HAMPTON, Ga. — John Hunter Nemechek took the lead on an overtime restart to win Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
While those were the only laps he led, that wasn’t the winning moment of the race.
Kaulig Racing seemed set for a 1-2-3 finish until Daniel Hemric fell back to fifth just before the final caution, which sent the race into overtime. That altered the restart for Kaulig Racing.
MORE: Race results
MORE: Driver points report
Instead of having two cars on the front row and one in the second row or having all three cars aligned in top lane, the inside of the front row was left open for Nemechek.
Justin Haley restarted in the lead on the outside and had teammate Chandler Smith behind him. Nemechek restarted on the inside of the front row and had Hemric behind him.
Hemric said he took the shortest lane and went “on offense” on the restart. Nemechek said that was Hemric’s chance to win if they both could clear the top lane and then duel for the lead in the final two laps.
Haley did not get a good restart and Nemechek, with Hemric tucked behind, surged to the lead and pulled away to win.
“Things just don’t work out sometimes,” Haley told NBC Sports’ Dave Burns.
Hemric finished second. Cole Custer placed third for his 11th consecutive top-10 finish. Haley fell to fourth and Sam Mayer was fifth. Chandler Smith ran out of fuel and finished 16th.
Until that caution for Austin Hill’s spin, Kaulig Racing was in control of the race. Kaulig drivers led 85 of 169 laps.
“We just needed somebody to go with us,” said Hill, who went on to finish 12th. “Everybody just wanted to fall in line and follow the leader. I guess they were just going to let the three Kaulig cars finish 1-2-3.
“Everybody was just too scared to pull out of line Pretty pathetic that nobody wants to go out and race. They want to sit there and follow each other. Pretty lame to me.”
STAGE 1 WINNER: Riley Herbst
STAGE 2 WINNER: Sheldon Creed
WHO HAD A GOOD RACE: Kyle Sieg placed a career-high seventh. ... Josh Williams finished ninth for his best finish of the season. ... Cole Custer’s third-place result gives him 11 consecutive top 10s, the longest streak of his career.
WHO HAD A BAD RACE: Both stage winners, Riley Herbst and Sheldon Creed, were eliminated in the same incident.
NEXT: The series races July 15 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (3 p.m. ET on USA)