Nick Sanchez held off Carson Kvapil by 0.139 seconds in the final seven laps to secure his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory in Friday night’s Focused Health 250 at EchoPark Speedway.
The 24-year-old from Miami, Florida, overcame a spin through the frontstretch grass on lap 68, caution flags, race chaos, and inclement weather delays to win and earn a berth in the Xfinity Series Playoffs.
Sanchez’s win marks Big Machine Racing’s second Xfinity Series team victory.
“A weight is lifted off my shoulder, and now we can just go chase checkered flags,” said Sanchez. He continued, “I think we just have super strong cars here at Big Machine Racing that do a great job at the race track, and I feel like when we come here, it’s not me. I just got it done tonight and I’m happy to drive fast cars here.”
Lightning forced NASCAR to halt the race after 36 laps, which delayed the race one hour and 18 minutes.
Carson Kvapil, who started from the rear of the field after unapproved adjustments, held on to second place in his No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.
“To be that close really does sting,” said Kvapil, “I couldn’t really generate a run there. I didn’t feel like we had enough cars nose-to-tail and organized. We were all kind of just too far away from each other.
He explained, “I tried backing up on the last lap, and I probably could have made a move earlier. I just felt like, if we got side-by-side, we’d get swallowed up by somebody.”
Sam Mayer finished third, Connor Zilisch fourth for his sixth straight in the series, and Taylor Gray rounded out the top five.
The race featured nine caution flags for 58 laps and 12 lead changes among nine drivers.
After EchoPark Speedway, Justin Allgaier leads the series standings by 63 over Sam Mayer, 76 over Austin Hill, 83 over Jesse Love, and 98 over Connor Zilisch.
Next, the Xfinity Series heads to Chicago, Illinois, for the Chicago Street Race on Saturday, July 5, at 4:30 pm ET on CW.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race – Focused Health 250
EchoPark Speedway in Hampton, Georgia
|Friday, June 27, 2025
| Fin | St | No | Driver | S1 | S2 | S3 | Points | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | 48 | Nick Sanchez # | 4 | 7 | 0 | 51 | Running |
| 2 | 24 | 1 | Carson Kvapil # | 9 | 2 | 0 | 46 | Running |
| 3 | 3 | 41 | Sam Mayer | 2 | 0 | 0 | 43 | Running |
| 4 | 6 | 88 | Connor Zilisch # | 6 | 0 | 0 | 38 | Running |
| 5 | 7 | 54 | Taylor Gray # | 1 | 0 | 0 | 42 | Running |
| 6 | 5 | 2 | Jesse Love | 0 | 3 | 0 | 39 | Running |
| 7 | 10 | 19 | Aric Almirola | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | Running |
| 8 | 22 | 10 | Daniel Dye # | 3 | 0 | 0 | 37 | Running |
| 9 | 21 | 28 | Kyle Sieg | 0 | 8 | 0 | 31 | Running |
| 10 | 26 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | Running |
| 11 | 29 | 26 | Dean Thompson # | 5 | 6 | 0 | 37 | Running |
| 12 | 19 | 70 | Leland Honeyman | 8 | 0 | 0 | 28 | Running |
| 13 | 9 | 25 | Harrison Burton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | Running |
| 14 | 4 | 20 | Brandon Jones | 0 | 1 | 0 | 33 | Running |
| 15 | 33 | 99 | Matt DiBenedetto | 10 | 4 | 0 | 30 | Running |
| 16 | 27 | 27 | Jeb Burton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | Running |
| 17 | 32 | 44 | Brennan Poole | 7 | 5 | 0 | 30 | Running |
| 18 | 34 | 35 | Joey Gase | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | Running |
| 19 | 17 | 16 | Christian Eckes # | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | Running |
| 20 | 37 | 45 | Mason Massey | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | Running |
| 21 | 28 | 71 | Ryan Ellis | 0 | 10 | 0 | 17 | Running |
| 22 | 15 | 31 | Blaine Perkins | 0 | 9 | 0 | 17 | Running |
| 23 | 36 | 14 | Garrett Smithley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | Running |
| 24 | 35 | 7 | Nick Leitz | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | Running |
| 25 | 31 | 5 | Kris Wright | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | Running |
| 26 | 2 | 21 | Austin Hill | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | Running |
| 27 | 38 | 53 | Mason Maggio | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | Running |
| 28 | 8 | 91 | CJ McLaughlin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | Accident |
| 29 | 25 | 42 | Anthony Alfredo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | Accident |
| 30 | 13 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | DVP |
| 31 | 16 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | Accident |
| 32 | 1 | 0 | Sheldon Creed | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | Accident |
| 33 | 14 | 8 | Sammy Smith | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | Accident |
| 34 | 23 | 32 | Katherine Legge(i) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Accident |
| 35 | 20 | 24 | Patrick Staropoli | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | Accident |
| 36 | 12 | 18 | William Sawalich # | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Accident |
| 37 | 18 | 4 | Parker Retzlaff | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Accident |
| 38 | 30 | 11 | Josh Williams | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Accident |
