By Elliott Stern / [email protected]
FONTANA – It was the race that wouldn’t end.
After a nearly two-year absence, NASCAR was back at Fontana’s Auto Club Speedway Saturday with the 23rdProduction Alliance Group 300 Xfinity race kicking off the weekend.
Scheduled for 150 laps around the speedway’s 2-mile oval, it took three overtimes and 164 laps before Cole Custer took finally captured the checkered flag as the lights went on and the sun was setting in Fontana.
“This Production Alliance Ford Mustang has been a rocket ship all day,” said Custer. “To win (for the second time) at my home track (he’s from nearby Ladera Ranch) and to win in a Production Alliance Mustang was aw esome.”
Noah Gragson finished second followed by Trevor Bayne, Josh Berry, Anthony Alfredo, Sam Mayer, pole sitter AJ Allmendinger, Justin Allgaier, Riley Herbst and Ryan Sieg.
“I had the lead but then had some trouble in my pit box,” said Gragson. “I was able to back to the lead but just didn’t have enough to win. I just came up short today but I finished third last week (at Daytona) and second today, so to start the year with two top three finishes – I’ll take it.”
The race featured 12 cautions with No. 9 coming on Lap 140 for debris on the track.
That was a key stop for Alfredo who was able to hit the pits for fresh tires. Alfredo’s team gambled earlier by skipping a tire stop which meant his was the only team that had a set of new tires for the stretch run.
Alfredo was in 25th place at the time but was able to move all the way to third place by the time of the final restart before ending in fourth place.
“It’s disappointing,” said Alfredo. “To come that close and not win is disappointing. But we saved a set of tires and hoped for a late caution and we got one. We weren’t the fastest car today but we hung in there.”
The 10th caution flag flew on lap 145 after Brett Moffitt blew a tire and hit the wall.
That forced the race into a two-lap overtime but that overtime didn’t go a lap before Daniel Hemric’s car got loose and hit Brandon Jones, causing him to crash and bringing out the yellow flag.
So, they all lined up again for double overtime and that restart almost made it one lap before first the yellow (11th caution) and then the red flags flew after Stefan Parsons hit Sheldon Creed who caromed off Alex Labbe sending Labbe into the sand barrels at the entrance to pit road, smashing several barrels and pouring sand all over the track.
The cars were forced to park on the track while the barrels were replaced and the sand cleaned up.
It also caused some concern that the cars might be getting low on fuel.
“I knew we were still good on fuel but what I was worried about was that the track might be slick because of the Speedy Dry the put down and because there might still be sand blowing over the track,” said Bayne.
Everything finally went smoothly in in triple overtime.
Custer was able to grab the lead heading into Turn 1 and was able to hold off a hard-charging Gragson for his 10th career Xfinity victory and first since he moved up to the Cup series in 2019.
“On that final restart, I was hoping for a good run down to Turn 1, then I hoped to get the lead by Turn 2 and then I hoped I’d be able to avoid any more mayhem behind me and I was finally able to lead the most important lap – the final lap.”
Custer, who is not eligible for points in the Xfinity Series, also won stage two.
Bayne won the first stage of Saturday’s race.
Saturday’s Xfinity race will be followed Sunday with the Cup Series Wise Power 400.
The Cup racers had both practice and qualifying Sunday with Austin Cindric, fresh of his win at the Daytona 500, taking the pole.
The Fontana races are the beginning of NASCAR’s Western swing.
The series heads to Las Vegas next weekend before moving on to Phoenix the week after that.
