HAMPTON, Ga.: A shakeup following the last caution of Saturday’s Xfinity EchoPark 250 at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway at Lap 125 proved costly for NASCAR Xfinity Series contenders Justin Allgaier, Chase Briscoe and Austin Cindric.
Leaving pit road for their final stop of the afternoon at Lap 126, the three Xfinity Series powerhouse drivers were popped for speeding on pit road which sent them to the end of the longest line for the restart in the closing laps of the race.
Restarting the race with 33 laps left, Allgaier and Briscoe quickly galloped their race cars back through the lead lap cars with Allgaier leading the charge in his No. 7 Brandt Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports.
Hoping to earn his first Xfinity Series win of the season on his 34th birthday, Allgaier could not make up the deficit to leader AJ Allmendinger without the help of another late-race caution.
It never materialized though and Allgaier had to settle for sixth, more than 10 seconds behind Allmendinger.
Three spots behind Allgaier sat Chase Briscoe who led the trio off pit road after leading 24 laps leading up to the sixth caution of the race. While on the same tires as Allgaier, Briscoe’s handling was not as strong in traffic his progress forward was slower.
Still, Briscoe was able to break into the top-10 with 22 laps to go – but did not make much progress. Over the final laps of the race, the two-time Xfinity Series winner this season picked up one more spot to claim ninth and earned his sixth top-10 finish of 2020.
“At the beginning of the race we were a little off and we kept making our car better and better,” offered Briscoe. “My pit crew was awesome all day long and helping my situation on the race track by getting us cleaner 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 50.07 I guess which 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 would. It was a stupid mistake. I gotta learn and get better.
“Overall though it was another really good week for our High Point Ford. 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.”
Briscoe mentioned that he was surprised that he received the late-race penalty, especially since he thought he hadn’t done anything different than during the first stop.
“You know, I felt like I did the same thing as I had done on every other pit stop. I am assuming I got really close on those as well,” added Briscoe. “They came over the radio and said the 98, 22 and 7 all got busted speeding in the exact same section.
“I don’t know if that section was just fast for whatever reason or what. I know at the beginning of the race before we started in the pit road practice I sped in that exact same section as well. We will keep that in the notebook for when we come back. Overall, big picture-wise we had really good speed and we are eventually going to get to where we can put these things all the way together. Finding speed is half the battle, we just have to execute now.”
After getting knocked out of contention in the early laps of the race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway on Monday, Cindric appeared poised to bounce back with his first career Xfinity oval win after winning the first two stages of Saturday afternoon’s race.
Unfortunately, the team’s tire strategy backfired on the No. 22 Team Penske team as while they had epic speed in their race car, but not the tires.
Although able to climb back through the rear of the field, the scuff tires kept Cindric at bay with him only to manage 16th when the checkered flag waved.
“We’ve got a lot to be proud of on the 22 team,” said Cindric. “Our bed was made on the competition caution when no one else came down pit road, and we were down a set of tires. I think we capitalized on both of our stage wins, but unfortunately couldn’t convert that race-winning speed into a win.
“It stings a bit, but I’m proud of our work on preparation and unload, as I know that’s been key for our momentum since the break.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
