Event: EchoPark 250 (Round 8 of 33)
Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series
Location: Atlanta Motor Speedway (1.54-mile oval)
Format: 163 laps, broken into three stages (40 laps/40 laps/83 laps)
Start/Finish: 9th/9th (Running, completed 163 of 163 laps)
Point Standing: 1st (340 points, four ahead of second)
Race Winner: A.J. Allmendinger of Kaulig Racing (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Austin Cindric of Team Penske (Ford)
Stage 2 Winner: Austin Cindric of Team Penske (Ford)
Overview:
Chase Briscoe was on track to score his third NASCAR Xfinity Series win of the season in the EchoPark 250 Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, but a pit-road speeding penalty late in the race took him from the lead and jettisoned him to 25th with 34 laps remaining. Briscoe persevered, driving his No. 98 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang back to ninth when the checkered flag waved.
Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 98 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“At the beginning of the race we were a little off and we kept making our car better and better. My pit crew was awesome all day long and helping my situation on the racetrack by getting us clean air. We got the lead there and we were really the best car by quite a bit. That last pit stop, apparently I sped. It was barely enough to get busted. I was trying to get all I could get and it was a stupid mistake with how good our car was and how good our pit crew was. I gotta learn and get better. Overall, though, it was another really good week for our HighPoint.com Ford Mustang. These things aren’t easy to win. You have to do everything perfect. Making a mistake that late in the race makes it really hard to recover.”
Notes:
● Briscoe’s ninth-place finish was his best Xfinity Series result at Atlanta. His previous best finish was 15th, earned twice (2018 and 2019).
● Briscoe led twice for 40 laps in the EchoPark 250. These were his first laps led at Atlanta.
● This was Briscoe’s sixth top-10 of the season. He now has four wins, 18 top-fives and 36 top-10s in 58 career Xfinity Series starts.
● Briscoe finished eighth in Stage 1 to earn three bonus points and second in Stage 2 to earn an additional nine bonus points.
● Briscoe remains the championship leader after Atlanta with a four-point advantage over second-place Noah Gragson.
● A.J. Allmendinger won the EchoPark 250 to score his fourth career Xfinity Series victory, his first of the season and his first at Atlanta. His margin of victory over second-place Gragson was 1.858 seconds.
● There were six caution periods for a total of 28 laps.
● Only 18 of the 37 drivers in the EchoPark 250 finished on the lead lap.
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is a doubleheader June 13-14 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The first race starts at 3:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday, June 13 with live coverage provided by FOX. The second race begins at 12 p.m. EDT on Sunday, June 14 with live coverage provided by FS1. SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will broadcast both races.
