DUDE Wipes 250
Date: April 6, 2024
Event: DUDE Wipes 250 (Round 7 of 33)
Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series
Location: Martinsville (Va.) Speedway(.526-mile oval)
Format: 250 laps, broken into three stages (60 laps/60 laps/130 laps)
Note: Race extended one lap past its scheduled 250-lap distance due to a green-white-checkered finish.
Race Winner: Aric Almirola of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 1 Winner: Aric Almirola of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: Justin Allgaier of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet)
SHR Race Finish:
● Cole Custer (Started 2nd / Finished 8th, Running, completed 251 of 251 laps)
● Riley Herbst (Started 22nd / Finished 25th, Accident, completed 250 of 251 laps)
SHR Points:
● Cole Custer (2nd with 267 points, 35 out of first)
● Riley Herbst (6th with 206 points, 96 out of first)
SHR Notes:
● Custer earned his fifth straight top-10 of the season and his second top-10 in three career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Martinsville.
● Custer has never finished outside of the top-20 at Martinsville.
● Custer finished third in Stage 1 to earn eight bonus points and fifth in Stage 2 to earn six more bonus points.
● Custer led once for 27 laps to increase his laps-led total at Martinsville to 33.
● Herbst earned his sixth top-25 of the season and his sixth top-25 in eight career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Martinsville.
Race Notes:
● Aric Almirola won the DUDE Wipes 250 under caution to score his fifth career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory, his first of the season, and his first at Martinsville.
● There were 11 caution periods for a total of 68 laps.
● Twenty-four of the 38 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
● Chandler Smith leaves Martinsville as the championship leader with a 35-point advantage over second-place Cole Custer.
Sound Bites:
“We had a solid short-run car, but we just didn’t have the long-run speed today. We tried to make the most of the day though and got a top-10 out of it. Still, it wasn’t the Martinsville race that we had wanted. Our No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang Dark Horse had the speed, but it was definitely still tough. We have some things that we need to work on, and we’ll look at it before the next race.” –Cole Custer, driver of the No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang Dark Horse
“Such a long day for our No. 98 Monster Energy team. We qualified deep in the field and then just had to fight our way up through the crowd. We got all the way up to forth and then got some nose damage and a pit road penalty in the second stage. Honestly, we recovered and looked like we could get a top-10 finish during the green-white-checkered. I just overstepped my entry and wheel hopped. It’s a tough ending, but we’ll look ahead to Texas.” –Riley Herbst, driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 on Saturday, April 13 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. The race begins at 1:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Contact Ashlyn Siske – True Speed Communication on behalf of Stewart-Haas Racing
(704) 875-3388, ext. 805, or Ashlyn.Siske@TrueSpeedCommunication.com
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