Austin Hill sweeps Atlanta races in NASCAR Xfinity thriller

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service 

HAMPTON, Ga. — Seizing the lead for the first time on Lap 152 of 163 of Saturday’s Focused Health 250, Austin Hill stayed out front the rest of way to win his fourth NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, his home track.

The 30-year-old driver from Winston, Ga., won for the third time this season and completed a sweep of the two Atlanta races. Seven of Hill’s nine career victories have come at race tracks using the superspeedway competition package.

“I’m speechless right now,” Hill said in Victory Lane. “Our Bennett Chevrolet had speed all day, but the handling just was not there the way that I would like. You come to these superspeedway-style events, and you want to have a car that’s trimmed-out. You don’t worry too much about handling.

“But I thought handling was going to be an issue, and it definitely played a part today. We made some right moves at the right time between my spotter, Derek Kneeland, and me. We got up to second and when we had that restart (on Lap 150), I was contemplating ‘Do I go top, or do I go bottom?’

“We both agreed that we have to go bottom and try to get to the lead, and if the bottom didn’t work out, then so be it.”

Hill got help from an unexpected source. He expressed surprise that he got a decisive push on the final lap from Toyota driver Corey Heim, who was making his first superspeedway start in the Xfinity Series.

Toyota driver Chandler Smith was equally surprised—and frustrated. Smith dropped to the bottom to attempt to pass Hill on the final circuit and briefly nosed past the front bumper of Hill’s No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Heim stayed with Hill on top.

“I expected my Toyota teammate to come with me, and he didn’t,” said Smith, who ultimately finished fourth in the No. 82 Joe Gibbs Racing Supra. “I’m kind of speechless.”

Heim, who finished fifth behind Smith, thought his best chance to win the race was to stay with Hill.

“He (Smith) had no run and no momentum, so why go to the bottom?” Heim explained.

After he pushed Hill clear of Smith, Heim tried a pass at the top of the track but brushed the outside wall and lost momentum. Parker Kligerman swept past Heim into second place, with AJ Allmendinger following.

Hill beat Kligerman to the finish line by 0.340 seconds, with Allmendinger in third, just 0.004 seconds behind Kligerman.

“Congrats to Austin Hill – he’s the master of this place,” said Kligerman, who matched his career-best finish in the series.

A multi-car crash on Lap 145 dramatically altered the complexion of the race. Contact between the competitive cars of Justin Allgaier and Cole Custer ignited a six-car incident that collected the machines of Taylor Gray, Ryan Sieg, Riley Herbst and pole winner Jesse Love.

The wreck was particularly detrimental to Sieg, who is chasing Sammy Smith for the final spot in the 12-driver Xfinity Series Playoffs.

Sieg was running in the top 10 after making up a two-lap deficit—the result of an electrical issue in the opening laps—when the wreck occurred. He dropped from 10 to 44 points behind Smith, who overcame a pit road safety violation penalty to finish seventh.

The incident sidelined both Allgaier and Custer, who are battling for the regular-season championship. Allgaier maintains a 34-point margin over the reigning series champion, but both Smith (67 points behind) and Hill (71 points) now have outside chances to overtake the leader.

Note: Allmendinger, who led a race-high 40 laps, won the second 40-lap stage of Saturday’s race—his first stage win of the season… Love survived the last major wreck with the bumper cover of Herbst’s car stuck to the rook of his Chevrolet. He recovered to finish sixth… Five drivers led more laps than Hill, the race winner.

Interview:

NXS Race Winner – Austin Hill (No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet) –