The NASCAR Xfinity Series visited EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta Motor Speedway) on Friday night in the Focused Health 250. Sheldon Creed started the race on the pole, with Austin Hill starting second.
Sheldon Creed led the opening 37 laps. Two cautions happened when Creed was leading. The first caution came out on the third lap when Josh Williams and Parker Retzlaff got together at Turn 4. The second was because of lightning in the area. The race was delayed for over an hour.
When the race resumed on lap 41, another caution came out when Nick Sanchez bumped Jesse Love, triggering a multi-car crash that also involved Sheldon Creed, Justin Allgaier, Sammy Smith, Christian Eckes, Patrick Staropoli, Jeb Burton, Katherine Legge, Ryan Sieg, and Anthony Alfredo. Taylor Gray was the leader at the time of the caution and went on to win the first stage.
Multiple drivers went to pit road including Taylor Gray. Connor Zilisch was the leader, leading the field to start the second stage on lap 55. During the stage, there were three cautions, including Nick Sanchez spinning after contact with Matt DiBenedetto on lap 68, and Jesse Love sliding in front of Harrison Burton, causing him to spin on lap 81. Brandon Jones went on to win the second stage.
Taylor Gray and Aric Almirola were on the front row to start the final stage. During the final stage, there were three cautions, two of them for debris, and one for C.J. McLaughlin spinning off Turn 4. Late in the race, Nick Sanchez took the lead away from Jesse Love. He led the final six laps to score his first career Xfinity Series win by 0.104 seconds over Carson Kvapil. Sam Mayer, Connor Zilisch, and Taylor Gray rounded up the top five.
Jesse Love, Aric Almirola, Daniel Dye, Kyle Sieg, and Jeremy Clements rounded up the top ten. There were nine cautions for 58 yards, and 12 lead changes among nine drivers. Sanchez led a total of 18 laps, while Sheldon Creed led the most laps of the race (37).
The Xfinity Series heads to the streets of Chicago, Illinois, next Saturday at 4:30 pm on The CW.
