By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
When the checkered flag flew for Cole Custer Saturday night at Martinsville Speedway, a Championship 4 spot was his.
But his night wasn’t over yet.
Following a lengthy back-and-forth battle with Chandler Smith, the two met each other postrace on pit road where Smith swung at the reigning Xfinity Series champion before quickly being separated by officials and crewmen.
“He just walked up and started being mad, and then I guess he punched me in the face,” Custer said. “I really didn’t even notice it, really.”
The frustration from Smith stemmed from a bump-and-run by Custer in Turn 1 on a late restart. Custer’s No. 00 pushed Smith’s No. 81 deep into the corner, causing both to slide up the track and out of contention for the race win.
“I mean, you just race how you get raced,” Custer said. “He used a bumper on me, he has put me in the wall a few times this year. I told him, if he’s gonna race me like a clown, I’m gonna race him like a clown.”
Despite nearly being locked in on points for Phoenix, Custer was still racing for extra points. His Stewart-Haas Racing Ford needed a win to advance to the Championship 4 for the owner’s title.
“He came over there and started saying how I wasn’t racing for anything when I was in a must-win for the owners [championship],” he said. “So, I don’t know why he didn’t know the situation, but the owners pays all the money. So, at the end of the day, we had a lot to race for.”
Smith criticized Custer for choosing the outside lane on the final restarts, putting him in prime position to be bumped.
Custer admitted that was indeed the case.
“There’s nothing wrong with that,” he said. “You’re moving somebody out of the way. He moved me straight up the track when he was behind me. So, I did the same exact thing to him.”
Controversy behind, Custer is entering his second straight Championship 4 next weekend at Phoenix Raceway. Last year, he won the race en route to scoring the series crown.
“I’m so proud of our team. Our team did a great job bringing everything we had,” he said. “We’ll go to Phoenix and try and compete for another one. I feel good about it.
“We definitely have to go there and find something, you know. But at the end of the day, I think we have as good a shot as anybody. We’ve had fast cars there before, and there’s no reason why we can’t go there and compete for a championship.”