Justin Allgaier drove the race of his life late in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series EchoPark 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway as he held off NASCAR Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. for the win.
Allgaier and his crew chief Jason Burdette worked hard all day to get themselves in a position to win, but it was a pit road penalty for Truex in the final stage that allowed Allgaier to get comfortable out front.
Allgaier would go on to lead the final 15 laps en route to his 15th-career NASCAR Xfinity Series win and first of the 2021 season.
Following the race, an emotional Allgaier, who had a Jersey in honor of fallen Hendrick Motorsports pit crew member Rowdy Harrell on his windshield said, “We didn’t start off the day like we wanted to. These guys persevered behind it. They pushed and made great adjustments on pit road. Jason Burdette and all the guys on the team did a great job.”
Truex, who came up short of the win, had the dominant car on the day. He led a race-high 103 laps and won both Stages 1 and 2. However, when it mattered most, he didn’t quite have enough to get around Allgaier.
Behind Allgaier and Truex was Harrison Burton in third.
Noah Gragson came home fourth after being involved in a crash on lap 39, then backing into Daniel Hemric on pit road. Gragson, who is always at the center of controversy, got into a fight with Hemric after the race.
AJ Allmendinger, like Gragson, rebounded from damage to finish fifth.
Riley Herbst, Michael Annett, Justin Haley, Daniel Hemric and Ryan Sieg finished off the top-10 in this race.
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