Denny Hamlin Fails Post-Race Tech, Cole Custer Declared Winner At Darlington

Denny Hamlin Fails Post-Race Tech, Cole Custer Declared Winner At Darlington

by August 31, 2019 1 comment

DARLINGTON, S.C. – Denny Hamlin held off Cole Custer in Saturday’s Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 at Darlington Raceway, but his car failed post-race inspection. Custer was declared the winner, earning his sixth win of the season.

With just 27 laps to go, Hamlin finally made his way to the front of the pack after starting the race in 37th. In the closing laps, the driver of the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Sport Clips Toyota held off a hard charging Custer. However, following post-race inspection, Hamlin’s car was too low in the left front and too high in the right rear. The win was stripped from Hamlin and given to Custer.

“It’s a really strange feeling,” Custer said. “You don’t want to win that way, but it is what it is. We all play by the same rules. Was that the deciding factor? No. That’s not the reason he won the race, but it is what it is.”

Tyler Reddick finished second, followed by pole-sitter Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Completing the top-10 was Chase Briscoe, Brandon Jones, Noah Gragson, Justin Allgaier who hit the wall late in the race and Austin Cindric.

Throughout the afternoon, there were five lead changes among three drivers. Reddick led a race high of 70 laps.

There were five cautions for 23 laps.

The first caution of the race came out on lap 13, when John Hunter Nemechek spun off Turn 4, making slight contact with the inside wall on the frontstretch.

On lap 54, the hardest accident of the day occurred when Brandon Brown in the No. 86 Coastal Carolina University Chevrolet crashed exiting Turn 2. Gragson and Gray Gaulding were also involved.

The final caution of the day came out on lap 134, setting the field up for a dash to the finish.

Up next on the schedule for the NASCAR Xfinity Series is the Indiana 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 7. Live coverage will broadcast on the NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) at 3 p.m. ET.

Photo Credit: Hunter Thomas/TheFourthTurn.com

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