Nemechek received a significant boost from Daniel Hemric during the final two laps, allowing him to secure the lead.
Justin Haley, who was leading the restart with his teammate Chandler Smith close behind, lost his support when Smith encountered a fuel shortage and faltered.
Afterwards, Haley engaged in a competition with Hemric, his only remaining teammate from Kaulig, for the second position. This gave the driver from Joe Gibbs Racing an opportunity to escape without facing any additional obstacles.
For Nemechek, it was the fifth win of his career and his third of the 2023 season.
“I received a significant boost from car number 11, so I want to express my gratitude to Daniel (Hemric) for providing me with that substantial assistance,” Nemechek stated after the race. “I commend the entire No. 20 team for their efforts. At the beginning of the race, if someone had told me we were going to emerge as the winners, I would have definitely doubted it.”
“I cannot reword”
Hemric secured the second position, with Cole Custer coming in third, followed by Haley in fourth and Sam Mayer in fifth. Ty Gibbs, Kyle Sieg, Parker Kligerman, Josh Williams, and Sammy Smith completed the top-ten rankings.
Stage 1
C. Smith took the lead at the beginning of the race, but Josh Berry quickly challenged him from the inside. Eventually, Berry successfully passed Smith and assumed control of the race.
Behind them, there was a sketchy moment between Cup regulars Gibbs and Haley as they negotiated for room down the backstretch.
The group started to spread out and formed a single line, with Smith attempting to regain the first position, but without success. Instead, he was moved back to fifth place in the running sequence.
After a few more laps, Kligerman’s car spun out due to a deflated tire on the left rear. While many drivers decided to make a pit stop, some of the leading racers opted to remain on the track in order to accumulate maximum stage points.
Riley Herbst made a bold move on the outside during the final six laps to snatch the stage victory from Berry.
C. Smith, Haley, Austin Hill, Justin Allgaier, Jeremy Clements, Sheldon Creed, Joe Graf Jr., and Parker Retzlaff rounded out the top-ten.
Stage 2
The drivers who decided to pit before the stage end inherited some track position with Creed now leading Mayer.
After winning Stage 1, Herbst had to restart from the 15th position. Jeb Burton, who made a risky decision not to change tires, almost caused an accident when he found himself in a four-wide situation. Luckily, all drivers managed to avoid any harm.
The caution flag then flew as Ryan Sieg and Creed battled for the lead when Retzlaff slid down the track.
In the later part of the race, Greg van Alst, the winner of the 2023 ARCA Daytona, experienced a severe crash that resulted in his Xfinity debut coming to an abrupt end amidst a spectacle of sparks and flames. Mason Massey was also involved in the accident.
The race resumed with nine laps to go in the stage. Gibbs had to get on the brakes after Berry slammed the door on him, causing the JGR driver to shoot up the track. Kyle Weatherman made slight contact with him and even hit the outside wall, but all those involved managed to carry on.
Hill then propelled his teammate Creed to the front, and the RCR pair continued to exchange positions for the lead.
Creed prevailed in the end, winning the stage over Hill, R. Sieg, Berry, Allgaier, Custer, Hemric, C. Smith, Kligerman, and S. Smith.
Stage 3
Hill’s position dropped by eight places when he decided to change all four tires during the pit stops that followed. Creed, who won Stage 2, experienced an even greater setback due to a slow stop caused by a fueling problem. As a result, he had to make an additional stop at the pit road.
Before Gibbs could bring the damaged car back to the pit road, a chaotic situation unfolded among the cars ahead of him, after he hit the wall and punctured a tire during the restart.
Herbst decelerated due to a tire puncture, causing a collision involving multiple cars and resulting in the elimination of several competitors from the race. R. Sieg, Creed, Jones, Alfredo, Weatherman, and Mayer were among the drivers who experienced substantial harm in the accident.
Herbst, Sieg, Jones, Alfredo, and Creed were all incapable of proceeding.
Kaulig Racing had taken a strong lead in the race, with their cars running in positions 1, 2, and 3 as the green flag was waved once more. Meanwhile, Berry joined the list of drivers who had hit the wall and lost speed.
The seventh caution of the race flew as Weatherman’s difficult day finally came to an end, slamming the wall with a flat tire and grinding to a halt at pit entry.
Hill, the winner of the previous two NXS races in Atlanta, started to make progress. He gradually overtook the leaders, but when he tried to pass the Kaulig trio, his attempt to take the lead was unsuccessful. As a result, he dropped from second to sixth place with 35 laps left.
While desperately trying to break the Kaulig blockade late in the race, Hill spun and pushed the race into overtime.
During the last restart, Nemechek successfully took the lead from Haley and maintained it while the Kaulig teammates competed against each other.
He led only three laps, crossing the finish line just over two tenths clear of Hemric.
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