John Hunter Nemechek capitalized on a late restart period with 46 laps remaining and amid humid temperatures to win the Tennessee Lottery 250 at Nashville Superspeedway on Saturday, June 29.
The 27-year-old Nemechek from Mooresville, North Carolina, led twice for a race-high 76 of 188 scheduled laps in an event where he started 15th and steadily carved his way to the front. After settling in eighth place during the first stage period, he led for the first time on Lap 71 and proceeded to claim the second stage victory.
Despite losing the lead to Cole Custer with 87 laps remaining, Nemechek’s opportunity to reclaim the top spot occurred with 54 laps remaining following a multi-car wreck that involved his teammate Ty Gibbs. Once he restarted on the front row alongside Custer with 46 laps remaining, he reassumed the top spot. He retained it for the remainder of the event as he beat teammate Chandler Smith by three-tenths of a second to grab his second NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the 2024 season.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Ty Gibbs notched the second Xfinity pole position of this season and of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 155.072 mph in 30.876 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Cole Custer, the reigning Xfinity Series champion who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 154.816 mph in 30.927 seconds.
Prior to the event, the following names that included Austin Hill, Sheldon Creed, Blaine Perkins, rookie Jesse Love and Jeb Burton dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.
When the green flag waved and the race started, Ty Gibbs and Cole Custer dueled for a full lap for the early advantage while the rest of the competitors in the field behind also jostled amongst one another amid two lanes. Amid the tight side-by-side battle, Gibbs would lead the first lap by a hair over Custer as they continued to duel through the frontstretch and entering the first two turns. Gibbs would then muscle his No. 19 He Gets Us Toyota Supra ahead of Custer to have both lanes to his control by the second lap while Ryan Sieg and AJ Allmendinger battled for third place in front of Noah Gragson. Amid the early battles towards the front, Gibbs led by half a second by the fifth lap mark.
Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Gibbs was leading by a second over Custer followed by Allmendinger, Gragson and Ryan Sieg while Brandon Jones, Justin Allgaier, Riley Herbst, Sammy Smith and Chandler Smith were in the top 10. Behind, John Hunter Nemechek trailed in 11th place ahead of Parker Kligerman, Anthony Alfredo, Jeremy Clements and Tyler Reddick while Sam Mayer, Parker Retzlaff, Ross Chastain, Brennan Poole and Ryan Ellis occupied the top 20 ahead of Kyle Sieg, Sheldon Creed, Austin Hill, Jesse Love and Josh Williams.
Just past the Lap 20 mark, Gibbs added another second to his advantage as he was now leading by two seconds over Custer while Allmendinger, Brandon Jones and Gragson followed suit in the top five. Meanwhile, Allgaier was in sixth place ahead of Ryan Sieg, who lost two spots, while Herbst, Nemechek and Sammy Smith were racing in the top 10.
At the Lap 30 mark, Gibbs continued to extend his advantage as he was up by three seconds over Custer while Allmendinger, Jones and Gragson continued to trail in the top five. Another lap later, Allmendinger took advantage of Custer getting loose entering the backstretch to battle and overtake the latter for the runner-up spot entering Turns 3 and 4. With Custer unable to execute a crossover move to reclaim the spot, Allmendinger was left trailing Gibbs for the lead by three seconds by Lap 35.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, Gibbs claimed his second Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Allmendinger settled in second followed by Jones, Custer and Allgaier while Gragson, Herbst, Nemechek, Chandler Smith and Ryan Sieg were scored in the top 10.
Under the stage break, the field led by Gibbs pitted for a first round of service. Following the pit stops, Custer emerged with the lead after he exited pit road first followed by Jones and Herbst while Gibbs exited in fourth place ahead of teammate Nemechek, Allmendinger, Chandler Smith, Hill, Sammy Smith and Ryan Sieg. Amid the pit stops, Kligerman and Sammy Smith were both penalized for speeding on pit road.
The second stage period started on Lap 51 as Custer and Jones occupied the front row. At the start, Custer rocketed his No. 00 Haas Ford Mustang into the lead while Gibbs quickly made his way past Jones for the runner-up spot. Teammate Nemechek would follow suit and overtake Jones for third place prior to the ensuing lap as Herbst, who was battling both radio and cooling issues, and Allmendinger battled for fifth place in front of Chandler Smith, Hill, Gragson and Ryan Sieg.
