HAMPTON, Ga. — Richard Childress Racing won the first three superspeedway races of the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule, and the team hadn’t lost a Xfinity race at EchoPark Speedway since the summer of 2023.
That all changed Friday (June 27) night, as Nick Sanchez of Big Machine Racing made the winning pass on RCR’s Jesse Love with six laps to go to break through for his first career Xfinity win in Friday’s Focused Health 250.
The win was the second in Big Machine’s history and its first since 2022. Sanchez became the first first-time Xfinity winner of 2025 and the second of the season’s eight-driver rookie class to clinch a playoff spot.
The RCR duo of Love and Austin Hill entered EchoPark as the favorites once again, but it didn’t take long for their nights to unravel.
Hill qualified second, but he developed a fuel pick issue by lap 15 that warranted an extended stay on pit road and immediately ended his chance at four straight Xfinity wins at EchoPark. The No. 21 team made the necessary repairs, but Hill was a nonfactor and ended the night five laps down in 28th.
There are issues on the No. 21. pic.twitter.com/Sxm8fB7HE7
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) June 28, 2025
Love was still in the mix, but he’d have to win the race while flying solo, just as he had done in his season-opening win at Daytona International Speedway in February.
His race nearly went up in smoke on lap 41, as Love and Sanchez triggered a backstretch Big One after the two got out of line. Love then spun off the bumper of the No. 48 and received significant damage to the nose of his car, all while the backstretch was engulfed by a plume of smoke and spinning race cars.
Love quickly made his way back to the top 10 despite the damage and took the lead for the first time with 18 laps to go. He made a daring move get out front again with seven laps remaining, fighting alongside Sanchez on the final restart. But Sanchez fought back hard, using a huge run with the No. 48 to duck to the inside, taking the entire line with him.
“I just drove the shit out of it, but I made no friends tonight, and I caused two crashes,” Love said. “I didn’t really expect to have that much help there at the end, and I kind of put myself in that boat.”
Love spent the final six laps fighting for his life with a wounded car and little drafting help, forced to settle for a sixth-place finish in a disappointing outing for RCR.
As Love faded the back of the lead pack, Sanchez easily fended off all challenges for the top spot in the closing laps, as the cars behind him didn’t have the steam or drafting energy to make a serious push for the lead.
In a rookie season where he’s shown flashes of brilliance in the midst of inconsistent results, a win puts all the weight off Sanchez’s shoulders and gives him ample time to gain more experience and prepare for a playoff push this September.
Stephen Stumpf is the NASCAR Content Director for Frontstretch and is a three-year veteran of the site. His weekly column is “Stat Sheet,” and he formerly wrote "4 Burning Questions" for three years. He also writes commentaries, contributes to podcasts, edits articles and is frequently at the track for on-site coverage.
Find Stephen on Twitter @stephen_stumpf