Justin Allgaier had the dominant car when it mattered most, holding off Martin Truex Jr. to capture the EchoPark 250 Xfinity Series race win at Atlanta Motor Speedway Saturday evening.
Truex won the first two stages and led 103 laps but a pit road speeding penalty resulted in Truex having to restart at the back of the field on Lap 118 and ultimately cost him the victory.
Allgaier took advantage of the mistake and though Truex was able to work his way back to the front, he came up short and had to settle for a runner-up finish.
It was his first win this season, his first victory at Atlanta and his 15th career win.
“We have had a rough go at it,” Allgaier said. “Today was more about digging deep and persevering. I knew Martin was going to be coming at the end of the race there.
“It’s really special. I’m just proud of the guys. We had great pit stops all day and made great adjustments all day. At the end, we put ourselves in the right spot.”
“We didn’t start out the day like we wanted to—these guys persevered behind it,” Allgaier continued. “They pushed and made great adjustments on pit road—(crew chief) Jason Burdett and all the guys on the team did a great job. My wife and daughter are here. They may not be able to come out here (to Victory Lane), but I get to go celebrate with them. Just proud of the effort that we put in today.
“Martin had a great race car. They definitely had the car to beat at the beginning. We made good adjustments, and that’s what it came down to at the end.”
It was Truex’s first Xfinity Series race since 2010.
“We got back up there, but obviously, we were kind of out of tires at that point, champion who was racing in the series for the first time since 2010. “Got close, and then the last 10 (laps), the right rear was completely smoked off. Just had to use too much to get there.
“Thanks to (sponsor) Stanley and everyone else at JGR for letting me go do this. It was fun until I screwed it up. Just came up a little short at the end there.”
Harrison Burton, Noah Gragson and AJ Allmendinger rounded out the top-five. Riley Herbst, Michael Annett, Justin Haley, Daniel Memric and Ryan Seig finished sixth-10th, respectively..
After the race, Gragson and Daniel Hemric, who finished ninth, were involved in an altercation. The incident stemmed from an incident on pit road when Gragson backed into Hemric’s car.
Hemric confronted Gragson after the race and punches were thrown before they were quickly separated by NASCAR officials. Gragson was later called to the NASCAR hauler. If NASCAR decides to penalize Gragson for his actions, it will likely be announced next week.
Austin Cindric leads the points standings with 277 points followed by Hemric (-46), Burton (-65), Allmendinger (-83) and Justin Haley (-84).
The Xfinity Series will have the next two weeks off, returning to competition on Friday, April 9 at Martinsville Speedway.
Official Results:
1. Justin Allgaier
2. Martin Truex Jr.
3. Harrison Burton
4. Noah Gragson
5. AJ Allmendinger
6. Riley Herbst
7. Michael Annett
8. Justin Haley
9. Daniel Hemric
10. Ryan Sieg
11. Myatt Snider
12. Jeremy Clements
13. Austin Cindric
14. Landon Cassill
15. Santino Ferrucci
16. Josh Williams
17. Alex Labbe
18. Tommy Joe Martins
19. Jeffrey Earnhardt
20. Timmy Hill
21. Colby Howard
22. Jesse Little
23. Cody Ware
24. Bayley Currey
25. Jeb Burton
26. Jade Buford
27. David Starr
28. Kyle Weatherman
29. Joe Graf Jr
30. Blaine Perkins
31. Ryan Vargas
32. Mason Massey
33. Brandon Brown
34. Matt Mills
35. Dexter Bean
36. Gray Gaulding
37. Brandon Jones
38. Josh Berry
39. Chad Finchum
40. Brett Moffitt