By Lap 60, Custer stabilized his advantage to four-tenths of a second over Gibbs while Nemechek, Allmendinger and Jones were racing in the top five as Chandler Smith, Herbst, Gragson, Hill and Love trailed in the top 10 by four seconds. Meanwhile, Sammy Smith and Kligerman were mired in 25th and 28th, respectively, while Allgaier was in 13th behind Ryan Sieg and teammate Mayer. In addition, Reddick was in 14th ahead of Creed, rookie Shane van Gisbergen was mired in 20th ahead of teammate Josh Williams and Carson Kvapil was in 26th behind Poole.
Ten laps later, Nemechek overtook Custer for the lead through the first two turns. Despite Custer keeping Nemechek within close distance in his front windshield, Nemechek retained the top spot by the Lap 75 mark while Allmendinger trailed in third place by more than a second. Behind, Gibbs was back in fourth ahead of teammate Chandler Smith and Jones while Gragson and Herbst battled for seventh place.
At the Lap 80 mark, Nemechek stretched his advantage to a second-and-a-half over Custer as Allmendinger started to close in on Custer for the runner-up spot. Meanwhile, Gibbs and Chandler Smith continued to occupy the remaining top-five spots on the track while Gragson was up to sixth ahead of Love, Jones, Herbst and Allgaier.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 90, Nemechek claimed his third Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Allmendinger navigated his way to second ahead of Custer, Gibbs and Chandler Smith while Gragson, Love, Jones, Allgaier and Herbst were scored in the top 10.
During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Nemechek returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Nemechek retained the lead after he exited pit road first and was followed by Custer, Allmendinger, Gibbs, Mayer, Allgaier, Hill, Gragson, Chandler Smith and Creed.
With 91 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Nemechek and Custer occupied the front row. At the start, Nemechek rocketed away with the lead while Custer struggled to launch as he stacked up the field through the restart zone. As the field fanned out through the first two turns and the backstretch, Nemechek retained the lead for the following lap ahead of Custer while Allmendinger battled Gibbs to retain third in front of Allgaier, Mayer, Hill and Gragson.
A few laps later, Sammy Smith, who was running in 11th place after recovering from his pit road speeding penalty earlier, pitted under green to address a loose rear wheel to his No. 8 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet Camaro. Amid Smith’s issues that pinned him a lap down, Nemechek retained the lead over a hard-charging Custer. Shortly after, however, Custer overtook Nemechek through the frontstretch to reassume the lead with 87 laps remaining and slightly stretched his advantage to half a second during the proceeding laps.
With 75 laps remaining, Custer stabilized his advantage to a second over Nemechek as Allmendinger, Gibbs and Chandler Smith were in the top five. Behind, Allgaier, who was battling a potential voltage issue, occupied sixth place ahead of Gragson, Mayer, Hill and Ryan Sieg while Creed, Retzlaff, Jones, Alfredo, Kligerman, Reddick, Poole, Williams, van Gisbergen and Herbst all trailed in the top 20.
Another lap later, Allmendinger and Nemechek battled dead even for the runner-up spot. Allmendinger would prevail in the battle for the spot while Custer stretched his advantage to eight-tenths of a second with 70 laps remaining.
With 60 laps remaining, Custer stabilized his advantage to six-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Allmendinger while Joe Gibbs Racing’s Nemechek, Gibbs and Chandler Smith followed suit in the top five. In the process, Allgaier retained sixth ahead of Gragson and Mayer while Hill and Ryan Sieg were scored in the top 10.
Six laps later, the caution flew when Gibbs and Allgaier, both of whom were battling in the top five, made contact as Gibbs was sent sideways by Allgaier toward the outside wall in Turn 4. In the process, Chandler Smith slid up the track and made contact with both the outside wall and Allgaier while trying to avoid the carnage, though all three managed to continue to run straight.
During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Custer pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Custer retained the lead after exiting pit road first while Nemechek, Chandler Smith, Hill, Gragson, Creed, Herbst, Mayer, Allmendinger and Ryan Sieg followed suit in the top 10. Amid the pit stops, Allmendinger exited ninth as he lost seven spots during his pit procedure while Allgaier spent extra time in his pit stall to have a battery changed in his car.
As the event restarted with 46 laps remaining, Custer held a brief advantage through the first two turns before Nemechek reassumed the top spot in his No. 20 Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota Supra through the backstretch. Teammate Chandler Smith, who would recover from being involved in the previous caution period, made his way into the runner-up spot behind Nemechek as Hill and Gragson also overtook Custer to move up to third and fourth, respectively. Amid a series of late-race battles ensuing around the field, Nemechek retained the lead by three-tenths of a second over teammate Chandler Smith with 40 laps remaining.
