John Nemechek and Cole Custer went door-to-door through the turf as their trucks smashed into each other at the finish line at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. The malee that ensued to the finish line required a review by NASCAR officials. As a result, John Nemechek was declared the winner of the contest on Sunday.
Cole Custer was absolutely maddened with the way he was tangled with. The youngster responded with a leaping tackle to knock John Nemechek to the ground as the race winner waited at the checkered flag-stand. After, Nemechek said he raced Custer clean to the finish.
“We had one fast truck. I didn’t know how long it was going to take to get past (Spencer) Gallagher but I set him up in (Turns) 5a and 5b and was also able to drive underneath him going down the backstretch. Once we got by him I had clean air and was able to drive right up to Cole,” he said.
“We didn’t wreck him for the win. Rubbin’ is racin’,” John Nemechek said. “If I had been in the same spot, he would have done the same thing to me to get a win. You have to do everything you can to get a win here.”
Cole Custer needed the win a lot more than John Nemecheck . The victory would have placed Custer into the NASCASR Camping World Truck Series’ version of the playoffs. In his post-race interview, it was obvious that Custer felt John Nemechek raced dirty.
“We had a really fast truck. We got taken out,” Custer said. “He hit me going into the second-to-last corner, and also he hit me again. I don’t know what else to do. But that’s how it is, I guess. I was expecting it, kinda, because he’s raced a lot of people like that but it’s just a shame because it also was a great chance to get into the Chase and he took it away from us,” he said.
Despite losing the affair, Cole Custer will have one last opportunity to make the Chase. The Speedster will now need to capture victory in the final race of the regular season at Chicago Speedway on September 16th.
The victory was John Nemechek’s second win of the 2016 season. Cole Custer was left looking for his first triumph of the year. Custer is also to far behind in points to make the playoffs without a victory. There is only one contest left before the eight-driver Chase field is finalized on September 16th at Chicagoland Speedway.
Cole Custer started his Haas Automation Chevrolet from the pole and led 39 of the 66 laps turned. He only conceded the lead when he made a green-flag pit stop in the middle of the race. That stop enabled John Nemechek to grab the lead. Custer took the lead back on a late race re-start and staved off Nemechek two more times before the final lap in overtime.
John Nemechek bumped Cole Custer for a first time in the final turn. Then the over-aggressive driver hit him a second time as the two hot-rods slid into the grass. They banged across the finish line with Nemechek’s truck just a little ahead. Daniel Hemric, Matt Crafton and Christopher Bell rounded out the top five in the Chevrolet Silverado 250.
The 4th Annual Chevrolet Silverado from Canadian Tire Motorsports Park took two hours and six minutes to complete. The average speed of the field was 77.273 miles per hour and the margin of victory was only .034 seconds. There were six cautions for a total of 18 laps. There were also six lead changes between five different drivers.
Cole Custer captured the Keystone 21 Means 21 Pole Award for his qualifying efforts prior to the start of the event. He also took home The Mobil 1 Driver of the Race and the Sunoco Rookie of the Race Awards. Hendrick Engines (#00) received the coveted Mahle Clavite Engine Builder of the Race Award.
Sunday’s results from the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park:
1. (13) John Hunter Nemechek, Chevrolet, 66 laps, 0 rating, 36 points.
2. (1) Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 66, 0, 33.
3. (3) Daniel Hemric, Ford, 66, 0, 31.
4. (17) Matt Crafton, Toyota, 66, 0, 30.
5. (16) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 66, 0, 28.
6. (8) Tyler Reddick, Ford, 66, 0, 27.
7. (11) Johnny Sauter, Chevrolet, 66, 0, 26.
8. (14) Ben Kennedy, Chevrolet, 66, 0, 25.
9. (7) Cameron Hayley, Toyota, 66, 0, 24.
10. (5) William Byron, Toyota, 66, 0, 23.
11. (15) Gary Klutt, Toyota, 66, 0, 22.
12. (21) John Wes Townley, Toyota, 66, 0, 21.
13. (24) Jordan Anderson, Chevrolet, 66, 0, 20.
14. (23) D.J. Kennington, Chevrolet, 66, 0, 0.
15. (22) Austin Wayne Self, Toyota, 66, 0, 18.
16. (6) Brett Moffitt, Toyota, 66, 0, 17.
17. (26) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, 66, 0, 0.
18. (12) Timothy Peters, Toyota, 66, 0, 15.
19. (28) Tommy Joe Martins, Chevrolet, 66, 0, 14.
20. (30) Norm Benning, Chevrolet, 66, 0, 13.
21. (20) Ryan Truex, Toyota, 66, 0, 12.
22. (9) Spencer Gallagher, Chevrolet, 66, 0, 12.
23. (2) Austin Cindric, Ford, 66, 0, 10.
24. (32) Jennifer Jo Cobb, Chevrolet, 64, 0, 9.
25. (27) Travis Kvapil, Chevrolet, engine, 60, 0, 8.
26. (4) Kaz Grala, Chevrolet, accident, 56, 0, 7.
27. (19) Rico Abreu, Toyota, accident, 52, 0, 6.
28. (25) Tyler Young, Chevrolet, electrical, 28, 0, 5.
29. (18) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, clutch, 9, 0, 4.
30. (10) Ben Rhodes, Toyota, accident, 6, 0, 3.
31. (29) Camden Murphy, Chevrolet, clutch, 3, 0, 0.
32. (31) Caleb Roark, Chevrolet, brakes, 3, 0, 1.
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