Nemechek dominates Xfinity Series race at Martinsville
Sat, Apr 15, 2023
Other News (AP)
MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) - John Hunter Nemechek held off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Sammy Smith on Saturday night at Martinsville Speedway to secure his second win of the season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Nemechek dominated the race, leading 198 of the 250 laps at the paperclip-shaped half-mile racetrack.
Smith finished second, followed by Cole Custer, Josh Berry and Brandon Jones.
The only real drama came when Nemechek set the back of the car on fire during a lengthy burnout after crossing the finish line, forcing workers to use fire extinguishers. The fire left burn marks on the racetrack.
"I can't say enough about this team," Nemechek said of his fourth career Xfinity Series win. "If you would have asked me yesterday, I would have said we were a 10th-place team. But our guys really made some great adjustments."
No Cup Series drivers participated because it was a Dash for Cash race, which Nemechek was eligible for and cashed in on winning $100,000.
Nemechek and his No. 20 Toyota were strong from the start in his first Xfinity Series race at Martinsville.
He started on the front row alongside the polesitter Custer, but made it known right away he had the car to beat, taking the lead on the sixth lap and going on to become the first Xfinity Series driver to win the first two stages at Martinsville, leading 74 of the first 120 laps.
Auto Racing
Four of the last seven short track races had ended on last lap passes, but not this one.
Nemechek was too dominant.
Justin Allgaier, running on old tires, stayed on the track during a late caution to take the lead. But Nemechek quickly ran him down on the restart with 32 laps to go after getting four new tires during a pit stop.
After another caution, Nemechek drove away from Custer on a restart with 18 laps to go and was never challenged again.
Nemechek now has seven top-10 finishes this season.
There have been 12 different winners in the last 12 years at the Xfinity Series race at Martinsville.
MORE BAD LUCK FOR HERBST
After starting the season with six top-10 finishes, Riley Herbst has run into a string of bad luck, crashing out in the last two races.
He collided with Sam Mayer with 28 laps to go to end his night. Mayer was particularly upset with Ryan Truex after the crash, making a vulgar gesture toward him after he climbed out of his No. 1 Chevrolet.
UP NEXT
The next Xfinity Series race will be Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway. Noah Gragson won last year's race.
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