As the NASCAR Xfinity Series field contested the final lap of Saturday’s US Marine Corps 250 at Martinsville Speedway, Austin Hill wasn’t even able to smell the victory, let alone see the race leaders when all hell broke loose in Turn 3.
The Winston, Georgia-native took the white flag in sixth-place, battling for a spot inside the top-five with former teammate Sheldon Creed, when going into the final set of corners, a gap opened up at the bottom of the racetrack.
Hill was able to (literally) drive over the curbing at the exit of the final corner and get back to the start-finish line first with his Bennett Transportation Chevrolet, winning his second NASCAR Xfinity Series event of the season.
The chaos at the front of the pack came from Taylor Gray and Sammy Smith, who spent the last 15 to 20 laps of Saturday’s 250-lap contest sparring back-and-forth, moving each other out of the way to take over the lead of the race in the late stages.
RACE RESULTS: US Marine Corps 250 at Martinsville Speedway
But, after things continued to boil over leading into NASCAR Overtime, Sammy Smith was not bashful about his desire to capture his third career victory, lunging his No. 8 Pilot Chevrolet into Turn 3 and clobbering the rear bumper of race-leader Taylor Gray, creating a pile of carnage directly behind them.
Justin Allgaier plowed into the side of Smith, who was coming back down the racetrack after entering the corner at Mach speed, and got slowed up in the scrambling, as did Brandon Jones behind, allowing Hill to shoot through for the victory.
Hill put his No. 21 Chevrolet out front for a single lap – the final one – on his way to a 12th NASCAR Xfinity Series victory, and the 100th NASCAR Xfinity Series win for Richard Childress Racing.
“No, no not at all,” Hill said when asked if he expected to be standing in Victory Lane. “We restarted like seventh there. I chose the bottom just because of how rough everybody was on the restarts, and I had to do what I had to do there on the last lap.”
In the chaos of the final lap, Sheldon Creed brought his Haas Factory Team entry home in second place, giving the California-native his 14th runner-up finish in the history of the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Justin Allgaier, who captured victories in the last two weeks at Phoenix and Las Vegas, finished in a respectable third place after being in contention for the victory on the last lap.
Brennan Poole managed to sneak through the carnage on the final lap to finish in fourth place, the best-ever finish for Alpha Prime Racing, and the team’s first top-five result not at either Daytona or Talladega.
Sam Mayer continued a great start to the season with a top-five, despite having a battered No. 41 Ford Mustang Dark Horse. Dean Thompson notched a career-best sixth-place finish, while Daniel Dye, Ryan Sieg, Kris Wright, and Sammy Smith rounded out the top-10.
Taylor Gray, who led the second-most laps on the evening, finished 29th after being dumped on the final lap of the event. The only driver to lead more laps than Gray was Connor Zilisch, who led 100 laps but was involved in several incidents throughout the race, resulting in a 28th-place finish.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series is set to head to Darlington Raceway next weekend for Throwback Weekend, where Justin Allgaier will look to further extend his points lead over Sam Mayer, which currently sits at 41 markers.
Coverage of the Xfinity Series event from Darlington will take place next Saturday, April 5 at 3:30 PM ET on The CW, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
The series’ next Dash 4 Cash event will take place in two weeks’ time at Bristol Motor Speedway, with the SciAps 300 running on April 12 at 5:00 PM ET. The top-four finishers from Saturday’s event – Austin Hill, Sheldon Creed, Justin Allgaier, and Brennan Poole – will be fighting for the $100,000 bonus.
