The Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway came to an end with a dramatic showdown between Cole Custer and Chandler Smith, leaving the two shaking fists at each other after the race. In the NASCAR Xfinity Series event, driver Cole Custer accused Chandler Smith of racing “like a clown” after a fierce battle for the lead that saw Aric Almirola ultimately taking victory.
During the final laps, Custer, driving the No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse, was locked in a heated duel with Smith, piloting the No. 81 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota GR Supra. With just ten laps remaining, Custer managed to overtake Smith. However, the effort took it out of him and his car. This allowed Aric Almirola to capitalize on the situation and surpass both drivers, securing his second Xfinity win of the season.
The real fireworks erupted after the race. Cole Custer confronted Chandler Smith on pit road, expressing his displeasure with Smith’s aggressive driving tactics.
“Like a clown,” Custer accused, clearly angered over an incident where Smith had pushed him into the wall during a late-race restart. This move, Custer explained to The CW broadcast team, compromised his race:
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“Oh yeah, it killed us. You know, definitely burned our stuff up trying to get by him. It really made me mad when he put us in the fence on that restart. He’s going to pay the consequences for that, and I’m going to race him like he races me.”
Custer made no secret of his intentions to retaliate, indicating that conversations were off the table.
“No, they’re going to pay the consequences. Everybody always wants to try and talk afterward, but at the end of the day, he put me in the wall and he’s going to pay for it,” Custer reiterated.
Chandler Smith, on the other hand, appeared somewhat perplexed by the extent of Custer’s anger, admitting to the aggressive defense he mounted in the final laps but defending his strategy.
“I definitely understand his position. Last week, I was racing behind someone for 80 laps and couldn’t find a way around them because we were running in the same lane,” Smith explained.
Smith elaborated on his approach:
“Had to come up with a gameplan of when he gets to me, what do I gotta do? Because last time I just kept running my lane, and he blew my doors off.
“So, this is for the race win, this is for advancing to the last round, and this is also the guy I’m racing for the championship. I’ve got to be a little more aggressive in the sense of taking his air away.”