Cole Custer declared winner of NASCAR Xfinity Series race; Grant Park 220 gets underway
CHICAGO (CBS) -- After a rain delayed start, NASCAR's Grant Park 220 got underway. The Xfinity Series race only got 25 laps completed Saturday before being postponed until Sunday morning. But because of rain and flash flooding, it never finished.
Bears quarterback Justin Fields was there and ready to kick off the Grant Park 220 as grand marshal. He was excited for his first NASCAR experience.
"It's awesome. Humbling experience," he said. "Definitely excited. I might have practiced the grand marshal saying at home a few times."
Earlier in the day, Cole Custer said it was an awkward moment finding out he was declared the Loop 121 winner and called it one of the weirdest of his career. It of course came under unprecedented circumstances.
"So many things happened in 24 hours," he said. "Rain, lightning, new track. Can't control the weather."
Custer led each of the 25 laps that were completed before the initial lightning delay. He said he will take the playoff points, but held off on celebrating.
"They said it's a felony to jump in the (Buckingham) Fountain, so we're probably not going to do that," Custer said with a smile.
Despite the weather, Custer was impressed with the race track setup
"Overall they have done such a great job with this," he said. "We were skeptical going here. Seeing the track when we showed up and driving around it, we were impressed. I think all of us were impressed at how drivable it was and how racy it was. It's a shame the rain really threw a big curve ball at us."
Custer said he's looking forward to returning next year.
