This past Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway was a handful for drivers across the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series, as the High Banks of Hampton ate race cars for both lunch and dinner. Despite the carnage, a lot of drivers had clean races and benefitted from securing enough points, prior to the NCTS heading into Las Vegas Motor Speedway in a few weeks and for the NXS heading Circuit of the Americas this weekend.
Fr8 208 Race Rundown
The Fr8 208 is a once a year stop for the Craftsman Truck Series, and is the second of three drafting races the series has annually and the weathered race track provided an exciting challenge for the tough trucks. With Rookie Connor Mosack on the Pole and Grant Enfinger on his outside, the top line didn’t take long to prevail, as it has in the past. Mosaic’s teammate, Jack Wood, followed behind in his trail, as ThorSport Racing’s Ben Rhodes tried to make the middle work, but couldn’t without any help.
On the final lap of Stage 1, Layne Riggs passed below the red and white line to make a pass ahead of Mosaic and Wood, forcing the trio to go three-wide, with Riggs on the bottom. Wood prevailed, surging ahead in his #91 Chevrolet Silverado, while Riggs was hit with a penalty. That wouldn’t matter, as Riggs had a power issue on pit road, also missing his pit stall in the process, both issues taking him out of contention for the rest of the afternoon.
After pit stops, which took place under caution, Corey Heim led the field to the Green Flag to start Stage 2, with Kyle Busch on the inside lane. Heim was quickly overtaken by Ben Rhodes and Kyle Busch, before Matt Crafton got into the wall with about 20-to-go in Stage 2, prompting no yellow. Heim had an issue coming out of Turn 2, after a tire went down, which required him to go down pit road with one lap remaining in the stage. Kyle Busch won Stage 2, with Makeski, Grant Enfinger, Michael McDowell and Kaden Honeycutt respectively rounding out the top-5.
The final stage began on Lap 68, as Rajah Caruth and Daniel Hemric led the field to green, two drivers who are looking to have a great season in 2025. Caruth’s race ended on Lap 74 when his #71 Hendrick Cars Chevrolet spun in some oil on the Frontstretch, also collecting multiple trucks in the process, prompting NASCAR to bring out the red flag for a cleanup.
The race resumed with 50-to-go with Busch once again prevailing in his #7 Gainbridge Chevrolet, battling Grant Enfinger and Connor Mosack in the process. Mosack had problems 20 laps later, when he and Frankie Muniz collided into each other coming out of Turn 2, ending Muniz’s day and taking Mosack out of contention.
The final restart had Busch in the lead once again, holding off hard-charges from Chandler Smith, Daniel Hemric, and Tyler Ankrum. With five laps remaining, Hemric was shuffled towards the middle of the pack, due to damage he collected earlier, as Friesen was Busch’s biggest competition, battling it out to the finish. Friesen led Busch to the White Flag, but Busch took the bottom lane going into Turn 1, and was able to side-draft Friesen coming to the finish, after going wheel-to-wheel with him on the last lap. With that, Busch was able to 67th career NCTS win, collecting this victory for Spire Motorsports, while Grant Enfinger left the peach state with the points lead, leading Ty Majeski by +1. The NCTS will have two weeks off before heading out west to Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 14.
Bennett Transportation & Logistics 250 Race Rundown
Immediately after the exciting finish of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, the NASCAR Xfinity Series had their chance to conquer the High Banks of Hampton. Richard Childress Racing teammates, Austin Hill and Jesse Love started on the front row, and everyone knew they weren’t messing around immediately.
Love charged to the lead before Sam Mayer’s Ford Mustang challenged him on the inside lane. The first caution flew on Lap 7, due to Dean Thompson blowing a tire and stopping right outside of Turn 4, while Ryan Sieg simultaneously lost control on the Backstretch.
When the Green Flag came back out, Austin Hill regained the lead and never looked back, holding off Jesse Love, Sam Mayer and the rest of the pack, en-route to another stage win, collecting a Playoff Point in the process.
Hill and Love swapped the lead various times during Stage 2, and as stated before, the rest of the field knew they’d have to work together to stop this duo. Jr Motorsports’ Sammy Smith followed the duo in third, and was accompanied by his teammate Connor Zilisch in fourth. With two-to-go in Stage 2, Sam Mayer tried the inside line once again, with Austin Hill once again holding off this charge to the front. Mayer’s teammate, Sheldon Creed, could not push his teammate to the front, allowing Hill to win another stage.
The start of the last stage saw Hill once again out front to start, but defending NXS Champion, Justin Allgaier, had a strong run in second. This track proved that every lane would work throughout the night.
On Lap 119, Jeremy Clements got loose on the Backstretch colliding with Taylor Gray and Connor Zilisch, ending Gray’s day, while Zilisch was able to continue, as was Clements. The race resumed on Lap 124, but not long after, Brandon Jones got loose going into Turn 3, prompting another brief caution. Another big wreck ensued on lap 143, consisting of Sam Mayer slamming into Anthony Alfredo coming out of Turn 4, collecting others in the process, ending both their days.
The final restart happened with three-to-go, as Justin Allgaier had a strong run on the inside line, once again with a challenge from Austin Hill. Hill received a push from Aric Almirola, didn’t block the high line, allowing Hill to prevail as a crash ensued on the Backstretch. This was Hill’s third consecutive win at Atlanta Motor Speedway, locking himself into the Playoffs.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series takes on the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas on Saturday, March 1st at 2:30PM on the CW. With both RCR cars now locked into the Playoffs, they can relax until September and go for a Saturday Afternoon Cruise in the Lone Star State, as JRM’s Connor Zilisch looks to capture his second-career victory, after establishing himself as a Road Racing Specialist last season by winning the Rolex 24 at Daytona and winning in his NXS debut at Watkins Glen International. Be sure to catch all the action this Saturday on the CW.
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