XFINITY: Nick Sanchez Outduels Carson Kvapil in Atlanta for First Win

On a strange Friday evening, which turned into Saturday night following lengthy weather delays at EchoPark Speedway, Nick Sanchez was able to come out on top in a late-race duel with Carson Kvapil to secure his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series win in the Focused Health 250.

Race Results: Focused Health 250 at Atlanta

Sanchez, who led the race three times for a total of 18 laps, including the final six circuits, was able to rebound from a spin on Lap 68 to score the personal landmark win and the second-ever NASCAR Xfinity Series win for the Big Machine Racing team.

On the final restart of the race, Sanchez admits he made an error on his way up through the gears that nearly cost him the race altogether, but he was able to slide into the pack in third place, where he was able to bide his time to mount another charge back to the front.

"That last restart, I actually got hung up between third and fourth gear and actually lost the lead. I think I fell back to third. From that point on, we were just trying to claw our way back up, and once we got in control of the race, I felt we were in really good position."

As Sanchez took the lead with six laps remaining, Kvapil remained tucked in behind Sanchez in the closing laps as the fellow Rookie of the Year contender wanted to make his move for the win heading into Turn 3 on the final lap. After getting a large run down the backstretch with two laps to go, Kvapil tucked back in behind Sanchez and preferred to hold back in an effort to gain another big run on his competitor on the final lap.

The run never materialized, and Kvapil would come across the finish line in the runner-up spot to Sanchez.

"I'm going to run it through my head like 20 or 100 times after this race, and tell me all the stuff I did wrong, and what I should have done differently," Kvapil said after tying his career-best finish of second. "Honestly, if you look at it, we took a car from dead last and finished second with it, so we can't be too upset with that. But at the same time, it's so hard to win in the Xfinity Series. Whenever you have a shot like that with a few to go, and you can't get it done, it's pretty disappointing."

Sam Mayer would finish behind the Rookie 1-2 finishers, and the driver of the No. 41 Haas Factory Team Ford was proud of his finish considering the lack of Fords that were able to race to the finish of the event at EchoPark Speedway.

Connor Zilisch finished in fourth, and Taylor Gray came home in fifth, which meant there were four Rookie of the Year contenders inside of the top-five finishing positions, a feat that had not happened yet this season.

Jesse Love incredibly finished sixth in a battered No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, and he was followed across the finish line by Aric Almirola, Daniel Dye, Kyle Sieg, and Jeremy Clements inside the top-10.

Austin Hill, who started from the second position, suffered an issue with the fuel pressure in his No. 21 Chevrolet, which stifled his attempt to collect his sixth career NASCAR Xfinity Series win at his home race track. Hill's Richard Childress Racing team would spend six laps in the garage fixing the issue, and Hill would rejoin the event and go on to finish 26th, five laps off the pace following a rash of crashes down the stretch.

Justin Allgaier retained the NASCAR Xfinity Series point lead, but saw his point lead shrink to 63 points following the season's 17th race. Sam Mayer, who came into the race third in points, moved into the second position in the standings, while Hill dropped to third and now sits 76 points behind Allgaier.

Next up for the NASCAR Xfinity Series is a trip to Chicago for The Loop 110 at the Chicago Street Course. That race will take place on Saturday, July 5, and will be televised on The CW with coverage kicking off at 4:30 PM ET.

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