Atlanta Race Report

Saturday, March 20, 2021

Race 6 of 33: EchoPark 250

Location: Atlanta Motor Speedway (1.54-mile oval)

Format: 163 laps / 251.02 miles 

Buford’s Finish: 26th   

Jade Buford and the Big Machine Spiked Cooler team battled through a tough-handling condition with their No. 48 Camaro to earn a 26th-place finish in Saturday’s EchoPark 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Buford rolled off the grid from the 21st position for his first start on the Georgia oval and held his own during the opening laps. He was running in 25th when the competition caution came out at lap 20 and was pretty happy with his Big Machine Spiked Cooler Camaro. As the first stage went on though, the handling on Buford’s No. 48 Chevrolet started to fade. The team worked hard to make adjustments throughout the 163-lap race to keep up with the ever-changing track and Buford ultimately took the checkered flag in the 26th position. 

Jade Buford, driver of the No. 48 Big Machine Spiked Cooler Chevrolet Camaro:

“Our day started off pretty good. It took me a few laps to get acclimated but then we held our position and we were as quick, if not quicker, than the guys around us. But after the competition yellow, our car just changed drastically. The team did a great job trying to make changes to get us back in the right direction, but we just couldn’t get back to where we were at the start. We were all a little bummed because we knew we were better than where we finished, but there were some positive takeaways and I learned a lot. We’ll come back stronger next time.”

Next Up: 

After two weekends off, the NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Martinsville Speedway on Friday, April 9. Tune in to Fox Sports 1 or Sirius XM Channel 90 8:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. CT.