“He’s going to pay for it”- Cole Custer promises payback to Chandler Smith following Kansas incident

Tempers flared between Cole Custer and Chandler Smith following Saturday's Xfinity Series race, i.e. the Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway. Claiming that Smith had raced him like a "clown", Custer vowed to pay his fellow racer back in the weeks to come.

Cole Custer currently drives the No. 00 Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing in the Xfinity Series. He is expected to take over the No. 41 machine for Haas Factory Team, a reorganization of the team he currently drives for. Per earlier reports, Stewart-Haas Racing will cease all operations in the Cup series at the end of this season.

During the closing laps of the 200-lap event, Custer and Smith battled it out for the win. With just 10 laps to go, Custer passed Smith's No.20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, but got derailed in the process. Aric Almirola, who was trailing the duo, grabbed the opportunity and made the final dash for the checkered flag.

Custer was not happy with how Smith raced him. Speaking of the time when Smith had pushed him into the outside wall during a late-race restart, Custer told CW (via NASCAR Xfinity):

"It really made me mad when he put us in the fence on that restart. He's gonna pay the consequences for that. I'm gonna race him like he races me."

Renowned journalist Joseph Srigley quoted the Stewart-Haas Racing driver saying:

"At the end of the day, (Chandler Smith) put me in the fence and he's going to pay for it."

Custer confronted Smith on the pit road. Smith appeared to explain his side of the story, but Custer walked away before the former could do so. Nevertheless, Smith opened up on the same while speaking to pit reporter Kim Coon.

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Chandler Smith on his late-race antics against Cole Custer

Cole Custer and Chandler Smith are the top two drivers in the playoff picture, with Smith just five points behind Custer. Therefore, for Smith, what he did was needed to leapfrog the reigning Xfinity Series champion and advance further in the postseason.

"I definitely understand his position," Smith said during a post-race interview with Coon (0:15). "Last week, I was racing behind somebody for 80 laps and couldn't find a way around them because we were running in the same lane."

Smith further explained:

"Had to come up with a game plan of when he (Custer) 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. I moved up and did that." (0:49)

The duo will face off next at the United Rentals 200 at Talladega Superspeedway on October 5. The 94-lap event will stream live on CW with radio updates on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.