John Hunter Nemechek forges his way to Xfinity Series victory at Nashville
John Hunter Nemechek forges his way to Xfinity Series victory at Nashville
John Hunter Nemechek soared to his second victory of the NASCAR Xfinity Series season, getting past Cole Custer on the final restart Saturday and leading the rest of the way at Nashville Superspeedway.
Nemechek was out front for a race-high 76 of the 188 laps — including the final 46 — in Saturday’s Tennessee Lottery 250. His No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was 0.366 seconds ahead of runner-up teammate Chandler Smith at the checkered flag as Nemechek — a Cup Series regular making his ninth Xfinity start of the year — collected his first win at the 1.33-mile track and the 11th of his Xfinity Series career.
Behind Smith’s No. 81 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in third place was rookie Jesse Love, who rallied from a sluggish pit stop at the Stage 2 break for his fourth top-five finish of the year. He was followed to the finish by Austin Hill and Noah Gragson in order to round out the top five.
Xfinity teammates Ty Gibbs and Nemechek divided the stage wins, but Gibbs dropped from victory contention in a final-stage incident. A nudge from the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet of Justin Allgaier sent Gibbs’ No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota spinning into the Turn 4 wall on Lap 135. Allgaier finished eighth and Gibbs continued for a 20th-place result.
Custer led 64 laps and was in position to net his first Xfinity Series win of the year, but gave up the top spot when Nemechek scooted past to stay on Lap 143. Custer’s No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford faded to a ninth-place finish.
The Xfinity Series’ next race is The Loop 110, part of Chicago Street Race Weekend. The 50-lap, 110-mile event through the streets of the Windy City is scheduled Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. ET start (NBC, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
This story will be updated.
]]>