Underdogs shine in lower series at New Hampshire, Kentucky

Saturday's lower series action featured winners who are not often regarded as being among the best in NASCAR. But they were able to get past the good drivers and be up front when it mattered the most.

The Camping World Truck Series race at New Hampshire was won by 16-year-old Cole Custer, making him the youngest winner in any of NASCAR's top three series. Custer, driving the #00 Chevrolet truck owned by Gene Haas, the co-owner of Tony Stewart's Sprint Cup team, started on the pole and led during much of the first half of the race. He got shuffled back during a string of late cautions, which saw him on a different pit strategy than most of the other leaders, but he fought his way back up front and got past series champion Matt Crafton on the final restart to get the win. It was Custer's seventh start in the series. He currently drives full-time in the K&N Pro Series, going between the East and West divisions.

Next up was the nighttime Nationwide Series race at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Kentucky, one of a handful of stand-alone races left in NASCAR's number two series. The race was largely dominated by Richard Childress Racing, with its four drivers - Brian Scott, Ty Dillon, Cale Conley and Brendan Gaughan - all finishing in the top six. Rookie superstar Chase Elliott of JR Motorsports also got out front late, but lost the lead on a restart. Dillon led 155 of the race's 200 laps in the #3 Chevrolet that older brother Austin swept the track with in 2012, but it was ultimately Gaughan taking the #62 Chevrolet to his second series win. Gaughan , who may be best known for almost winning the 2003 Truck Series championship before getting caught up in a crash at the Homestead season finale, got his first Nationwide win at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin in June.

All three races this weekend were won by drivers running for points in their respective series, something that doesn't happen much in NASCAR lately with Cup drivers competing in and winning races in lower series, taking away from younger up-and-coming drivers. But on Saturday, two lesser-known names got to celebrate in victory lane.