The driver of Stewart-Haas Racing's No. 00 Ford topped the 10-minute final round of qualifying on Saturday with an average lap speed of 87.590 mph.
Custer just edged Sheldon Creed (87.573 mph), but Creed was on pace to eclipse Custer on his final attempt when he wrecked had into the tire barriers and did severe damage to his No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.
The incident occurred with about a minute left in the final round and the session was brought to an early halt. Creed will likely move to a backup car and will have to start Saturday afternoon's race from the rear of the field.
Sheldon was pushing so hard in that final round! pic.twitter.com/uj6TDOFC5I
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) July 1, 2023
Saturday's race on the 2.2-mile, 12-turn course through Grant Park in downtown Chicago will be the first street race in one of NASCAR's three national series - Cup, Xfinity and Trucks. The Cup series will race on the course on Sunday.
"This is huge," Custer said. "We're in Chicago, the buildings are right there, when we got here I thought this is the coolest thing we've done in NASCAR since I don't even know. This is pretty unreal.
"This program is really clicking right now and we need to keep it going in the playoffs."Custer hasn't finished worse than ninth in his last nine races, which includes one win. He now has two consecutive poles and four on the 2023 season.John Hunter Nemechek ended up third-fastest, Connor Mosack was fourth and Austin Hill fifth.
Completing the top-10 starting lineup: Justin Allgaier, Brett Moffitt, Sammy Smith, Daniel Hemric and Parker Kligerman.
