Highspeed action this season has the NASCAR Xfinity Series ready for some more intense racing this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway as part of a double-header Saturday that will feature the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series race, the Vet Tix Camping World 200, at 1 p.m. ET (FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) directly followed by the NASCAR Xfinity Series race, the EchoPark 250, at 4:30 p.m. ET (FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). As a bonus, this weekend is the kickoff for the Dash 4 Cash initiative for the Xfinity Series, too.
Atlanta Motor Speedway has hosted 28 NASCAR Xfinity Series races dating back to the inaugural event in 1992 (won by NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon). The 28 Xfinity races have produced 17 different pole winners and 17 different race winners. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch leads the Xfinity Series in poles at Atlanta Motor Speedway with six. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick leads the series in wins (five), top fives (11), top 10s (13) and laps led (973) at the 1.54-mile track. Joe Nemechek is the only former Atlanta race winner (2001) entered in this weekend’s race, and fans will be guaranteed to see a new Xfinity Atlanta pole winner this weekend as none of the former series pole winners are entered.
Atlanta Motor Speedway has the oldest surface the NASCAR Xfinity Series competes on all season, which has made for great racing and has several drivers excited about this weekend’s challenge.
“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,” said JR Motorsports Noah Gragson heading into this weekend at Atlanta.
“It’s another one of those places that’s kind of slick and worn out, and I love that type of track,” said Chase Briscoe. “It plays into my dirt-racing background, and it’s just a lot of fun to be on those low-grip tracks.”
This season’s Xfinity race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the EchoPark 250, will be 163 total laps that will be broken up into three stages. The first stage will end on Lap 40, the second stage will end on Lap 80 and the final stage is scheduled to end on Lap 163.
Atlanta Motor Speedway has been the home to four drivers getting their first NASCAR Xfinity Series win – NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon (1992), Mike Skinner (1999), Jamie McMurray (2002) and Carl Edwards (2005). Twenty-six of the 36 drivers entered this weekend are looking for their first series win. Atlanta has also been the track four Xfinity drivers got their first series career pole, including the first pole by a female competitor in NASCAR national series history – Shawna Robinson (March 12, 1994), Tim Bender (1997), Ryan Newman (2001) and Chase Elliott (2014).
