The Camping World Truck Series race at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park featured memorable contact before and after the checkered flag Sunday.
After slamming into Cole Custer in a final-corner collision that continued all the way to the finish of the the Chevrolet Silverado 250, John Hunter Nemechek waited more than 5 minutes before NASCAR declared him the winner. The nose of Nemechek’s Chevrolet was a few feet ahead of Custer’s as their trucks slid through the grass beneath the flagstand.
As NASCAR reviewed the tape, Nemechek began to celebrate his second win of the season — before being interrupted by a full-speed sprint and tackle by Custer.
The two quickly were separated, and Custer vowed to the Motor Racing Network that Nemechek would have a long rest of the year.
“I caught (Custer), and we didn’t wreck him for the win, rubbing is racing,” Nemechek told Fox Sports 1. “If Custer was in the same spot, he would have done the same thing to me to get a win. You have to do everything you can to get a win here.”
Nemechek caught Custer, who started on the pole and led a race-high 39 laps, in the final corner on the final lap in overtime. Custer was seeking his first win of the season, which would have locked him into the Chase. Nemechek already had qualified for the playoffs by winning in February at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Custer is ninth in the Chase standings, 32 points behind Timothy Peters with one regular-season race remaining.
Nemechek led 19 of the race’s 66 laps.
The top five were Nemechek, Custer, Daniel Hemric, Matt Crafton, and Christopher Bell. Tyler Reddick, Johnny Sauter, Ben Kennedy, Cameron Hayley, and William Byron rounded out the top 10.
Reaction to the finish of Sunday’s race quickly poured in on Twitter:
The Camping World Truck Series will return to action at Chicagoland Speedway on Sept. 16.
