Georgia native Austin Hill held off last-lap charges from Josh Berry, Ryan Truex and Landon Cassill to win Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
28-year-old Hill, whose hometown of Winston, Georgia, is about 55 miles west of the 1.54-mile track, led the final 63 laps to score his second career Xfinity win. The first came in the season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway.
“We just won at Atlanta. That’s so special,” Hill told NBC Sports. “I’ve been trying to win here for a long time. Finished second here three times in a row, twice in a truck and earlier in the spring. It’s been owing me one and finally we got one in Georgia. …. Oh my god this is so special. I can’t wait to party.”
Hill’s racing career has its origins at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where he once raced Legends cars on the the quarter-mile track located on the frontstretch.
“I have thousands of laps around this quarter-mile race track here,” Hill said. “For it all to come to fruition and to win on the big track it’s something I’ll cherish for the rest of my life.”
In a NASCAR Xfinity Series race that early on looked like was it being held at Daytona in the early 1990s, with small groups of cars able to breakaway from the field instead of one huge pack, Hill was one of seven drivers to lead the race via 17 lead changes.
But the last segment of the race came down to a long stretch where Hill led a group of eight cars in a single line. A lack of energy in the group kept drivers from taking a shot at Hill until the last lap, which failed. Hill wound up leading 73 of the race’s 163 laps.
“What a car, man. RCR has been working their ever loving tails off, to bring some fast Chevy Camaros,” Hill said. “(His car) was a rocketship all day. We had an issue right when we rolled off pit road. The team couldn’t hear me. Changed helmets thinking that was the case. Still couldn’t hear me. We had to do hand gestures on the side of the car to make adjustments. … I put my hand on the door, which meant I was loose.
“They made an awesome adjustment. Didn’t make another adjustment the rest of the race. We had a good car, just needed to stay out front, control the run. (Berry) was really fast. .. We were able to keep them close to me enough to where they could never get a big enough run on me on entry or exit.”
Click here for the race results.
The top five was made up of Hill, Berry, Truex, Tyler Reddick and Daniel Hemric.
It was Truex’s last scheduled NASCAR Xfinity race of the year driving Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 Toyota.
“This place is crazy with this package,” Truex said. “I”m just thankful to be in this car again. This wasn’t on my schedule and JGR, Toyota Racing and Auto Owners stepped up. …. I was trying to back up and get a run from (Hemric). I just didn’t have anything for these guys. It seemed like the top few in front of us, I don’t know if they were trimmed out or what, but I just never could get that run I needed.”
Stage 1
The first caution waved on Lap 3 for a one-car incident after Jesse Iwuji spun and backed into the Turn 4 wall while drive relatively alone at the back of the field.
AJ Allmendinger was pushed by Gragson to the lead on the ensuing Lap 7 restart.
Allmendinger, Berry and Ty Gibbs quickly broke away from the field.
On Lap 12, Sheldon Creed was slightly pinched toward the outside wall by Brandon Jones as they exited Turn 2. Creed got loose and spun down to the inside of the track, bringing out the second caution.
Allmendinger kept the lead on the next restart on Lap 16 and lost It for the first time on Lap 22 when Hill zoomed by him going into Turn 3. By Lap 28, a seven-car group had broken away from the rest of the field, with Allmendinger back in the lead.
Berry would retake the lead a few laps from the end of the stage to claim the stage win. It was Berry’s fifth stage win of the year, and JR Motorsports’ 13th consecutive stage win on an oval track.
Stage 2
During the break, Allmendinger overshot his pit stop, losing numerous spots in the process.
Jones was the first off pit road, followed by Gragson and Hemric. Hemric was penalized for speeding. Creed stayed out and was the leader on the Lap 47 restart.
Shortly after the restart, Allmendinger thought he had a tire going down, forcing him to pit. But Allmendinger was later told by his team nothing was wrong with the tires they took off. Allmendinger would eventually get back on the lead lap and finish 10th.
Before long, Reddick led a four-car breakaway that included Creed, Hill and Brandon Brown.
Creed, bouncing back from his early spin, retook the lead with less than 10 lap to go.
He’d lose the lead to Hill on the last lap just after the white flag when Hill faked going high and before diving to the inside in Turn 1.
Hill held on to win the stage, the first of his career.
Final Stage
Reddick, who finished fourth in the second stage, was first off pit road but was penalized for speeding. That give Hill the lead as Gibbs restarted second.
On the Lap 87 restart, fellow Monster Energy driver Riley Herbst gave Gibbs a push to the lead.
On the next lap, Jones brought out the caution when he got loose up high in Turn 3 and slid down the track, barely making contact with Hemric and avoiding significant damage.
WHAT A SAVE!@BrandonJonesRac, take a bow! #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/lsB6i53fWZ
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) July 9, 2022
On the restart with 71 laps to go, thanks to the choose rule, Riley Herbst started on the inside of Gibbs.
In Turn 2, Herbst slid up the track and into Gibbs, forcing Gibbs into the wall. The damage sent Gibbs to the pits and ended his day.
According to Herbst’s radio traffic, he told his spotter he turned right after thinking he’d been told he was clear. The whole incident allowed Truex to take lead until Hill retook the spot with 63 laps to go.
“We had a good car and the 98 (Riley Herbst) just slid up and wasn’t clear and hooked us in the left front and got me in the wall,” Gibbs said. “Just hard racing and came out on the bad side of it. Luckily, happy to walk out of this place on my feet.”
Ty Gibbs is done for the day after he and Riley Herbst come together on a restart. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/XZtm9wwnJX
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) July 9, 2022
On Lap 107, Sam Mayer experienced a hard crash in Turn 3 after the rookie driver moved to his right and made contact with Jeffrey Earnhardt on the backstretch, causing him to be turned nose-first into the outside wall.
The wreck resulted in Mayer’s third DNF of the season.
“It was a simple mistake on my part,” Mayer told the Performance Racing Network. “I just wasn’t clear. I tried to act fast. I had too much faith in myself. I’m starting to feel like last year Sam with all the mistakes.”
The race resumed with 47 laps to go and Hill leading.