Race Winner: Austin Hill
Stage 1 Winner: Josh Berry
Stage 2 Winner: Austin Hill
Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-40)
- Ryan Truex started 21st in Saturday’s Alsco Uniforms 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway and finished Stage 1 in 16th place.
- Truex gained three positions on the first lap in his Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota GR Supra.
- NASCAR threw the caution flag twice in Stage 1 – on lap three and lap 12. Both times the No. 18 stayed out on the track.
- Despite battling a loose racecar in Turns 3 and 4, Truex slowly gained positions, cracking the top-15 on lap 31.
- At the end of Stage 1, crew chief Jason Ratcliff brought Truex into the pits where the No. 18 crew went to work with four ties, fuel, and a round of right rear wedge to work on tightening the car up through the corners.
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 41-80)
- Truex started 14th and finished eighth in Stage 2.
- In the second stage of the race, Truex continued to make his way to the front of the pack. He made it into the top-10 on lap 48.
- Truex continued to run in the top-10 through the end of the stage and ran the fastest lap time on the track on lap 59.
- The No. 19 team brought Truex to pit road during the stage break for four tires and fuel, coming off of pit road in 13th.
Stage 3 Recap (Laps 81-163)
- Truex started Stage 3 in 13th and finished the race in the third position – the highest Toyota and JGR finisher of the day.
- Truex made his way back into the top 10 on lap 87.
- On lap 90 JGR teammate, Brandon Jones, spun out forcing a caution. Truex stayed out and moved up to eighth.
- Truex restarted the race in eighth place on the inside of the second row.
- The Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota GR Supra took the lead on lap 92 and led the field around the mile-and-a-half track for eight laps, before giving up the lead on lap 100 to save fuel.
- A caution came out on lap 107 and Truex restarted in third where he ran for the remainder of the race.
- Truex brought home the No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota GR Supra in third place – his best Xfinity finish of the year at Joe Gibbs Racing.
Truex On Finishing Third at AMS:
“This place is crazy with this package. I’m just thankful to be in this car. This wasn’t on my schedule and JGR, Toyota and Auto Owners stepped up. To have them on the car with all the success Martin’s (Truex Jr.) had and everything they’ve done for him, it’s really special to me. We had a good car, but we just didn’t quite have winning speed barring the seas parting on the last lap, which it almost did, it was close. Stevie Reeves (spotter) up top did a good job of just keeping me calm and keeping me disciplined. Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) and these boys do a great job at making good changes. Starting the race I was actually pretty loose and I thought this was going to be a long day. But they fixed it up and got the Auto-Owners Insurance GR Supra tuned up and rolling fast.”
Additional Notes
- Both of Truex’s teammates were involved in accidents during the Alsco Uniforms 250. Brandon Jones stayed on the track and finished 11th while Ty Gibbs took his car to the garage and finished 35th.
Next Up: The NASCAR Xfinity Series travels to New Hampshire Motor Speedway next weekend. The race will be broadcast live Saturday, July 16, at 2:30 p.m. ET on USA Network, PRN Radio SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, and streamed on the NBC Sports App
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