Another exciting final race as the Championship 4 were in 1, 2, 3 & 4 places at the last restart & they were 3 wide going into the white flag. Starting from 7th place Car 00 Cole Custer Haas Automation Ford won the NASCAR Xfinity Series Final Race for his 13th win in 143 Series Races & 1st NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship. This is his 3rd win & 21st Top 10 finish in 2023. This is his 1st win & 6th Top 10 finish in 8 races at Phoenix Raceway. 2nd Place Car 2 Sheldon Creed Whelen Chevrolet, started from 5th place posted his 4th Top 10 finish in 5 races at Phoenix Raceway. It is his 15th Top 10 finish in 2023. 3rd Place Car 7 Justin Allgaier BRANDT Chevrolet, started from 8th place posted his 18th Top 10 finish in 27 races at Phoenix Raceway.
4th Place Car 98 Riley Herbst Monster Energy Ford, started from 9th place followed by 5th place Car 1 Sam Mayer Accelerate Pros Talent Chevrolet, started from 16th place. 6th Place Car 8 Josh Berry Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Chevrolet, started from 15th place followed by 7th place Car 21 Austin Hill Bennett Transportation Chevrolet, started from 2nd place. 8th Place Car 16 Chandler Smith Quick Tie Products Inc. Chevrolet, started from 6th place was the highest finishing rookie. 9th Place Car 18 Sammy Smith Pilot Flying J Toyota, started from pole lastly in the Top 10 won the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors. Lastly in the Top 10 was Car 26 Kaz Grala Ruedebusch Toyota, in 10th place, started from 24th place. Chevrolet has won the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series Manufacturer’s Championship.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship
Provided by NASCAR Statistics – Saturday, November 4, 2023
Driver Champion: Cole Custer
Team: No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
• Cole Custer has won his first NASCAR Xfinity Series championship; his previous best finish in the final series standings was runner-up (twice) in 2018 and 2019.
• Custer has become the 33rd different driver to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship.
• Custer has won the season finale at Phoenix Raceway to claim the NASCAR Xfinity Series title.
• Custer made 33 starts this season, posting three wins, 14 top fives, 21 top 10s and six poles.
• In the Playoffs this season, Custer has posted one win, four top fives, five top 10s and two poles in seven starts.
• In total, Custer has made 143 starts in the Xfinity Series career, putting up 13 wins, 55 top fives, 96 top 10s and 18 poles.
• Custer, from Ladera Ranch, California has become the third NASCAR Xfinity Series champion from the state of California; joining Kevin Harvick (Bakersfield, 2001 and 2006) and Tyler Reddick (Corning, 2018 and 2019).
Owner Champion: Tony Stewart & Gene Haas, Stewart-Haas Racing
• This is Stewart-Haas Racing’s first NASCAR Xfinity Series driver championship (2023).
• This is Stewart-Haas Racing’s second owner championship (2018, 2023).
• Stewart-Haas Racing is the 20th different organization to win a driver championship in the NASCAR Xfinity Series
(2023), and one of 18 different organizations to win an owners championship (2018, 2023).
• Stewart-Haas Racing has 22 wins in the NASCAR Xfinity Series among three drivers – Cole Custer (11 wins), Chase Briscoe (nine wins) and Riley Herbst (one win).
• Stewart-Haas Racing began its NASCAR Xfinity Series program in 2017 at Daytona International Speedway with driver Cole Custer.
Crew Chief Champion: Jonathan Toney
• This is Jonathan Toney’s first career NASCAR Xfinity Series championship in his first full season of competition in the series.
• Toney is the 31st different crew chief to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship.
• Toney has won three times in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, all with Cole Custer.
The race had 8 Cautions for 46 Laps: 1st Caution on lap 4 for #7 Spin Turn 1. 2nd Caution on lap 9 for #38 Crash on the Frontstretch. 3rd Caution on lap 47 for Stage 1 Conclusion. 4th Caution on lap 87 for #11 Crash in Turn 2 / Stage 2 Conclusion. 5th Caution on lap 103 for #08, 53 Crash on the Backstretch. 6th Caution on lap 138 for #19 Crash in Turn 4. 7th Caution on lap 182 for #24 Crash in Turn 3. 8th Caution on lap 197 for #78, 07 Crash in Turn 4.
The race had 12 Lead Changes among 6 drivers; S. Smith # 1-11; A. Hill 12-32; J. Nemechek (P) 33-52; C. Custer (P) 53-90; J. Nemechek (P) 91; C. Custer (P) 92-108; J. Nemechek (P) 109-126; S. Creed 127-130; J. Nemechek (P) 131-156; C. Custer (P) 157-183; J. Nemechek (P) 184; D. Hemric 185-188; C. Custer (P) 189-202.
