The official 2022 Production Alliance 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series race lineup, determined by qualifying results, shows the starting positions of all drivers at Auto Club Speedway.
Saturday, February 26th, 2022
Auto Club Speedway, Fontana, CA
Californian Cole Custer was the only former Auto Club Speedway winner in the field for Saturday's Production Alliance 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series race in Fontana, California.
Three overtimes, 12 cautions and more than three hours of official race time later, Custer was still the only former winner in the Fontana field, having beaten runner-up Noah Gragson to the finish line by .565 seconds.
It was a long day's journey into night, a race that started in mid-afternoon and unexpectedly ended under the lights in temperatures that dropped appreciably between the start and the finish. The three overtimes extended the event 15 laps beyond its scheduled distance of 150 circuits at the 2-mile track.
But Custer was the clear class of the field, leading 80 of the 165 laps and twice charging like a rocket from the outside of the fourth row to the lead after slower-than-usual late pit stops.
He got his second victory at Fontana in a No. 07 Ford that was a partnership entry between Stewart-Haas Racing and Bobby Dotter-owned SS Green Light Racing.
Custer was moonlighting - literally, as it turned out - from his Sunday ride in the No. 41 SHR Ford Mustang, which he'll be racing in the WISE Power 400 (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
"Man, it was just an awesome car," Custer said during his post-race frontstretch interview. "That thing was just a rocket ship all day. I can't thank Bobby Dotter enough - everybody that was involved on this car.
"It was unbelievable how fast we were. It's awesome to win at home - can't wait for tomorrow."
Gragson was competitive all day, leading 25 laps. Despite sliding though his pit stall during a pit stop under the eighth caution on Lap 125, he surged back to the front from 14th, retaking the top spot on the second lap after a restart on Lap 129.
Five laps later, however, Custer regained the lead and held it for all but one of the last 31 laps, through four more cautions and three overtime restarts.
"I felt like the car was really close all day, just struggled with the cloud cover and the temperature change - too loose or too tight," Gragson said. "Hats off to all the guys on the 07 car and Cole Custer. He was really fast today."
Trevor Bayne, the 2011 Daytona 500 winner, ran third in his first Xfinity Series start since a one-off in 2016. Josh Berry was fourth, as JR Motorsports drivers claimed four of the top eight finishing positions, with Gragson second, Sam Mayer sixth and Justin Allgaier eighth.
Anthony Alfredo parlayed tire strategy into a fifth-place finish. Pole winner AJ Allmendinger recovered from an unscheduled pit stop for a loose wheel to come home seventh. Riley Herbst and Ryan Sieg were ninth and 10th, respectively.
ST | # | DRIVER | MAKE | SPD | TIME | BHND | SPONSOR | TEAM | CREW CHIEF |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 179.829 | 40.038 | 0.000 | Nutrien Ag Solutions | Kaulig Racing | Bruce Schlicker |
2 | 07 | Cole Custer | Ford | 179.793 | 40.046 | 0.008 | Production Alliance Group | Ss Green Light Racing | Joe Williams |
3 | 19 | Brandon Jones | Toyota | 179.677 | 40.072 | 0.034 | Menards / Patroit Lighting | Joe Gibbs Racing | Jeff Meendering |
4 | 18 | Trevor Bayne | Toyota | 179.582 | 40.093 | 0.055 | Devotion Nutrition | Joe Gibbs Racing | Jason Ratcliff |
5 | 11 | Daniel Hemric | Chevrolet | 178.620 | 40.309 | 0.271 | Poppy Bank | Kaulig Racing | Alex Yontz |
6 | 9 | Noah Gragson | Chevrolet | 178.554 | 40.324 | 0.286 | Bass Pro Shops TrueTimber BRCC | Jr Motorsports | Luke Lambert |
7 | 10 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | 177.927 | 40.466 | 0.428 | Carnomaly | Kaulig Racing | Jason Trinchere |
8 | 21 | Austin Hill | Chevrolet | 177.061 | 40.664 | 0.626 | Bennett Transportation | Richard Childress Racing | Andy Street |
