For the seventeenth time this season, the NASCAR Xfinity Series fired their engines at Atlanta Motor Spee…wait, I mean Echo Park Speedway! Yeah, that’s what I meant. As the summer simmers on, there were a lot of things to keep an eye out for heading into the fourth superspeedway race of the season. Were RCR able to continue their Xfinity superspeedway dominance or was someone else able to power through? What about JR Motorsports? They have eight victories so far this season, a series high. Were they able to keep it up their momentum at a track where anything can happen?
Let’s go through it all, beat by beat. Here’s the Rundown: the nuts and bolts of what went down in the Focused Health 250 at Echo Park Speedway.
The green flag is flying!
We are underway at @EchoParkSpdwy on @TheCW_Sports! pic.twitter.com/bYLgjl6jbA— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) June 28, 2025
In the final stage of this race, Aric Almirola assumed the lead with his teammate Taylor Gray behind him. Together, the two worked to control the outside lane. In the initial run, the outside lane was able to leave the bottom lane in the dust. However, as he approached 20 laps to go, the bottom lane started to work together to stay with the leaders in the outside lane and contend for the race lead. Inside 20 to go, Nick Sanchez took the lead. Jesse Love took control of the inside lane with Connor Zilisch behind him.
With 12 laps to go, the caution flew for debris off the 91 car. This was just as the battle was becoming intense out front. With 10 to go under caution, Nick Sanchez led.
The race restarted with 7 laps to go. The inside lane of Jesse Love and Carson Kvapil got an amazing jump into the lead. But Sanchez powered back, reclaiming the top spot by 5 to go. Blocking like a pro, Nick Sanchez was able to hold off Carson Kvapil, Sam Mayer, and Connor Zilisch to score his first career Xfinity Series victory! This win locked him into the 2025 Playoffs.
Sheldon Creed started the race from the pole and led the pack for the majority of the opening stage, leading a stage-high 37 laps. Early on, Atlanta ace Austin Hill challenged him on the bottom but couldn’t get a line built up and going to take the lead away from Creed. Creed and the leaders broke away from the rest of the pack until the caution flew for the second time with 10 laps to go in the stage. The caution was due to lightning in the area. This was an issue the Hampton, Georgia area had been dealing with all day long. It even delayed the start of the race by half an hour. The field was brought down pit road and the race was subsequently on hold.
After an hour and twenty-minute lightning hold, engines refired at around 10:30 PM. Creed and Zilisch pitted, intending to flip the stage. This led to Sam Mayer taking control of the race. The race restarted with five laps remaining in the stage. On the backstretch, a massive wreck broke out, taking out some heavy hitters. This incident ended the stage with Taylor Gray taking the victory. It was his first career stage win.
The majority of the second stage was dominated by the JRM drivers of Connor Zilisch and Carson Kvapil. They led, 1-2 with Taylor Gray and Jesse Love in tow. Mostly, as the weather continued to be a looming threat, the racing was overall a lot cleaner than in the first stage. There were a couple of single-car incidents. Nick Sanchez spun on the front stretch on lap 68. Sliding through the infield grass, he was able to save it with minimal damage. Then, on lap 81, Harrison Burton spun. He had been in contention for most of this stage, riding in the top 10. He was able to keep his number 25 Dex Ford off the wall.
A number of drivers came down pit road in an attempt to flip the stage. Connor Zilisch and Sam Mayer were among them. With eight laps remaining in the stage, Carson Kvapil and Jesse Love inherited the top two positions. Kvapil and Love both opted to restart on the outside, leaving the bottom open for Brandon Jones. The race restarted with five laps to go in the stage. Heading into the first two corners, Jeremy Clements spun from fourth after losing power. Brandon Jones claimed the lead. This ended the stage under caution. Brandon Jones won, making a clean sweep in stages for JGR.
Since we reached the end of the second stage, the race would be official if weather once again moved into the area.
Despite a day which began with mechanical issues, relegating him to a 26th place finish, 5 laps down, in the closing laps of tonight’s race, Austin Hill scored the Xfinity Fastest Lap. This awards him an additional point to his race total.
The trouble started early when, on Lap 3, the 16 of Christian Eckes tagged the 31 car from behind. This caused a stack-up that collected a number of cars, including Parker Retzlaff, William Sawalisch, and Josh Williams. Check it out.
After a lengthy rain delay, chaos broke out on the backstretch with just five to go in Stage 1. The incident involved Jesse Love, Justin Allgaier, Kathrine Legge, Sheldon Creed, Christian Eckes, Sammy Smith, and many others. Take a look.
The following are locked into the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs due to capturing wins this season.
The next crop of drivers has yet to win this season and, therefore, are trying to point their way into the postseason. Here is where they are in relation to the cutline.
That does it for us, Daily Downforce readers. What did you think of this race? Let us know your opinion on Discord or X. Don’t forget that you can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
