July 8, 2023 | By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

John Hunter Nemechek seizes overtime win in NASCAR Xfinity Series at Altanta

HAMPTON, Ga.—Grabbing the lead on an overtime restart as Saturday night’s Alsco Uniforms 250 went six laps past its posted distance, John Hunter Nemechek streaked to his third NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the season.

The only time Nemechek led was during the overtime, after a push from Daniel Hemric powered him into the lead on the final restart.

Nemechek won for the first time at Atlanta Motor Speedway and for the fifth time in his career, finishing .245 seconds ahead of Hemric. Cole Custer came home third, followed by Kaulig Racing’s Justin Haley, who held the lead for the final restart.

At the start of the race, Nemechek’s car suffered from handling issues, particularly in traffic. But his team made the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota progressively better as the race unfolded.

“I got a huge push from the 11 (Hemric) there, so thanks to Daniel for giving me that huge push,” Nemechek said. “Early on, if you had said we would have won the race, I definitely would have told you that wasn’t going to be the case.

“We didn’t have the fastest car tonight, but I’m really proud of this 20 team… Man, this is special. I don’t know if the track changed a ton. We just had to make our car better all night. It came down to an overtime finish, and luckily, we were able to execute on that restart.”

Kaulig drivers Haley and Chandler Smith were running 1-2 when Austin Hill spun in Turn 4 on Lap 161 to cause the eighth caution and send the race to overtime. Haley chose the outside lane for the restart, with Nemechek to his inside and Smith behind him.

But Haley didn’t get the push he needed as Smith faded back through the field. Haley, who led 80 straight laps from the green-flag start of the final stage, dipped below Hemric on the final lap, rather than pushing his teammate, saying later that he was running out of fuel.

Hill’s late spin and an earlier pileup on the backstretch eliminated a handful of potential contenders for the win.

A massive wreck on Lap 88, involving 10 cars, ruined the chances of Stage 2 winner Sheldon Creed and the competitive car of Ryan Sieg, who had led twice for 15 laps.

In the middle of the pack after a Lap 87 restart, the Ford of Riley Herbst slowed with a tire down. Brandon Jones, running behind Herbst, took evasive action, but in moving down the track, Jones’ Chevrolet turned Sieg’s Ford nose-first into the outside wall.

Creed, who had an issue getting fuel into his Chevrolet under caution at the end of Stage 2, had to return to pit road and restarted near the back of the field. Collected in the Lap 88 wreck, Creed exited the race.

Joining Creed on the sidelines were Herbst, Sieg, Jones and Anthony Alfredo.

“We did everything right,” said Sieg, bemoaning his ill fortune after a mandatory trip to the infield care center. “It just sucks to be on this side of it. We’ve been fast in all of four of these (Atlanta) races.”

NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Number 17
Race Results for the Alsco Uniforms 250 - Saturday, July 8, 2023
Atlanta Motor Speedway - Hampton, GA - 1.54 - Mile Paved

Total Race Length - 169 Laps - 260.26 Miles

Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 7/8/2023 @ 10:49 PM Eastern

Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 2 20 John Hunter Nemechek Mobil 1 Toyota 169 40 Running 1 3 5
2 11 11 Daniel Hemric Cirkul Chevrolet 169 7 39 Running
3 7 00 Cole Custer HAAS Automation Ford 169 6 39 Running
4 13 10 Justin Haley(i) Campers Inn RV Chevrolet 169 4 40 Running 1 80
5 5 1 Sam Mayer Accelerate Pros Talent Chevrolet 169 32 Running
6 12 19 Ty Gibbs(i) He Gets Us Toyota 169 0 Running
7 34 28 Kyle Sieg Cedar Ridge Landscaping Ford 169 30 Running
8 17 48 Parker Kligerman Spiked Light Coolers Chevrolet 169 9 31 Running
9 16 92 Josh Williams Coolray/Alloy Employer Chevrolet 169 28 Running
10 3 18 Sammy Smith # TMC Toyota 169 10 28 Running
11 27 25 Brett Moffitt AM Technical Solutions Ford 169 26 Running
12 10 21 Austin Hill Bennett Transportation Chevrolet 169 5 2 40 Running 1 1
13 21 27 Jeb Burton Alsco Uniforms Chevrolet 169 24 Running
14 31 26 Kaz Grala CRUSH Strawberry Lemonade Toyota 169 23 Running
15 8 51 Jeremy Clements Fly and Form Structures Chevrolet 169 7 26 Running
16 20 31 Parker Retzlaff # Bommarito.com/FVP/EasyCare Chevrolet 169 10 22 Running
17 14 7 Justin Allgaier Hellman's Chevrolet 169 6 5 31 Running
18 24 91 Josh Bilicki Insurance King Chevrolet 168 19 Running
19 4 8 Josh Berry Jarrett Logistics Systems Chevrolet 168 2 4 34 Running 2 34
20 1 16 Chandler Smith # Roofing Georgia Chevrolet 168 3 8 28 Running 2 5
21 28 38 Joe Graf Jr. Getcoverseal.com Ford 167 9 18 Running 1 4
22 35 35 David Starr Fr8Auctions/Half Off Ford 167 15 Running
23 19 45 Jeffrey Earnhardt Advanced Material Handling Chevrolet 167 14 Running
24 32 08 Mason Massey A-Z Companies/Special Olympics Chevrolet 167 13 Running
25 30 43 Ryan Ellis Classic Collision Chevrolet 167 12 Running
26 37 4 Garrett Smithley Trophy Tractor Chevrolet 167 11 Running
27 25 24 Parker Chase Ontivity Toyota 167 10 Running
28 29 6 Brennan Poole Macc Door Systems Chevrolet 165 9 Running
29 36 53 Akinori Ogata(i) YKK aP Chevrolet 103 0 Transmission
30 26 07 Mason Maggio(i) ACE Hardware/HMY Yachts Chevrolet 102 7 Electrical
31 33 36 Kyle Weatherman Fanttik Chevrolet 97 6 Accident
32 22 02 Blaine Perkins # Warrior Health Foundation Chevrolet 96 5 Accident
33 15 9 Brandon Jones Menards/Atlas Roofing Chevrolet 91 4 DVP
34 18 78 Anthony Alfredo TicketSmarter Chevrolet 90 3 DVP
35 9 2 Sheldon Creed Whelen Chevrolet 88 8 1 15 Accident 4 24 1
36 6 98 Riley Herbst Monster Energy Ford 88 1 11 Accident 1 3 1
37 23 39 Ryan Sieg CMRroofing.com Ford 87 3 9 Accident 2 15
38 38 44 Greg Van Alst CB Fabricating Chevrolet 62 1 Accident
 
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 24 Mins, 33 Secs. Average Speed: 108.029 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.245 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 98, 8, 16, 10, 21, 7, 51, 2, 38, 31
Stage 2 Top 10: 2, 21, 39, 8, 7, 00, 11, 16, 48, 18

 Failed to Qualify: None.
 
Caution Flags: 8 for 50 laps; Laps: 29-34 (No. 48 Incident Turn 2 [44]); 42-46 (Stage 1 Conclusion  [48]); 52-56 (Nos. 20 & 31 Incident Turn 4 [4]); 64-71 (No. 44 Incident Turn 4 [35]); 82-86 (Stage 2 Conclusion [07]); 89-96 (Nos. 19, 78, 98, 45, 36, 92, 1, 02. 9, & 6 Incident Backstretch [07]); 102-108 (No. 36 Stopped on Track [45]); 162-167 (No. 21 Spin Turn 4  [26]).

Lead Changes: 14 among 9 drivers; C. Smith # 1-4; J. Berry 5-24; C. Smith # 25; J. Berry 26-39; R. Herbst 40-42; S. Creed 43-50; R. Sieg 51-55; S. Creed 56-61; R. Sieg 62-71; S. Creed 72-75; A. Hill 76; S. Creed 77-82; J. Graf Jr. 83-86; J. Haley(i) 87-166; J. Nemechek 167-169.

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series