Xfinity Series results: John Hunter Nemechek wins at Atlanta, holding off Kaulig cars
It didn’t look promising early, but John Hunter Nemechek finished the job.
Nemechek led only three laps en route to his third win of 2023 on Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He did so by having a great overtime restart, which came thanks to an Austin Hill spin and caution with three laps to go.
The late-race restart was a rush of luck on its own for Nemechek.
But the team’s execution thereafter was flawless.
“I got a huge push from the 11 there, so thanks to Daniel (Hemric) for giving me that huge push,” Nemechek said of the final restart. “But man, hats off this whole 20 team. Early on, if you would’ve said that we’d won the race, I definitely would’ve told you that wasn’t gonna be the case. We didn’t have the fastest car tonight ... but I’m really proud of this team.”
Hemric finished second. Cole Custer finished third.
Nemechek was the unlikely Toyota winner after dwelling most of Stage 3 in fifth — behind three Kaulig Racing guys (Justin Haley, Chandler Smith and Hemric) and the best superspeedway driver in the Xfinity Series (Austin Hill).
But he emerged victorious nonetheless.
“The guys made the right adjustments all night, got us to where we needed to be, and it came down to an overtime finish, and luckily we were able to execute there on that restart,” Nemechek said. He added, “I’m proud to be the one holding the wheel of this 20 car. Truck win for Toyota, Xfinity win for Toyota — Toyota boys have some work to do tomorrow.”
Saturday was an eventful race that suggests a promising Sunday Cup Series headliner could be in store. There were eight cautions for a total of 50 laps, and there were 14 lead changes and nine different leaders. Of those leaders: Haley led 80 laps, Josh Berry led 34, Sheldon Creed led 24 and Ryan Sieg 15.
The biggest wreck of the day came late in Stage 3. Atlanta Motor Speedway isn’t exactly a superspeedway, but there was certainly a wreck that could felt like “The Big One” — and that arrived on Lap 89 on the backstretch. The wreck involved 10 cars, a few of which were contending for wins (including Creed).
The biggest moment? That was probably Hill’s spin that prompted the most consequential restart of the race with three laps to go. Why Hill got spun out in the first place was because he was buried behind three Kaulig Racing cars — Haley, Hemric and Smith — and he was trying to make something happen to earn a win.
Something eventually happened, but it didn’t benefit Hill, who won at this racetrack in the spring.
It instead helped Nemechek, who now leads the point standings by 16 points over Hill.
When asked if Nemechek had a plan if the final three laps went green, the driver shrugged his shoulders and smiled.
“I don’t know,” he said.
But, of course, he didn’t have to.
Check NASCAR.com for unofficial results of Saturday’s race.
This story was originally published July 8, 2023 at 11:22 PM.
