Oval master: Allmendinger wins on NASCAR oval for 1st time

A.J. Allmendinger won a NASCAR oval race for first time in his long career.

Taking vant of mistakes by three leers,  38-year-old Californian cruised to victory by nearly 2 seconds over pole-sitter ah Gragson in Xfinity Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday.

"Oh my god,” Allmendinger said as he climbed from his . 16 Chevrolet. “I won on an oval.”

Indeed, he did.

Allmendinger, who first came to prominence in open-wheel racing, claimed a single victory during more than a dece in top-level Cup series, and he h three previous Xfinity wins — all on ro courses.

w, he filled in a big hole on his resume.

“All I ever wanted to do was win on an oval,” said Allmendinger, who has only a part-time ride in Xfinity Series after losing his Cup ride after 2018 season. “I have a lot of success in so many forms of racing.”

Allmendinger started 30th but quickly showed strength of his car, spending much of day running in top 10.

n, after final caution of day, top three cars — Chase Briscoe, Austin Cindric and Justin Allgaier — were all caught speeding on pit ro.

That pushed Allmendinger into top spot on restart with 34 laps to go.

He held on rest of way.

Cindric h strongest car early on, winning first two sts. But his mistake heing into pits kcked him back to a 16th-place finish.

Allgaier savd a sixth-place showing, while Briscoe settled for ninth.

Gragson crossed line second but picked up a $100,000 bonus from title sponsor.

He was closing gap on Allmendinger in closing laps, but got hoodwinked by more experienced driver.

Allmendinger gave impression that his tires were fing, duping Gragson into making a furious run for front.

Turns out, Allmendinger's tires h more grip than he was letting on. Gragson didn't have anything left at end.

“I got beat by his experience,” 21-year-old Gragson conceded. “He h bait waiting re. I took it, and he reeled me in.”