There’s no questioning the fact that Austin Green has inherited some kind of “racing gene” from both his father, David Green, and his uncle, Jeff Green, both of whom are NASCAR Xfinity Series champions, because the 24-year-old has been a beast in his limited starts in the second-tier series.
Since making his debut in the second-tier series last Spring at Circuit of The Americas (COTA), driving for Peterson Racing Group (in partnership with Jordan Anderson Racing, Green has made 19 starts, primarily on road courses, where he’s collected eight top-10 finishes.
Saturday’s Blue Cross NC 250 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL was, without a doubt, the breakout run of the Concord, North Carolina-native’s Xfinity Series career, finishing runner-up to Connor Zilisch, and having a legitimate shot to collect his first career victory when the field went to overtime.
The fantastic, mind-scrambling finish marked a career-best for Green in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, barely edging out a fourth-place finish from Sonoma Raceway last Summer — his only previous top-five.
By the time Green was able to take the checkered flag, drive his No. 87 3Dimensional.com Chevrolet back to pit road, and speak to members of the media, things really still hadn’t clicked in for Green.
“I’m sure it will set in tomorrow,” Green said after Saturday’s Xfinity Series event. “It’s obviously a thrill to run good and be a runner-up to Zilisch, obviously, he’s one of the best, right now, to ever do it, so I’ll take that as a win for us and our small team. I just can’t thank Doug Peterson enough, all the guys at the shop, and everyone at Peterson Racing for this dream of a day.”
The result on Saturday wasn’t just the best-ever finish for Green in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, but it was also the first time that the part-timer had qualified inside the top-20, starting 10th, setting the tone for what was an all-around career-best performance from start to finish — with Green hovering around the top-five to top-10 all evening.
After a late-race caution for Sage Karam crashing on the fronstretch, the race went into NASCAR Overtime. With old tires, the No. 87 Chevrolet was left on the racetrack alongside Connor Zilisch for a two-lap shootout at the 2.28-mile road course.
“Yeah, I had asked the rules for the front row start because I’ve never really done that,” Green joked. Obviously, [Connor Zilisch is] in the Playoffs, so I didn’t want to do anything to kind of take him out and ruin his day or championship, but yeah, we were three [wide] there, I was trying not to get wrecked and trying not to wreck him, like I said, happy to run second.”
Being from Concord, North Carolina, Green is no stranger to racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway, having spent his early days of racing competing on the frontstretch quarter-mile and winning a Summer Shootout event in 2016.
Earlier this season, Green went to Victory Lane at the 1.5-mile configuration of the Charlotte Motor Speedway while competing in a one-off event in a second entry for Pinnacle Racing Group in the ARCA Menards Series.
“[It] means the world. Obviously, to race at home and be brought up here on the quarter-miler, you always want to race at home on the big track,” Green added. “Last year, we were running good and had some motor issues, so that was almost fuel to the fire to come back and run even better.”
So, what does another stellar performance do for Austin Green in terms of landing him an opportunity to compete full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series? “We’re going to do a bit more,” Green says. “So, I assume the news will be announced sometime soon.”
Green will compete in this weekend’s NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, driving the No. 32 Chevrolet as he continues to gain experience on the bigger racetracks. He’ll run at least one additional event before the season expires in Phoenix.
…and don’t be surprised if you see Austin Green full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series next season, because there’s no question, he’s done more than enough to warrant the opportunity.
