Allgaier Holds Off Truex for Atlanta Xfinity Win

Canadian Press

HAMPTON, GA – RIS – Justin Allgaier punched his ticket to the Xfinity Series playoffs on Saturday by winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Allgaier led the final 27 laps and held off Cup Series regular Martin Truex Jr., who settled for second after recovering from a pit road speeding penalty with less than 50 laps to go.

Before the penalty, Truex had been the dominant driver, leading a race-high 103 laps.  He rallied to second but couldn’t get by Allgaier despite getting within 0.23 seconds of the No.7 Chevrolet on the final run to the checkered flag.

Allgaier exited his car after the win and burnout to remember a crew member who had died and celebrated his first win of 2021.

“This one’s for Rowdy,” Allgaier said. “Martin had a great race car and he definitely had the car to beat at the beginning,” Allgaier said. “We made good adjustments and that’s what it came down to at the end.”

“God is good,” Allgaier said.  “My wife and daughter are here, so I get to celebrate with them!”

Harrison Burton finished third, followed by Noah Gragson in fourth and AJ Allmendinger in fifth. The latter two drivers had damaged cars after involvement in a multi-car crash at the end of the first stage on Lap 40.

Truex was piloting a Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota Supra and seemed to have the fastest car, winning both stage one and stage two, but a speeding penalty put him to the back of the field with less than 50 laps to go.  Truex made it back to Allgaier but couldn’t get by the driver of the No.7 Chevrolet.

After the checkered flag had flown, a skirmish of pit road erupted between series regulars Daniel Hemric and Noah Gragson.  Gragson was doing a media interview when Hemric rushed Gragson and took a swing at him.  Those around the two separated them and Hemric moved away.

So, after a slow start to a frustrating season, Allgaier finds himself back in the running for a championship, something he has never accomplished.  Reigning champion and double winner in 2021, Austin Cindric, didn’t have such a good day.  After starting on the pole for the race, Cindric fell back and was in the gaggle of cars that caused a multi-car incident right at the end of the first stage,.  He finished 13th on the day.

“Yeah, obviously getting damage there in stage one definitely didn’t help our chances today, but we struggled off the bat and I’m not sure that helped us,” Cindric said.  “ It was just a fight all day today.  Hopefully, we learned some things.  The good news is we’ve got a second race here to learn even more, so I feel all right about it.  It definitely helps us with the notebook moving forward.”

Next week is an off week before heading to the short track at Martinsville Speedway two weeks from today.

Unofficial Results: 30th Annual EchoPark 250, March 20, 2021, Atlanta Motor Speedway

