Richmond, VA– Cole Custer in the No. 00 Code 3 Associates Ford Mustang captured his 2nd pole in as many weeks by snagging the top spot in qualifying ahead of Friday nights ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway. Custer has raced just 3 times in the Xfinity Series at Richmond, posting only one top 10, which came in fall of 2016.
Round one of qualifying saw John Hunter Nemechek in the No. 42 atop the board with a 120.859 mph fastest lap average. Noah Gragson was 24th fastest in round one, just making it inside the bubble to advance to round two of qualifying. Just outside the bubble was David Star in the No. 52 missing the cut for round two with a 117.198 mph fastest lap average.
Justin Allgaier in the No. 7 climbed to the top of the leaderboard in round two of qualifying, posting a 22.466-second lap time. Noah Gragson improved tremendously, posting the 3rd fastest lap time of the round. The unlucky driver just missing the round of 12 for qualifying was Ryan Reid in the No. 16 with a 22.656-second lap time.
In the final round of qualifying, Cole Custer in the No. 00 jumped to the pole, much in help to him only running two qualifying laps total in the previous two sessions, saving their tires. He ran a 22.253-second lap time to secure the pole. Christopher Bell was just 0.083-seconds slower in 2nd. Allgaier qualified 7th and John Hunter Nemechek came in 5th.
The drop of the green flag is scheduled for 7:00 pm EST from Richmond Raceway.
