TRACK: Atlanta Motor Speedway
RACE: EchoPark 250 (163 laps / 251.02 miles)
DATE: Saturday, March 14, 2020
TV: 4 p.m. ET on FS1
RADIO: 3:30 p.m. ET on PRN and SiriusXM Ch. 90
Quotes:
Michael Annett: “We had some tough luck on the West Coast swing, but our No. 1 Pilot Flying J team is ready to change all that this weekend at Atlanta. We’ve been solid on the 1.5-mile tracks and we had a great race at Las Vegas, so I’d love to get back into the groove this weekend. The track surface at Atlanta means you have to manage your stuff to be around at the end, and that’s what we plan to do on Saturday.”
Justin Allgaier: “I’m really looking forward to getting to Atlanta. Our JR Motorsports Camaros have had a lot of speed this season and this No. 7 team has been stout every week. We’ve led a lot of laps and won some stages, now we just need to put it all together and get that victory. I feel like we’ve got a great chance to get it done this weekend with our SiteOne Landscape Supply Chevy.”
Daniel Hemric: “Atlanta should be a lot of fun this weekend, especially with a new partner like OnDeck Capital coming on board our No. 8 Chevrolet. Atlanta is such a unique, fast track. With it’s worn out surface, you can really race from the top to the bottom of the track throughout the run. I feel like we will unload with a lot of speed in our JR Motorsports Camaro and be in contention all day long on Saturday.”
Noah Gragson: “The old age and grittiness of the surface in Atlanta makes for great racing because the tires fall off and the cars will start slipping and sliding around. I think we definitely had a car capable of running consistently in the top five here last year, we just fell a little short. I think we will pick up where we left off in Atlanta and be contending for the win when it comes down to it.”
Notes:
• Michael Annett will seek his second top-10 finish of the season this weekend at Atlanta, following his seventh-place finish three weeks ago at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
• Annett’s best finish at Atlanta is 10th in 2012, and he was 12th in this race a year ago in his Pilot Flying J Chevrolet.
• Consistency is king for the Iowa native at Atlanta, as he’s completed 99.2 percent of the laps run in his eight starts on the 1.54-mile oval.
• The 1.5-mile tracks on the schedule have seen Annett post six top-five and 22 top-10 finishes in his career.
• Through the first four races of the season, Justin Allgaier has already led 140 laps and has earned three valuable playoff points via stage wins.
• In nine NXS starts at Atlanta, the 33-year-old driver has two top-five and five top-10 finishes, including a third-place run last year in this event.
• Allgaier performed well earlier this year at Las Vegas, the initial 1.5-mile track the NXS raced on in 2020, earning a stage win and leading 63 laps on his way to a top-10 finish.
• SiteOne Landscape Supply returns as primary partner of the No. 7 Camaro this weekend. The company was first on the car in 2018 when Allgaier scored a victory at Dover.
• In two previous NXS starts at Atlanta, Hemric has earned an average finish of 10.0.
• Hemric has also made a combined three starts at the 1.54- mile speedway between the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Gander Outdoors & RV Truck Series, scoring a best finish of fourth in the NGROTS in 2016.
• In 35 NXS starts on tracks between one and two miles in length, Hemric has 10 top fives, 20 top 10s and two poles.
• This weekend in Atlanta marks the first of two races for OnDeck Capital with the No. 8 Chevrolet. OnDeck, the largest US online lender for small business, will also be the primary partner at Chicagoland Speedway in June.
• Gragson has one start in the NXS at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He started fourth and finished ninth after leading nine laps in this race last season.
• At tracks that are 1.5-miles in length, Gragson has an average finish of 8.9.
• After four races in the 2020 season, Gragson leads the way for JRM with one win, two top fives, three top 10s and is currently sixth in the championship standings.
• The Axalta colors are aboard the No. 9 Camaro with EchoPark also joining the team for this weekend’s race in Atlanta.