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 6, Justin Allgaier, 7, Axalta/EchoPark Automotive Chevrolet, 163, 3, 2, 2, 47, 5, 57, Running
2) 18, Martin Truex Jr.(i), 54, STANLEY Toyota, 163, 1, 1, 2, 103, , 0, Running
3) 5, Harrison Burton, 20, DEX Imaging Toyota, 163, 2, 4, , , , 50, Running
4) 30, Noah Gragson, 9, Bass Pros Shops/TrueTimber/BRCC Chevrolet, 163, , , , , , 33, Running
5) 3, AJ Allmendinger, 16, Ellsworth Advisors Chevrolet, 163, , , , , , 32, Running
6) 7, Riley Herbst, 98, Monster Energy Ford, 163, , 5, , , , 37, Running
7) 27, Michael Annett, 1, Pilot Flying J Chevrolet, 163, 5, 6, , , , 41, Running
8) 13, Justin Haley, 11, LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 163, 4, 3, , , , 44, Running
9) 11, Daniel Hemric, 18, Poppy Bank Toyota, 163, 9, , , , , 30, Running
10) 35, Ryan Sieg, 39, CMR Construction & Roofing Ford, 163, , , , , , 27, Running
11) 9, Myatt Snider, 2, TaxSlayer Chevrolet, 163, , 7, , , , 30, Running
12) 10, Jeremy Clements, 51, Diecast Kings Chevrolet, 163, 7, 9, , , , 31, Running
13) 1, Austin Cindric, 22, Car Shop Ford, 163, 6, , 1, 6, , 29, Running
14) 20, Landon Cassill, 4, MaintenX Chevrolet, 163, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 12, Santino Ferrucci, 26, TrustPage Toyota, 163, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 19, Josh Williams, 92, Coolray Heating & AC Chevrolet, 163, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 36, Alex Labbe, 36, Prolon/rousseau/Silver Wax Chevrolet, 163, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 15, Tommy Joe Martins, 44, Gilreath Farms Red Angus Chevrolet, 163, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 26, Jeffrey Earnhardt, 0, Forever Lawn Chevrolet, 163, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 17, Timmy Hill, 66, SUPREME TRANSPORTATION GROUP Toyota, 163, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 23, Colby Howard, 15, Project Hope Foundation Chevrolet, 163, 10, , 1, 3, , 17, Running
22) 37, Jesse Little, 78, Tufco Flooring Chevrolet, 162, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 28, Cody Ware, 17, Nurtec ODT Chevrolet, 162, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 14, Bayley Currey, 74, Lerner & Rowe Chevrolet, 162, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 2, Jeb Burton, 10, Nutrien Chevrolet, 162, , 8, , , , 15, Running
26) 21, Jade Buford, 48, Big Machine Spiked Coolers Chevrolet, 161, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 38, David Starr, 61, Whataburger Toyota, 161, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 31, Kyle Weatherman, 47, Weicks Media Chevrolet, 161, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 24, Joe Graf Jr., 07, Hazeheart.com Chevrolet, 161, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 25, Blaine Perkins, 23, Raceline Chevrolet, 160, , , , , , 7, Running
31) 34, Ryan Vargas #, 6, MaintenX Chevrolet, 160, , , , , , 6, Running
32) 32, Mason Massey, 99, Gerber Collision & Glass Toyota, 160, , , , , , 5, Running
33) 4, Brandon Brown, 68, Brandonbilt Foundations Chevrolet, 160, , 10, 1, 4, , 5, Running
34) 39, Matt Mills, 5, J.F. Electric Chevrolet, 156, , , , , , 3, Running
35) 29, Dexter Bean, 90, Badger Environmental Chevrolet, 156, , , , , , 2, Running
36) 33, Gray Gaulding, 52, SVS Vision Chevrolet, 150, , , , , , 1, Running
37) 16, Brandon Jones, 19, Menards/Pentair Toyota, 132, , , , , , 1, Running
38) 22, Josh Berry #, 8, Tire Pros Chevrolet, 130, 8, , , , , 4, Accident
39) 40, Chad Finchum, 13, LasVegas.net Chevrolet, 59, , , , , , 1, Brakes
40) 8, Brett Moffitt(i), 02, Fr8Auctions Chevrolet, 39, , , , , , 0, Accident
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Time: 2 Hrs, 10 Mins, 50 Secs.
Length: 163 Laps, 251.02 Miles

Average Speed: 115.117 MPH
Margin of Victory: 1.449 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 54, 20, 7, 11, 1, 22, 51, 8, 18, 15
Stage 2 Top 10: 54, 7, 11, 20, 98, 1, 2, 10, 51, 68

Comments: Justin Allgaier won the 30th running of the EchoPark 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, his 15th victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

Prior to the start, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: Nos. 13 and 61 (driver change), 16 (multiple inspection failures).

Failed to Qualify: (3) 77 Ronnie Bassett Jr., 31 Jordan Anderson #, 03 Andy Lally.

Caution Flags: 7 for 37 laps;
Laps: 22-24 (Competition Caution [99]);
37-39 (No. 90 Spin Turn 2 [None]);
41-50 (No. 19, 9, 02, 22, 16, 61, 66 Incident Backstretch / Stage 1 Conclusion  [6]);
82-88 (Stage 2 Conclusion [4]);
114-117 (No. 99 Spin Backstretch [36]);
119-123 (No. 10, 51 Incident Turn 1  [66]);
133-137 (No. 8, 39 Incident Turn 4 [10]).

Lead Changes: 6 among 5 drivers;
A. Cindric 1-6;
M. Truex Jr.(i) 7-46;
B. Brown 47-50;
M. Truex Jr.(i) 51-113;
J. Allgaier 114-133;
C. Howard 134-136;
J. Allgaier 137-163

Mobil 1 Driver of the Race:  Justin Allgaier, No. 7
Sunoco Rookie of the Race:  Ryan Vargas, No. 6