Nick Sanchez spun, then won in frantic NASCAR Xfinity race at Atlanta

Friday night’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Atlanta had just about everything. Lightning near the track forced a lengthy delay in the middle of a caution-filled race. Nick Sanchez was one of those cautions, spinning through the infield grass on Lap 69 before rebounding to earn his first career NASCAR Xfinity win.

It came in his 25th career start and Sanchez certainly had to fight for it. On the final restart, he actually fell back to third as Jesse Love took the lead with help from Carson Kvapil. 

Sanchez quickly responded, surging back into the lead and never relinquishing it. Kvapil finished second while Sam Mayer was third. Connor Zilisch and Taylor Gray filled out the rest of the top five, followed by Love, Aric Almirola, Daniel Dye, Kyle Sieg, and Jeremy Clements in the top ten.

“I’m gonna be honest, this is just a reminder of my 2023 debut here in the Trucks at Atlanta,” said Sanchez. I spun and I finished second. Now I spun and I won. Just a huge thanks to Scott Borchetta (team owner). Big Machine Racing, Patrick Donahue (crew chief), and everyone on this team. We’ve been so close the last couple of weeks. It’s every little thing that could go wrong and it’s a lot on my shoulders. To come back and get a win is just amazing.”

The final stage got underway with 25 cars on the lead lap and Gray in control. However, as the field quickly got single file, Almirola aggressively side-drafted and snatched the lead away. There were ten cars in that lead pack with little movement until a caution with 38 laps to go shook things up.

CJ McLaughlin had spun out and could not re-fire, forcing a yellow flag. Some cars opted to pit, but most of the field chose track position over fresh tires or some extra fuel. The race got back underway at midnight, local time. A couple of debris cautions followed as the inside line struggled to keep pace.

However, with Love pushing, Sanchez managed to take the lead from Almirola while running the bottom, which ended up being a major turning point in the race.

Stages 1 & 2

CJ McLaughlin, DGM Racing Chevrolet

Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images

Weather was a problem from the start of the race, which got pushed due to lightning in the area. Sheldon Creed led the field to the green flag after earning pole position and unfortunately, it didn’t take long for the first caution of the race.

Blaine Perkins spun following contact from Christian Eckes, collecting Parker Retzlaff, William Sawalich, and Josh Williams. 

At the end of Lap 34, the red flag was displayed due to more lightning near the track. This led to a one-hour and 23-minute delay before the race finally got back underway.

Creed chose to pit from the lead before the restart in a move that would quickly prove costly. On the restart, Love tried to make an aggressive move to the outside in an attempt to shuffle out Sam Mayer and take the race lead. Instead, he went spinning in the middle of the pack in a wreck that resulted in damage to at least ten cars, ending the night for six different drivers.

Gray won the stage under caution. Zilisch took control of the race for about 30 laps in the second stage until a caution for Harrison Burton spun wildly down the backstretch. He escaped with only minor damage.

The second stage also ended under caution as Jeremy Clements spun on the restart, allowing Brandon Jones to claim the stage win.