While the oft-nicknamed “Hotlanta” Motor Speedway sat in the mid-50s in regards to temperatures on Saturday (March 20), the tempers were certainly boiling once the afternoon’s EchoPark 250 had concluded in the Peach State.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series event was won by Justin Allgaier, followed by Martin Truex Jr. in the latter’s first NXS race in more than 10 years. Truex’s post-race interview was interrupted when Noah Gragson and Daniel Hemric started brawling on pit road.
Tempers had flared earlier in the same area during the race, when Gragson backed his No. 9 Chevrolet into the front bumper of Hemric’s No. 18 Toyota during stops. Gragson’s car nearly hit a member of Hemric’s crew and, according to Hemric later on, punched a hole in the nose of the Joe Gibbs Racing machine.
Some frustrations on pit road … to say the least. @NoahGragson | @DanielHemric pic.twitter.com/TNXiikkvjf
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) March 20, 2021
This led to the post-race fracas when Gragson, who finished fourth, was giving an interview and Hemric, who came home ninth, walked up to and then went after him. Hemric shoved Gragon and the two grappled for a moment. Gragson threw a punch, Hemric dodged it and landed one of his own before the two were separated.
PUNCHES THROWN! Daniel Hemric and Noah Gragson brawl on pit road after the Xfinity race in Atlanta. pic.twitter.com/KF8COEkMHp
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) March 20, 2021
Hemric was pushed back by a member of Gragson’s crew and the JR Motorsports driver got one more swing in before the fight fizzled out.
“I don’t know why he’s mad,” Gragson said to FOX Sports after the melee. “We were behind him coming onto pit road because we corded our right front tire, and he was in our pit box and I had to come around him and not really sure why he’s there. But had to back up and get there, but a lot of fun.”
Here's what Noah Gragson had to say after the fight: pic.twitter.com/4B2rS3WDlQ
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) March 20, 2021
Gragson thanked his sponsors and the fans, but took a shot at Hemric before the interview was over.
“…I’d be mad if I was in his shoes too,” he added. “Just based off what he’s doing and his career. But it is what it is and we’ll move on, keep on fighting and, man. What a day.”
Hemric, meanwhile, seemed to take solace in the confrontation.
“[He] and I both had struggled,” Hemric said after the race. “He had had issues, got crashed early, we just struggled with the speed…came to pit there on the end of that – during that caution. And when I pulled in my box, we had a guy who went to leave at the same time from the box behind us and [made] me have to go long, pull in the [No.] 9’s box and back up.
“I guess he was oblivious to what was going on and what my situation was,” Hemric added, “so by the time the [No.] 9 got into his box, he crammed it in reverse and purposely drove the back of his car into the front of my Supra. Punched a hole in the nose of our Supra, and where I come from you get punched in the eye for that. So that’s what happened.”
"There's a hole in the nose of my car and he got popped in the eye. Where I stand from, we're in good shape."@JamieLittleTV talks with Daniel Hemric after the fight: pic.twitter.com/PUpcvK2pVY
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) March 20, 2021
Hemric was also asked how he would take the fight going forward, considering both drivers will compete against each other on a weekly basis in 2021.
“Like I said, there’s a hole in the nose of my car and he got popped in the eye,” he said. “Where I stand, we’re in pretty good shape.”
Adam Cheek joined Frontstretch as a contributing writer in January 2019. A 2020 graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University, he covered sports there and later spent a year and a half as a sports host on 910 the Fan in Richmond, VA. He's freelanced for Richmond Magazine and the Richmond Times-Dispatch and also hosts the Adam Cheek's Sports Week podcast. Adam has followed racing since the age of three, inheriting the passion from his grandfather, who raced in amateur events up and down the East Coast in the 1950s.