A beautiful day was had in Atlanta for the Focused Health 250. Jesse Love was on pole with Taylor Gray on the outside. The stage lengths were 40 laps for one and two while the final stage was 83 laps. As the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs get closer, Atlanta certainly saw the aggression ramped up.
Crank it up
Side by side, Love and Gray took the green. Love, on the outside line, snatched the lead as the inside line crumbled. The first sign of trouble was Ryan Sieg slowing on the track. He said a wire came undone on the dash. While that was happening, Anthony Alfredo got into the wall and ended up with a flat tire. Sieg stopped his car on the backstretch which brought out the first caution on lap twelve.
They restarted on lap seventeen. This time, Love and Sheldon Creed were on the front row. The inside line, again, dissipated quickly as the outside line was the fastest. Love maintained the lead while Creed had to settle in fourth in the outside line.
Justin Allgaier was the fastest car as he had to work his way to the lead. With no help behind him, he used the side draft to help pull himself to the front. He got in front of Love with fifteen to go in the stage. Austin Hill tried to pass Allgaier on the final lap of the stage but did not have enough and Allgaier won the stage!
Dominant AJ
Allgaier kept his lead coming out of the pits so he restarted the race on the front row. AJ Allmendinger, who started the race last, joined him out front as he had stayed out and did not pit. Allmendinger took the lead as the inside line dissolved. Allgaier struggled to stay up front. He took two tires under the yellow and that appeared to hurt him tremendously. Meanwhile, Ryan Truex got into the wall but was able to keep it straight.
Drivers started complaining of their cars being sketchy. A lot of drivers had no grip in their hot rods. Allmendinger, who did not pit when everyone else did, had 30 more laps on his tires but was able to keep it out front. Sam Mayer got into the wall off of the nose of Taylor Gray which brought out the caution to end the stage. Allmendinger led every lap and won the second stage of the Focused Health 250!
The Chaos Began
Gray and Allmendinger restarted on the front row with 75 laps to go. Gray took the lead on the outside line. Allmendinger tried to get up there with Cole Custer pushing but was unable to get in line. While Chandler Smith was able to get around Gray for the lead, Shane Van Gisbergen got into the wall to bring out the caution with 63 laps left. He tried to go to the outside of Sammy Smith but did not have enough room. Then, Smith got hit with a safety violation under the yellow and had to restart in the rear of the field.
Custer and Chandler Smith restarted on the front row. Smith was on the outside so he was able to pull out front. The fifth caution came out when Jeb Burton got spun around due to a tire issue. He brought it down pit road and took two left-side tires.
Custer and Gray restarted on the front row. Chandler Smith pushed Custer out front. The field lined up on the outside of the track. Allmendinger was able to get side by side with Custer but was unable to hold it and slipped back. Chandler Smith was able to drive underneath and pass Custer for the lead.
The sixth caution came out when Allgaier got into Gray. Custer got caught in it as well as his teammate, Riley Herbst. NASCAR red-flagged the race to allow time for cleanup.
Intensity!
The green flag came back out with thirteen laps to go. Austin Hill and Chandler Smith were on the front row. Hill took the lead but Smith took a jab back at it. Hill flexed his muscles as he led the final laps and won at Atlanta! Of the Atlanta new configuration races, the Xfinity series has run six races. Of those, Austin Hill has won four of them. Parker Kligerman, who needed a good day, finished in second.
Marvin’s Moment
I did not like the repave of Atlanta. I do not believe we need more superspeedways. That being said, Atlanta with the Xfinity cars proves I may have been wrong. This series puts on a show. Every car slipping and sliding while trying to maintain a draft is insane. Austin Hill won a crazy race that anyone could have wrecked, whether running alone or in a pack, and with the Playoffs looming!
