Allmendinger masters oval
Xfinity win driver’s first in NASCAR not on road course
Hampton, Ga. AJ Allmendinger finally won on an oval.
He might just retire. Taking advantage of mistakes by the three leaders, the 38-year-old Californian cruised to victory by nearly 2 seconds over pole-sitter Noah Gragson in the Xfinity Series Echopark 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday.
“Oh my god,” Allmendinger said as he climbed from his No. 16 Chevrolet. “I won on an oval.”
Indeed, he did. Allmendinger, who first came to prominence in open-wheel racing, claimed a single victory during more than a decade in the top-level Cup series, and he had three previous Xfinity wins — all on road courses.
Now, he’s filled in a big hole on his resume.
Allmendinger started 30th but quickly showed the strength of his car, spending much of the day running in the top 10.
Then, after the final caution of the day, the top three cars — Chase Briscoe, Austin Cindric and Justin
Allgaier — were all caught speeding on pit road.
That pushed Allmendinger into the top spot on the restart with 34 laps to go. He held on the rest of the way.
Trucks: Taking advantage of a late caution, Grant Enfinger passed local favorite Austin
Hill on the final lap to win the NASCAR Truck Series race in overtime at Atlanta Motor Speedway. In front of empty grandstands, Hill appeared to be cruising to his first win of the year, building a 41⁄2-second lead after several miscues ruined Kyle Busch’s chances of winning for the sixth time in 12 truck races in Atlanta. Suddenly, everything changed. Cup star Chase Elliott lost control on worn-out tires coming off turn 2 with three laps to go, sending all the leaders to the pits for tires and setting up a green-white-checkered finish. Hill was out front when the green flag waved, but Enfinger got a good run on the leader on the next-to-last lap. Then, after taking the white flag, Enfinger slid by on the outside to take the lead for good. He claimed his second victory of the interrupted 2020 season.