Allmendinger finally gets what he wanted
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 on Saturday in the Xfinity Series EchoPark 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
“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 has filled in a big hole on his resume.
“All I ever wanted to do was win on an oval,” said Allmendinger, who has only a part-time ride in the Xfinity Series after losing his Cup ride after the 2018 season. “I have a lot of success in so many forms of racing.”
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, leaders 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.
Gragson narrowed the gap in the closing laps, but got hoodwinked by the more experienced driver. Allmendinger
gave the impression that his tires were fading, duping Gragson into making a furious run for the front.
Turns out, Allmendinger’s tires had more grip than he let on. Gragson didn’t have anything left at the end.
Gander Outdoors Truck Series: Taking advantage of a late caution, Grant Enfinger passed local favorite Austin Hill on the final lap in overtime to win the Vet Tix 200.
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.
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. Aafter taking the white flag, Enfinger slid by on the outside to take the lead for good going through turns 1 and 2. He claimed his second victory of the interrupted season, having also won at Daytona in the February opener.
“We didn’t have the best truck on the long runs,” Enfinger said, “but we had the best truck on the short runs.”
Busch led a race-high 37 of the 136 laps, but two speeding penalties and a brush with the wall denied his sixth victory in 12 Atlanta truck races. He crossed the line 27th.
Johnny Sauter, the 2016 champion from Necedah, Wisconsin, finished 17th but was disqualified when a tire from his truck failed a post-race test. He was relegated to 40th, but no further penalties are forthcoming, NASCAR said.