Nashville results: John Hunter Nemechek scores second NASCAR Xfinity win of year

John Hunter Nemechek led a race-high 76 laps, including the final 46 to win Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at Nashville Superspeedway.

“I thought we gave the race away there at the start of stage three,” Nemechek told NBC Sports’ Kim Coon. “I asked for an adjustment and probably shouldn’t have.”

The victory was Nemechek’s second of the season. He won at Las Vegas.

MORE: Nashville results

MORE: Xfinity driver points

Nemechek led a 1-2 finish for Joe Gibbs Racing. Teammate Chandler Smith placed second.

Jesse Love, who started last in the 38-car field and had his cool shirt fail during the event, finished third. Austin Hill, Love’s Richard Childress Racing teammate, placed fourth. Noah Gragson completed the top five despite his cool suit not working in the second half of the race.

Ryan Sieg closed the gap to the final playoff spot. He finished 11th, while Sammy Smith, who is in the final playoff position, placed 30th. Sieg gained 20 points on Smith and is now 11 points below the cutline with nine races left in the regular season.

Highlight: NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Nashville

Watch highlights from the NASCAR Xfinity Series Tennessee Lottery 250 at Nashville Superspeedway.

Riley Herbst finished sixth despite his cool shirt failing early in the race. Asked how he got through the race in the hot conditions, Herbst told NBC Sports’ Marty Snider: “It was questionable for sure Marty. But (crew chief) Davin (Restivo) and these guys just work too hard, I couldn’t really give up.

“I wanted to. I thought about it a few times just because I got to race (Sunday in the Cup race) and it was getting scary there for a second with my vision, but we pulled it together and kept fighting.”

Smith 'won't complain' about second at Nashville

Chandler Smith received damage from a scrum with Justin Allgaier and Ty Gibbs, but the driver of the No. 81 "won't complain" about a second-place finish in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Nashville.

Stage 1 winner: Ty Gibbs

Stage 2 winner: John Hunter Nemechek

Who had a good race: Jesse Love (third) passed a race-high 69 cars during the race. He scored his first top-five finish since his Talladega win. ... Although he lost the lead on the final restart, Cole Custer (ninth) has placed in the top 10 in 14 of the last 15 races.

Who had a bad race: Ty Gibbs won a stage and was in the top five when contact from Justin Allgaier turned him. Gibbs finished 19th. ... Sheldon Creed finished 33rd, snapping his streak of three consecutive top-five finishes.

Next: The series races July 6 on the streets of Chicago (2:30 p.m. ET on NBC)