Cole Custer gets career victory #1, takes Kentucky (7-12-20)
By: Becca Cottingham
Headline Photo Courtesy: NASCAR Twitter
We are racing at Kentucky Speedway. The first week we have not had an issue with weather. Kyle Busch leads the first several laps but not for long until Aric Almirola got to the lead. He was able to keep the lead through the competition caution. We see four wide racing. We did have a driver with a commitment cone violation on the competition caution. Ryan Blaney broke something in his car after the car jumped out of fourth gear. Until they get that issue fixed it is going to be a little more difficult race. Aric Almirola has showed how strong of a car he has today, as he has lead all but nine laps. He will win stage one.
Aric Almirola was able to get out front at the start of stage two. Multiple drivers behind the leader are racing two and three wide for position. One battle is between Kurt and Kyle Busch. Most of the battles are froM fourth on back. Ryan Blaney was able to finally get around Aric Almirola. We go through green flag pit stops, but Matt Kenseth lost his car and brought out the caution. This caution brings Brad Keselowski to the front of the pack and he battles with Ryan Blaney wins stage two.
Stage three begins with Kyle Busch having issues and scraping the wall. It was not enough to bring out the caution. Brad Keselowski was able to keep the lead until Martin Truex Jr made his way around Brad. Jimmie Johnson called in he had vibration and was able to hold out until in the fuel window. He made a slightly early pit stop that may make a difference. This seems to have started the green flag pit stops by other drivers. Martin Truex Jr held out even with his car sputtering due to low on fuel. He had to switch over to his reserve fuel. Still multiple cars left to pit to see how will cycle out. However, a caution will come out with about thirty eight to go Brendan Poole has heavy damage to his car after a tire was cut down. Then Austin Dillon trying not to pit and lost his car. This leaves multiple cars down a lap. We get back under the green flag and Jimmie Johnson made a huge move and was able to make great progress. John Hunter Nemechek has a tire issue and brings out the caution. Brad Keselowski and Jimmie Johnson get into an entanglement on the track and it sends Jimmie Johnson spinning. Ryan Blaney was just a head in the scoring loop, and is the leader. Kevin Harvick makes it three wide to be the race leader. While we have four wide in the middle of the pack. Matt Kenseth and Ryan Newman have an run in and bring out a caution. This will bring us down to green, white, checkered and a huge restart. We go four wide on the final restart and Cole Cluster gets the unofficial win as a rookie.
