Race 2 of 33: Bennett Transportation & Logistics 250 at EchoPark Speedway
Track Specs: 1.54-mile quad-oval / 163 laps
Race Winner: Sheldon Creed
Caruth’s finish: 8th
Smith’s finish: 30th
Kvapil’s finish: 32nd
Allgaier’s finish: 33rd
Rajah Caruth
Rajah Caruth raced inside the lead pack throughout Saturday night’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series event at Atlanta, earning an eighth-place finish in the No. 88 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet. After starting sixth, Caruth quickly moved into contention and took the lead by lap 28. He remained a fixture at the front, finishing Stage One in second before returning to the point in Stage Two to capture his first career stage victory and collect valuable bonus points.
Late contact and a flat left-rear tire inside the final run forced additional pit stops under caution, shuffling the running order. Restarting 20th with only a handful of laps remaining, Caruth charged back through the field to secure a hard-fought top-10 finish and a strong points night for the No. 88 team.
“We had a really fast HendrickCars.com Chevrolet at Atlanta. It means a lot to lead laps and get my first stage win with this team. Mardy (crew chief Mardy Lindley) and everyone at JR Motorsports gave me a great car and the Hendrick Engie Shop brought the power. I’m proud of how we fought back late to bring home a top-eight finish. Huge thank-you to HendricCars.com, Chevrolet, Mr. H and Ms. Linda for the support.”
Sammy Smith
Sammy Smith, driver of the No. 8 Pilot Chevrolet, ran a strong race within the top 10 until a cut tire ended his night early, leaving the JR Motorsports driver with a 30th-place finish Saturday in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series event at Atlanta.
Taking the green flag from the eighth starting position, Smith ran most of Stage One in the top 10 among his JR Motorsports teammates. As the field closed in on the first green-and-white-checkered flag, Smith’s Pilot Chevrolet began to handle a little loose, which saw him record a 15th-place finish in the first stage. Before taking the green for Stage Two, crew chief Cory Shea made a call for four tires, fuel and an air-pressure adjustment. The NOAPS field went caution-free for 45 laps and Smith climbed from 15th to sixth, gaining valuable stage points.
Smith started the last 73-lap stint in sixth and quickly jumped to third where he continued to run in the top five until lap 142 when a cut left-rear tire went down, unfortunately ending what appeared to be a second strong finish for the No. 8 team to start the season.
“It’s an unfortunate early end to our day. We had a strong Pilot Chevrolet and this No. 8 team made all the right changes. We’ll shift gears for our first road-course start of the season and prepare for COTA next week.”
Carson Kvapil
Carson Kvapil, driver of the No. 1 Arby’s Chevrolet, appeared poised to battle for the win in Saturday evening’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts event at Atlanta before being involved in a multi-car incident during the final stage. Kvapil started second and maintained his position within the top five during both the first and second stage. Crew chief Rodney Childers kept improving the handling of the Arby’s Chevrolet through both pit stops. During the final stage, Kvapil found himself out in front of the field. Unfortunately, while fighting for the top spot, the JR Motorsports driver was involved in an on-track incident in the final stage and was unable to continue. The crash left him 32nd at the finish.
“Today didn’t end up the way we had hoped. Rodney (Childers, crew chief) and the entire No. 1 crew gave me a fast Arby’s Chevrolet capable of winning the race. It was unfortunate to get collected in that incident at the beginning of the final stage. We’ll recover from this and be ready to go next week.”
Justin Allgaier
Justin Allgaier, driver of the No. 7 Registix Chevrolet, looked poised to fight for the win in Saturday evening’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series event in Atlanta, racing inside the top three for much of the night and scoring valuable stage points before being collected in a multi-car incident during the third and final stage. Taking the green from the rear of the field following a change after qualifying, Allgaier charged toward the front, improving 36 positions over the first two stages to take the race lead for the first time on lap 72. The JR Motorsports driver would hold steady in the top three from there, concluding the second stage in second before lining up as the second car on the outside lane for the start of Stage Three. However, while racing wheel-to-wheel for second on lap 105, Allgaier was sent hard into the outside retaining wall during a multi-car accident in Turn 3. The subsequent damage proved too severe for the Registix team to repair, forcing the driver of the No.7 to the garage and relegating Allgaier to a 33rd-place finish.
“Andrew (Overstreet, crew chief) and all the guys on this JRM team gave me a really fast Registix Chevrolet tonight. We were able to go out there and make moves all night long and get ourselves up into a solid position for the start of the third stage. It’s just really unfortunate that we got collected in that deal in Turn 3. We know how good a car we had and we will rebound next week in COTA.”