Stages:
Stage 1 Top 10: 20, 00, 16, 21, 1, 18, 7, 9, 19, 25
Stage 2 Top 10: 00, 1, 20, 21, 16, 9, 8, 2, 7, 98
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Number 33
Race Results for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship – Saturday, November 4, 2023
Phoenix Raceway – Avondale, AZ – 1. – Mile Paved
Total Race Length – 202 Laps – 202. Miles
Provided by NASCAR Statistics – Saturday, 11/4/2023 @ 09:48 PM Eastern
Finish Start Car Team Laps Status
1. 7. Car 00 Cole Custer (P) Haas Automation Ford 202 Running 2. 5. Car 2 Sheldon Creed Whelen Chevrolet 202 Running 3. 8. Car 7 Justin Allgaier (P) BRANDT Chevrolet 202 Running 4. 9. Car 98 Riley Herbst Monster Energy Ford 202 Running 5. 16. Car 1 Sam Mayer (P) Accelerate Pros Talent Chevrolet 202 Running 6. 15. Car 8 Josh Berry Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Chevrolet 202 Running 7. 2. Car 21 Austin Hill Bennett Transportation Chevrolet 202 Running 8. 6. Car 16 Chandler Smith # Quick Tie Products Inc. Chevrolet 202 Running 9. 1. Car 18 Sammy Smith # Pilot Flying J Toyota 202 Running 10. 24. Car 26 Kaz Grala Ruedebusch Toyota 202 Running 11. 20. Car 9 Brandon Jones Menards/Tuscany Faucets Chevrolet 202 Running 12. 18. Car 27 Jeb Burton Bommarito.com/EasyCare Chevrolet 202 Running 13. 14. Car 31 Parker Retzlaff # FUNKAWAY Chevrolet 202 Running 14. 13. Car 17 Rajah Caruth(i) HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 202 Running 15. 19. Car 25 Brett Moffitt AM Technical Solutions Ford 202 Running 16. 30. Car 48 Parker Kligerman Spiked Light Coolers Chevrolet 202 Running 17. 21. Car 91 Kyle Weatherman Fanttik Chevrolet 202 Running 18. 11. Car 39 Ryan Sieg Sci Aps Ford 202 Running 19. 17. Car 07 Dawson Cram TITAN CONSTRUCTION Chevrolet 202 Running 20. 25. Car 51 Jeremy Clements Impel Union Chevrolet 202 Running 21. 12. Car 10 Daniel Hemric Action Industries Chevrolet 202 Running 22. 4. Car 19 Myatt Snider Tree Top Toyota 202 Running 23. 34. Car 45 Jeffrey Earnhardt ForeverLawn Chevrolet 202 Running 24. 38. Car 78 Anthony Alfredo RTIC Chevrolet 202 Running 25. 26. Car 92 Josh Williams Seacrest Studios/ALLOY Chevrolet 202 Running 26. 27. Car 43 Ryan Ellis Spider Energy Drink Chevrolet 202 Running 27. 28. Car 35 Joey Gase Donate Life Arizona Ford 202 Running 28. 3. Car 20 John Hunter Nemechek (P) Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota 202 Running 29. 29. Car 6 Brennan Poole KSDT CPA Chevrolet 202 Running 30. 33. Car 66 Timmy Hill(i) Angry Crab Shack Ford 200 Running 31. 37. Car 28 Joe Graf Jr Bucked Up Ford 200 Running 32. 32. Car 02 Blaine Perkins # Gratis Chevrolet 200 Running 33. 36. Car 4 Stefan Parsons(i) Jupiter Rings Buffalo Sauce Chevrolet 194 Running 34. 10. Car 24 Connor Mosack Toyota Outfitters Toyota 180 Accident 35. 31. Car 53 Chris Hacker(i) Morgan & Morgan Chevrolet 178 Suspension 36. 35. Car 08 JJ Yeley Fan Controlled/Safelite Ford 101 Accident 37. 23. Car 11 Derek Kraus(i) Western States Flooring Chevrolet 84 Accident 38. 22. Car 38 Kyle Sieg JW Sports Cards Ford 14 Vibration
Race Comments: Prior to the start of the race, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reason(s) indicated: Nos. 78 (engine change) and 02 (unapproved adjustments). Failed to Qualify: (2) 44 Leland Honeyman, 74 Brad Perez. Caution Flags: 8 for 46 laps. Lead Changes: 12 among 6 drivers.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
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