FONTANA, Calif. – Profusely apologizing for a mistake in last weekend’s DC Solar 200 at Phoenix Raceway that initiated Austin Dillon retaliating with his race car, Cole Custer says he is ready to put last week in the rearview mirror and focus ahead.
In the closing laps in last Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race, Custer divebombed his entry into the corner and made contact with Dillon’s No. 2 Chevrolet, sending the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver hard into the outside wall essentially destroying his race car.
“I pretty much got a good run off of four and I probably got in a half car length too deep and the second I hit the brakes the back end just got real light and I couldn’t hit the brakes anymore because it was trying to come around,” said Custer.
“I just got in there way too deep and took him out pretty much. It was a mistake and I wish I didn’t do it.”
Obviously frustrated about being crashed, Dillon waited for Custer on track, where he showed his displeasure by making car-to-car contact with Custer’s No. 00 Ford, which grazed the wall at low speed. Dillon was parked for his actions with the sanctioning body announcing on Wednesday that he would be not fine or penalized further for his revenge.
The two met with NASCAR officials further Friday morning at Auto Club Speedway to discuss the incident with both drivers shaking hands upon its conclusion.
“Yeah, it went really good,” said Custer of the meeting. “We both have things that we wish we would have done different in the moment, but it is what it is and we’ll just try to move on from it.
“I didn’t have too much anxiety coming into it because I didn’t think we were on bad terms, really, but just with what he said on Twitter and everything, but I wasn’t too nervous about it. It went fairly well.”
Dillon told ESPN.com, “NASCAR did a really good job of sharing with me that if I make a mistake like that again that the penalties would be very harsh,” he said. “I love to race and I don’t want to be on the sideline, ever.”
Friday morning’s visit to the hauler wasn’t a first-time occurrence after he joined then fellow NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver John Hunter Nemechek following an incident at the conclusion of a race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Both drivers brawled after crashing coming across the start-finish line.
Custer, the Stewart-Haas Racing XFINITY Series rookie laid out the atmosphere of the meeting with Dillon which seemed more calm and effective compared to Nemechek.
“It depends on the situation, I think,” Custer added. “For that situation, I think we both felt like we got along pretty well and we weren’t on bad terms that much, so we talked a little bit about it and just said how we messed up. If it’s a pretty bad situation, sometimes you’ll just sit there and say nothing, but it just depends.
“I haven’t been there too often, but I’ve been there before. It’s not too difficult. It’s just another one of those things.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
