NASCAR live updates: Justin Allgaier fends off Martin Truex Jr. for Xfinity win at Atlanta

NASCAR is running a doubleheader races today at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The Truck Series race starts at 2:30 p.m. followed by the Xfinity race at 5 p.m.

The Trucks race, the Fr8Auctions 200, will be 200.02 miles (130 Laps) with stages ending on laps 30, 60 and 130 on the 1.54-mile oval.

The Xfinity race, the EchoPark 250, is 251.02 miles (163 Laps) with stages ending on laps 40, 80 and 163.

Television coverage for both races will be on FS1 starting at 1:30 p.m. for the 2:30 p.m. Truck Series race. All times are Eastern.

Check back here for live updates throughout the race and follow NASCAR reporter Alex Andrejev on Twitter at @AndrejevAlex. Full results will be posted here after each race.

NASCAR Truck Series race results from Atlanta

Final stage

7:26 p.m., Lap 163 FINAL: Justin Allgaier holds off Martin Truex Jr. for his 15th win in the series. Harrison Burton, Noah Gragson and A.J. Allmendinger finish in the top-five. Allgaier is emotional after the race and dedicates his win to Rowdy Harrell, a Hendrick Motorsports crew member who was killed in a car accident in the winter. Harrell also worked on pit crews for JR Motorsports, the team Allgaier drives for.

Post-race, Daniel Hemric and Noah Gragson get in a fight on pit road. Hemric and Gragson nearly made contact in their cars on pit road earlier in the race, as Gragson backed up and almost into Hemric’s car in his pit box. A frustrated Hemric approached and shoved Gragson, and Gragson landed a punch in return. Read more here.

7:19 p.m., Lap 155: Martin Truex Jr. is up to second place and chasing down Justin Allgaier, who’s ahead by half a second. Behind them, Noah Gragson and Harrison Burton battle for third place.

7:13 p.m., Lap 142: With 20 lap to go, the order settles into Justin Allgaier, Harrison Burton, Martin Truex Jr., Noah Gragson and A.J. Allmendinger. Gragson and Allmendinger were both involved in the first major wreck of the race and have recovered nicely to run in the top-five.

7 p.m., Lap 131: A caution comes out for Josh Berry, who launches through the grass after he’s spun by Ryan Sieg. His car gets rolled off with significant front damage. That was right after Noah Gragson took the fifth place spot from Martin Truex Jr. Both drivers have battled back from penalties (for Truex) and a wreck (for Gragson) to be racing in the top-five. They pit with the other leaders at the yellow flag.

6:50 p.m., Lap 118: The race restarts but immediately goes back to yellow for a wreck in Turn 1. Jeb Burton gets into Jeremy Clements, sending him into the outside wall. Both drivers were having a strong run racing in the top-five, but this will set them back significantly. Get ready for another restart.

6:42 p.m., Lap 113: A caution comes out for Mason Massey, who spins in Turn 2. At this point, most of the leaders pit. On pit road, Daniel Hemric brakes with Massey coming off pit road quickly, almost hitting Noah Gragson on pit road. As that happens, race leader Martin Truex Jr. gets a speeding penalty entering pit road in the first section to send him to the back. Justin Allgaier leads the restart.

6:36 p.m., Lap 102: After smoke rises over Turn 2, Matt Mills comes to pit road for an equipment issues. Mills pits, but gets a speeding penalty and has to do come back down to run further to back. Martin Truex Jr. continues to lead Justin Allgaier.

6:32, Lap 96: Justin Allgaier drives the outside lane on the restart and comes close to passing Martin Truex Jr. on the first lap of the stage, but Truex pulls ahead to maintain his spot. Jeremy Clements, in fifth, is attempting to do work, trying the inside line, to pass Justin Haley. He has a fast No. 51 car today.

Stage 2

6:17 p.m., Lap 80: Martin Truex Jr. wins the second stage. He’s led 72 laps so far in this race. Justin Allgaier, Justin Haley, Harrison Burton, Riley Herbst, Michael Annett, Myatt Snider, Jeb Burton, Jeremy Clements and Brandon Brown finish the stage in the top-10.

6:15 p.m., Lap 75: Harrison Burton and Myatt Snider battle for a fourth place position, racing side-by-side for a good portion of a lap, but Burton is able to get the lead as Snider gets caught in traffic. Justin Allgaier and Justin Haley also run in the top-five as the stage winds to a close.

6:06 p.m., Lap 63: Martin Truex Jr. leads Justin Haley, Myatt Snider and Justin Allgaier as Brandon Jones’ teams attempts to make repairs from earlier damage the No. 16 sustained during the wreck. A.J. Allmendinger comes down pit road for a quick stop to put him down to 33rd.

