A grind-it-out, bump-and-bruise performance at Atlanta culminated with Nick Sanchez tallying his first top five with Big Machine Racing.

NASCAR recognized the problem the Xfinity Series was having and began enforcing limits on how many Xfinity Series races Cup Series drivers could run. Today, that number is capped at five, with Cup regulars unable to race during the Xfinity Series playoffs or during Dash 4 Cash events.