actually was or not,” he joked.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series rolls into Talladega Superspeedway in two weeks for the MoneyLion 300 on Saturday, April 27 with Tyler Reddick leading the points standings by 24 points over Christopher Bell.