Part two of the Atlanta doubleheader went in favor of Justin Allgaier in the Xfinity Series Saturday afternoon. Allgaier inhertited the lead late and held on for his first of the season.
The win stops a run of bad luck for the JR Motorsports driver. This is Allgaier’s 15th Xfinity Series victory of his career and first since last year’s races at Richmond.
So much for that "slow start to the season"@J_Allgaier | @JRMotorsports pic.twitter.com/aBeqTlFDX4
— Xfinity Racing (@XfinityRacing) March 20, 2021
It wasn’t a complete turn around day for JR Motorsports. Josh Berry spun coming off turn four. He had it saved but the car entered the grass and tore the front nose off of his No. 8. Early on Noah Gragson got caught up in a wreck but was able to rebound and find himself inside the top ten.
In the same crash that Gragson was tangled in, Brandon Jones, Brett Moffitt, A.J. Allmendinger and Austin Cindric all were a part of the incident.
Allgaier didn’t necessarily have the car to beat all day. That claim to fame came from Martin Truex, Jr. For the first time since 2010, Truex participated in the Xfinity Series and didn’t miss a beat.
The 2017 Cup Series Champion won the first two stages in dominating fashion. He looked well on his way to yet another Xfinity Series win. That was the case until a late race caution. While the field pit under caution, Truex was picked up for speeding with only 40 laps to go. This put him back in the pack and Allgaier took over the lead.
From that point on Allgaier had to battle Harrison Burton during a short stint but ultimately Allgaier would create some distance.
In that time Truex started to make his climb back through the field. With only ten laps to go, Truex was knocking on the back door of Allgaier. Though close, Truex was never close enough to make a move and ran out of time and tires. Allgaier picked up the win, his first of 2021, with Truex coming in third and Burton rounding out the podium spot.
Following the race there was a scuffle on pit road involving Gragson and Daniel Hemric. The two had an incident on pit road leading to the fight afterwards. Hemric and Gragson were teammates last season at JR Motorsports.
.@DanielHemric is NOT happy with @NoahGragson after an incident on pit road during today's #XfinitySeries race. pic.twitter.com/morVsNA3P5
— Xfinity Racing (@XfinityRacing) March 20, 2021
Unofficial Race 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