9 | 2 | Sheldon Creed | Chevrolet | 177.056 | 40.665 | 0.627 | Whelen | Richard Childress Racing | Jeff Stankiewicz |
10 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Chevrolet | 176.926 | 40.695 | 0.657 | First Pacific Funding | Jeremy Clements Racing | Mark Setzer |
11 | 8 | Josh Berry | Chevrolet | 176.648 | 40.759 | 0.721 | PUBG Mobile | Jr Motorsports | Mike Bumgarner |
12 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Toyota | 176.631 | 40.763 | 0.725 | Monster Energy | Joe Gibbs Racing | Chris Gayle |
13 | 1 | Sam Mayer | Chevrolet | 176.561 | 40.779 | 0.741 | Accelerate Pros Talent | Jr Motorsports | Taylor Moyer |
14 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | Ford | 176.319 | 40.835 | 0.797 | CMRroofing.com\ A-game | Rss Racing | Kevin Starland |
15 | 48 | Jade Buford | Chevrolet | 175.717 | 40.975 | 0.937 | Big Machine Spiked Coolers | Big Machine Racing | Patrick Donahue |
16 | 98 | Riley Herbst | Ford | 175.503 | 41.025 | 0.987 | Monster Energy | Stewart-haas Racing | Richard Boswell |
17 | 02 | Brett Moffitt | Chevrolet | 175.486 | 41.029 | 0.991 | Half Off Wholesale | Our Motorsports | Kris Bowen |
18 | 38 | Timmy Hill | Ford | 175.439 | 41.040 | 1.002 | Tahoe Blue Vodka | Rss Racing | Steve Addington |
19 | 36 | Alex Labbe | Chevrolet | 175.217 | 41.092 | 1.054 | Southwest Site Services | Dgm Racing | Corey Cashman |
20 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | Chevrolet | 175.165 | 41.104 | 1.066 | BRANDT | Jr Motorsports | Jason Burdett |
21 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Chevrolet | 175.114 | 41.116 | 1.078 | Arrowhead Brass | Our Motorsports | Chad Walter |
22 | 92 | Kyle Weatherman | Chevrolet | 174.906 | 41.165 | 1.127 | PORAC | Dgm Racing | Nathan Kennedy |
23 | 99 | Stefan Parsons | Chevrolet | 174.728 | 41.207 | 1.169 | SOKAL | Bj Mcleod Motorsports | Mike Tyska |
24 | 66 | JJ Yeley | Chevrolet | 174.672 | 41.220 | 1.182 | Remote Health Solutions | Motorsports Business Management | George Church |
25 | 5 | Matt Mills | Chevrolet | 174.524 | 41.255 | 1.217 | J.F. Electric | Bj Mcleod Motorsports | David Ingram |
26 | 4 | Bayley Currey | Chevrolet | 174.478 | 41.266 | 1.228 | KSDT CPA | Jd Motorsports | Wayne Carroll Jr |
27 | 44 | Tommy Joe Martins | Chevrolet | 174.292 | 41.310 | 1.272 | Market Rebellion | Alpha Prime Racing | Dan Stillman |
28 | 23 | Anthony Alfredo | Chevrolet | 174.064 | 41.364 | 1.326 | Dude Wipes | Our Motorsports | Pat Tryson |
29 | 45 | Kaz Grala | Chevrolet | 173.223 | 41.565 | 1.527 | Lilly Finance/Ruedebusch | Alpha Prime Racing | Paul Clapprood |
30 | 68 | Brandon Brown | Chevrolet | 172.683 | 41.695 | 1.657 | TradeTheChain.com | Brandonbilt Motorsports | Doug Randolph |
31 | 31 | Myatt Snider | Chevrolet | 172.645 | 41.704 | 1.666 | TaxSlayer | Jordan Anderson Racing | Shane Whitbeck |
32 | 6 | Ryan Vargas | Chevrolet | 172.629 | 41.708 | 1.670 | Swann Security | Jd Motorsports | Kase Kallenbach |
33 | 91 | Mason Massey | Chevrolet | 172.364 | 41.772 | 1.734 | BRUNT Workwear | Dgm Racing | Mario Gosselin |
34 | 78 | Josh Williams | Chevrolet | 171.335 | 42.023 | 1.985 | American Iron Rentals & I.M.S | Bj Mcleod Motorsports | Daniel Johnson |
35 | 34 | Jesse Iwuji | Chevrolet | 164.828 | 43.682 | 3.644 | Chevy Truck Month | Jesse Iwuji Motorsports | Jason Houghtaling |
36 | 35 | Joey Gase | Toyota | 163.250 | 44.104 | 4.066 | OneLegacy | Emerling Gase Motorsports | Rick Bourgeois |
37 | 24 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Toyota | 0.000 | 0.000 | 40.038 | ForeverLawn / Harvest | Sam Hunt Racing | Allen Hart |
38 | 28 | Kyle Sieg | Ford | 0.000 | 0.000 | 40.038 | TopPools.com | Rss Racing | Andrew May |
39 | 33 | Will Rodgers | Toyota | 171.920 | 41.880 | 1.842 | Kelly Benefits | Reaume Brothers Racing | Andrew Abbott |
40 | 08 | Joe Graf Jr | Ford | 171.535 | 41.974 | 1.936 | Bucked Up Energy Drink | Ss Green Light Racing | Jason Miller |
41 | 47 | Brennan Poole | Chevrolet | 0.000 | 0.000 | 40.038 | Mike Harmon Racing | Mike Harmon Racing | Ryan Bell |