Justin Allgaier wins Xfintiy race at Atlanta

 

Getty Images

     Justin Allgaier won yesterday’s EchoPark 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, scoring his 15th victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

The biggest story line entering this race was that Cup Series veteran, Martin Truex Jr., would be making his first Xfinity Series start in over a decade, driving the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54 Toyota. The last time that Truex made an Xfinity Series start was in 2010, for the season finale at Homestead Miami Speedway, where he finished 12th. This race we saw the Cup Series regular dominate; winning both the 1st and 2nd stages, without much of a challenge. The only major setback that Truex faced was a penalty for speeding on pit road, at the beginning of stage 3. As a penalty for his actions, Truex was forced to move the the rear of the field. Justin Allgaier, driver of the No. 7, then took the lead and held that lead for the remainder of the race, allowing him to score a victory. Dispite this set back, and being unable to win, Truex still managed to finish 2nd, as he was able to pass nearly the entire field, and gain a runner up finish. 

One of the most notable, and currently relevant, incidents to occur during this race, was when during a pit stop, the No. 18 of Daniel Hemric over shot his pit stall, and wound up in the pit stall of Noah Gragson in the No. 9. Gragson was also pitting at that moment, and was forced to pull into the neighboring pit stall. When Hemric backed the No. 18 into the correct pit stall, Gragson did the same. Because of Gragson’s trouble pitting, the No. 9 was crooked and it’s right rear was outside of the pit stall. In order to avoid a penalty (for being outside the pit stall), while returning to his correct pit stall, Gragson continued to back up, and backed right into the No. 18 of Daniel Hemric. Many fans are still debating whether this incident was intentional or not. The real trouble came for the two drivers when during a post race interview Daniel Hemric approached Noah Gragson, shoving him in anger over the incident. Gragson in the blink of an eye responded, by throwing a punch at Hemric, and starting a fight on pit road. That has caused some controversy within the NASCAR community.

Another incident that drew a lot of attention was when contact occurred between the No. 39 of Ryan Sieg and the No. 8 of Josh Berry. Due to this contact, the No. 8 was sent spinning towards pit road, though Josh Berry saved it. Still carrying a significant amount of momentum, Berry attempted to steer the car away from pit road and back onto the track. Unable to do so at such a high speed, the car tore through the grass, sending Josh Berry and the No. 8 airborne. 

Overall this race showed some hard racing, with arguments, and plenty of controversy. Through all of these incidents the race never failed to be interesting. 

Martin Truex Jr. won both stage 1 and 2, and of course race winner Justin Allgaier won stage 3.

The following are the complete race results:

1. Justin Allgaier- No. 7
2. Martin Truex Jr.- No. 54
3. Harrison Burton- No. 20
4. Noah Gragson- No. 9
5. AJ Allmendinger- No. 16
6. Riley Herbst- No. 98
7. Michael Annett- No. 1
8. Justin Haley- No. 11
9. Daniel Hemric- No. 18
10. Ryan Sieg- No. 39
11. Myatt Snider- No. 2
12. Jeremy Clements- No. 51
13. Austin Cindric- No. 22
14. Landon Cassill- No. 4
15. Santino Ferrucci- No. 26
16. Josh Williams- No. 92
17. Alex Labbe- No. 36
18. Tommy Joe Martins- No. 44
19. Jeffrey Earnhardt- No. 0
20. Timmy Hill- No. 66
21. Colby Howard- No. 15
22. Jesse Little- No. 78
23. Cody Ware- No. 18
24. Bayley Currey- No. 74
25. Jeb Burton- No. 10
26. Jade Buford- No. 48
27. David Starr- No. 61
28. Kyle Weatherman- No. 47
29. Joe Graf Jr.- No. 07
30. Blaine Perkins- No. 23
31. Ryan Vargas- No. 6
32. Mason Massey- No. 99
33. Brandon Brown- No. 68
34. Matt Mills- No. 5
35. Dexter Bean- No. 90
36. Gray Gaulding- No. 52
37. Brandon Jones- No. 19
38. Josh Berry- No. 8 - DNF 
39. Chad Finchum- No. 13 - DNF
40. Brett Moffitt- No. 02 - DNF

👁👁

Wild. pic.twitter.com/NUTNKaARSa

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) March 21, 2021

 

PUNCHES THROWN! Daniel Hemric and Noah Gragson brawl on pit road after the Xfinity race in Atlanta. pic.twitter.com/KF8COEkMHp

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) March 20, 2021