LEBANON, Tenn. -- John Hunter Nemechek has won his second Xfinity race of the 2024 season after taking advantage of a late-race caution at Nashville Superspeedway.
Chandler Smith crossed the line second on a hot afternoon in Middle Tennessee. Jesse Love, Austin Hill, and Noah Gragson rounded out the top five. Love, in particular, started the race at the rear of the field but steadily worked his way forward over 188 laps.
MORE: Nemechek wins, full Nashville results
MORE: Xfinity driver points
Cole Custer was in the lead during the final stage with AJ Allmendinger closing the gap. It appeared that the battle would come down to those two drivers, but the situation changed when contact from Justin Allgaier sent Ty Gibbs spinning.
The field lined up for a restart with Custer and Nemechek on the front row. Custer got loose in Turn 2, which opened up the opportunity for Nemechek to jump to the lead. The Cup regular led the final 46 laps and held off Chandler Smith.
"I tried to drive in kind of deep so I could clear the 20, but then I got super tight off Turn 2 and I just kind of carried that tight through the rest of the run," Custer said after the race. "I don't know. It was just really weird because the run before the car wasn't that bad, so it's just frustrating."
A mistake by @ColeCuster puts @JHNemechek back up front. pic.twitter.com/IYZQzXrClJ
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) June 29, 2024
There were multiple drivers that led laps Saturday at the 1.33-mile track. Nemechek led the way with a race-high with 74. Custer led 62 laps and Ty Gibbs led 48.
Stage 1: Ty Gibbs won a caution-free stage 1. AJ Allmendinger, Brandon Jones, Cole Custer, Justin Allgaier, Noah Gragson, Riley Herbst, John Hunter Nemechek, Chandler Smith, and Ryan Sieg all finished in the top 10.
Stage 2: John Hunter Nemechek won stage 2. AJ Allmendinger crossed the line second. Cole Custer, Ty Gibbs, Chandler Smith, Noah Gragson, Jesse Love, Brandon Jones, Justin Allgaier, and Riley Herbst all finished top 10.
Notable: Saturday's race at Nashville Superspeedway only featured one caution for an incident. The first two stages ran green the entire way.
Next: The Xfinity teams head to the Windy City. They will compete on the streets of Chicago on Saturday, July 6 (3:30 p.m. ET on NBC).