With 30 laps remaining, Nemechek, who had debris on his front grille, stabilized his advantage to six-tenths of a second over teammate Chandler Smith while third-place Hill trailed by four seconds. A few laps later, Nemechek would use the lapped competitor of Patrick Emerling to remove the debris, which kept him both on the track and in the lead over Smith.
Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Nemechek continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over teammate Chandler Smith as Hill, Gragson and Love trailed in the top five by eight seconds. Herbst, Allmendinger, Custer, Mayer and Ryan Sieg trailed in the top 10 while Allgaier, Kvapil, Jones, Reddick and Creed were mired in the top 15. Not long after, however, Creed’s run came to a sour end as he pitted his No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota Supra for a new battery due to his voltage dropping low.
With 10 laps remaining, Nemechek extended his advantage to a second over teammate Chandler Smith. Nemechek kept his advantage running to a second over Smith with five laps remaining as Love, Hill and Gragson followed suit in the top five. In addition, Herbst retained sixth ahead of Allmendinger and Allgaier while Custer and Mayer were in the top 10.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Nemechek remained as the leader by a second over teammate Chandler Smith. Smith then ignited his late charge on Nemechek and managed to cut the deficit down to as low as three-tenths of a second for a full circuit. Smith’s charge, however, was not enough as Nemechek managed to cycle back to the frontstretch and claim the checkered flag for his second Xfinity victory of the 2024 season.
With the victory, Nemechek, who used the Xfinity Nashville event to gain an upper hand for Sunday’s Cup event with Legacy Motor Club, notched his 11th career win in the Xfinity Series, his second in nine starts of the 2024 season, his first since winning at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March and his first at Nashville Superspeedway.
The victory was also the seventh of the season for both Joe Gibbs Racing and the Toyota nameplate as JGR’s No. 20 entry has been piloted to an Xfinity Victory Lane for the fifth time in 17 events and the second in recent weeks after Christopher Bell piloted the entry to victory a week ago at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
“Man, I thought we gave the race away there at the start of Stage 3,” Nemechek said on USA Network “It feels good to be back in this No. 20 machine. We’ve been close to winning a lot this year in this thing. I have limited [Xfinity] starts, so being able to capitalize on that is huge. It’s great to get it done here at Nashville. I’m kind of speechless right now.”
Teammate Chandler Smith settled in second place for his seventh top-five result of the 2024 season while rookie Jesse Love came home in third place for his fourth career top-five result. Austin Hill finished in fourth place for his eighth top-five result of the season while Noah Gragson ended up in fifth place in his second start driving the No. 30 Ford Mustang for Rette Jones Racing.
Riley Herbst, who endured the warm temperatures from start to finish due to his cool shirt failing, settled in sixth place while AJ Allmendinger, Justin Allgaier, Cole Custer and Sam Mayer finished in the top 10.
There were four lead changes for three different leaders. The race featured three cautions for 17 laps. In addition, 23 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap
Following the 17th event of the 2024 Xfinity Series season, Cole Custer continues to lead the regular-season standings by 15 points over Chandler Smith, 48 over Justin Allgaier, 78 over Austin Hill and 118 over Riley Herbst.
Results.
1. John Hunter Nemechek, 76 laps led, Stage 2 winner
2. Chandler Smith
3. Jesse Love
4. Austin Hill
5. Noah Gragson
6. Riley Herbst
7. AJ Allmendinger
8. Justin Allgaier
9. Cole Custer, 64 laps led
10. Sam Mayer
11. Ryan Sieg
12. Carson Kvapil
13. Brandon Jones
14. Tyler Reddick
15. Shane van Gisbergen
16. Parker Kligerman
17. Parker Retzlaff
18. Anthony Alfredo
19. Jeb Burton
20. Ty Gibbs, 48 laps led, Stage 1 winner
21. Brennan Poole
22. Jeremy Clements
23. Ryan Ellis
24. Josh Williams, one lap down
25. Leland Honeyman, one lap down
26. Kyle Sieg, one lap down
27. Ross Chastain, one lap down
28. Hailie Deegan, one lap down
29. Matt DiBenedetto, one lap down
30. Sammy Smith, one lap down
31. Kyle Weatherman, two laps down
32. Logan Bearden, three laps down
33. Sheldon Creed, three laps down
34. Chad Finchum, four laps down
35. Blaine Perkins, four laps down
36. Garrett Smithley, five laps down
37. Dawson Cram, five laps down
38. Patrick Emerling, five laps down
Next on the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ second annual The Loop 110 at the Chicago Street Course in Downtown Chicago, Illinois. The event is scheduled for next Saturday, July 6, and will air at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