Stage 1

5:46 p.m., Lap 42: The first stage ends under caution with multiple cars involved in a wreck. Brandon Jones, driving along the wall, attempted to clear a car, but he appears to get clipped by Brett Moffitt from behind, which sends him spinning into the field. He makes contact with Noah Gragson, who spins out. A.J. Allmendinger, David Starr and Austin Cindric also suffer damage during the wreck. Moffitt exits the race. Martin Truex Jr. wins the first stage under caution.

5:37 p.m., Lap 35: A caution comes out for Dexter Bean spinning on the backstretch. Gray Gaulding heads to the garage area as teams decide on pit strategy. It will be a one-lap shootout for the stage, so leaders don’t pit. Farther back, some cars pit.

5:32 p.m., Lap 27: Martin Truex Jr. continues to lead after the restarting, launching from the inside lane. He is followed by Harrison Burton, Brett Moffitt, Justin Haley and Justin Allgaier. Noah Gragson is into the top-10, in sixth and made some slight contact earlier on Austin Cindric’s back bumper.

5:26 p.m., Lap 21: The competition caution is out with Martin Truex Jr. leading the field followed Harrison Burton, Brett Moffitt, Justin Haley and Austin Cindric. In addition to Truex, A.J. Allmendinger and Noah Gragson have been big early movers. Allmendinger is up to 17th after starting from the back. Gragson is in 12th from a 30th place start.

5:20 p.m., Lap 10: The green flag wave and pole-sitter Austin Cindric jumps out to an early lead with Harrison Burton taking second place after near-contact with cousin Jeb Burton. But Martin Truex Jr. is racing a rocket. He rides the outside line to first place within the first six laps after starting 18th. He has 1.5 seconds over now-second place runner Harrison Burton.

Pre-race

5:02 p.m.: GM at EchoPark Automotive Atlanta Peter Van Den Berghe delivers the command to start engines, then cars roll off for pace laps ahead of the second race of the day.

4:45 p.m.: Xfinity cars are lined up on the grid. Three cars will drop to the rear for today’s race: A.J. Allmendinger will head to the back from a third place starting spot due to multiple inspection failures, along with David Starr and Chad Finchum for a driver change. Starr was slated to start 40th and Finchum was slated to start 38th, so Allmendinger’s team is taking the biggest hit with the penalty. He received very loud cheers from the stands during driver introductions.

NASCAR Xfinity race at Atlanta starting order

NASCAR Truck Series race results from Atlanta

# DENOTES ROOKIE, (I) NOT ELIGIBLE FOR POINTS

4:11, Lap 130: FINAL: Kyle Busch earns his 60th Truck Series race win, leading the final lap by over four seconds. Austin Hill and John Hunter Nemechek finish in second and third, respectively. Busch does his burnout and bow, as fans gather by the fence to take pictures from the stands. “I know it’s Chase Elliott country but tell ‘em Kyle Busch sent ya,” Busch says on FS1 after the race in a promotional line about his sponsor. The Xfinity race is coming up next.

4:07, Lap 120: Kyle Busch continues to lead with three seconds on second-place runner Austin Hill. John Hunter Nemechek, Johnny Sauter and Sheldon Creed are running in the top-five, but Busch looks dominant and barring a caution, crash or significant stalls for lapped traffic, this race looks like it belongs to Busch. He continues to ride the bottom line.

4 p.m., Lap 105: With 25 laps to go, Kyle Busch cycles back to the lead, with Austin Hill leading John Hunter Nemechek.

3:58 p.m., Lap 100: The leader, Kyle Busch, pits after a few others, following Ross Chastain, Brett Moffitt and Grant Enfinger who lead the stops, followed by Sheldon Creed and Derek Kraus. Ben Rhodes has a long pit stop, driving backwards slightly in the box, before stopping again and restarting.

3:45 p.m., Lap 81: Kyle Busch continues to lead John Hunter Nemechek by almost two seconds. Austin Hill, Sheldon Creed and Johnny Sauter run in the top-five. Chandler Smith comes to pit road for an unplanned pit stop with an equipment issue. He comes to pit road for the issue with smoke rising from the hood of the. The team makes adjustments but the team gets a penalty for having too many men over the wall. “Something broke in the right front,” his Smith’s team says. “It’s better but it still aint where it’s supposed to be,” the driver later says.

3:40 p.m., Lap 70: Kyle Busch surges to the lead from the inside lane ahead of John Hunter Nemechek. They are followed by Austin Hill, Zane Smith, Sheldon Creed, Johnny Sauter, Matt Crafton, Ross Chastain and Grant Enfinger.

3:36 p.m., Lap 65: Derek Kraus’s team has a crew member over the wall too soon and is hit with a penalty that will send him to the back for the restart. Stewart Friesen also gets an uncontrolled tire penalty to send him back from the top-10. Kyle Busch wins the race off pit road.

Stage 2

3:29 p.m., Lap 60: John Hunter Nemechek wins the second stage, re-taking the lead as the stage comes to a close. The team was watching Stewart Friesen’s truck losing speed in the top lane in third place and Nemechek’s team communicates over the radio that the “bottom is better for us right now.” The driver plans to run that line. The finishing order for the stage is John Hunter Nemechek, Kyle Busch, Stewart Friesen, Austin Hill, Ross Chastain, Sheldon Creed, Zane Smith, Brett Moffitt, Matt Crafton and Derek Kraus.

3:21 p.m., Lap 47: After John Hunter Nemechek leads laps early in the second stage, Kyle Busch re-takes the lead with 13 laps left in the stage. Raphael Lessard comes to pit road under green running out of the top-10, saying he thinks he has a flat tire. The running order is Busch, Nemechek, Stewart Friesen, Austin Hill, Ross Chastain.

Stage 1

3:05 p.m., Lap 30: John Hunter Nemechek retakes the lead as the stage winds to a close. He drives low through a turn to pass Busch on the inside and win Stage 1. Kyle Busch finishes the stage in second place over Austin Hill, Stewart Friesen, Ross Chastain, Derek Kraus, Matt Crafton, Zane Smith, Sheldon Creed and Johnny Sauter in the top-10.

3:02 p.m., Lap 25: Ross Chastain makes his way into the top-10 quickly after starting last. He drives the wall, passing mutiple trucks to get up to fifth before the end of the stage.

2:46 p.m., Lap 5: Kyle Busch leads a majority of the opening laps before the competition caution. He passes Matt Crafton after Crafton took the lead from pole-sitter John Hunter Nemechek, who led the first lap of the race. Crafton led three laps before Busch took the top spot. Chandler Smith made an unplanned pit stop during the green flag, believing he had a flat tire, then comes to pit road during the competition yellow. Timothy Peters gets a speeding penalty and will have to re-start at the rear.

Pre-race

2:33 p.m.: Engines are fired for the Fr8Auctions 200. Owner of Fr8Auctions Marcus Barela gives the command to fire engines and trucks roll off the grid for pace laps.

2:24 p.m.: Whisper Whitlock performs the national anthem live at the track and the Army Aviation Heritage Foundation provides a three-helicopter flyover. Brett Moffit’s truck is pushed out to the grid after pre-race ceremonies, just before the command to fire engines, as his team finalizes its engine change.

2:10 p.m.: Trucks are lined up on the grid prepping for a 2:43 p.m. green flag. Driver introductions are underway. Limited fans are in the grandstands at Atlanta this weekend, so cheers could be heard for certain drivers with the loudest reactions for Hailie Deegan, Kyle Busch and John Hunter Nemechek.

1:35 p.m.: Two drivers will drop to the rear for today’s race. The No. 2 truck driven by Josh Berry will drop to the back for a driver change after original driver Kris Wright tested positive for COVID-19 Friday. The No. 45 truck driven by Brett Moffitt will also drop to the rear for an engine change. Berry’s team was slated to start 18th, while Moffitt was slated to start 10th.

John Hunter Nemechek is starting on the pole with Kyle Busch in the front row. Nemechek won the last race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, joining Ben Rhodes as the only two winning drivers so far in the series this season after Rhodes won the first two races this year.

1:30 p.m.: Flags at Atlanta Motor Speedway are flying at half-staff to honor the victims of Atlanta-area shootings that took place Tuesday in which eight people were killed, six of whom were women of Asian decent. President Joe Biden ordered Thursday that the American flag be flown at half-staff on all U.S. government grounds for the victims and multiple governors have called for the same for state buildings.

NASCAR Trucks at Atlanta starting order

This story was originally published March 20, 2021 at 1:39 PM.

Alexandra Andrejev

The Charlotte Observer

NASCAR and Charlotte FC beat reporter Alex Andrejev joined The Observer in January 2020 following an internship at The Washington Post. She is a two-time APSE award winner for her NASCAR beat coverage and National Motorsports Press Association award winner. She is the host of McClatchy’s podcast “Payback” about women’s soccer. Support my work with a digital subscription