Austin Hill has been one of the most consistent drivers over the last six seasons between his time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (2018 to 2021) and the NASCAR Xfinity Series (joined Richard Childress Racing full-time in 2022). But the tenacious racer kept falling short of making it to the Championship 4 despite piling up mountains of trophies between the two series.
Hill finally slayed the Round of 8 dragon on Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, as he took the checkered flag first in the Credit One NASCAR Amex Credit Card 300 to secure his spot in the fight for a title at Phoenix Raceway.
RELATED: Credit One NASCAR Amex Credit Card 300 at Homestead Results
The 30-year-old Hill swept both stages in his No. 21 Chevrolet and led a race-high 82 laps.
“A lot of people doubt me, but I wake up every day to prove everyone wrong”, Hill said in his post-race interview. “I deserve to be here. I deserve to race for a championship. This 21 team deserves it just as much as I do. They work their asses off each and every day just like I do, and I gotta give it up to those guys, they just gave me a hell of a car”.
All the work pays off for @_AustinHill. pic.twitter.com/7g6BGPToHr
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) October 26, 2024
Cole Custer finished runner-up to Hill in his No. 00 Ford. Custer qualified fourth and led 67 laps, second only to Hill. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver, who is in the midst of defending his 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship, had the lead until Hill zoomed past with 12 laps remaining. With the near-miss of a win on Saturday, Custer’s bid to secure a Championship 4 spot will have to wait one more week.
Aric Almirola brought his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota GR Supra home in the third position. Almirola finished where he started and ran inside the top five for the entirety of the event.
Rounding out the top five were Jesse Love in the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet and Sheldon Creed in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Creed earned his 11th top-10 in his last 13 races and scored his 21st top-10 of the season, maintaining a tie with Custer for the most of any Xfinity Series driver this season.
Riley Herbst, Ryan Sieg, Justin Allgaier, Sam Mayer, and A.J Allmendinger completed the top-10 finishers. Sieg’s seventh-place finish marked the first time he has recorded consecutive top-10 finishes since 2022 when he scored four in a row from Bristol to the Charlotte Roval.
Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Chandler Smith and Sheldon Creed paced the field to the green flag. Smith quickly pulled away from Creed as the No. 18 was left to fend off his other JGR teammate Aric Almirola and defending series champion Cole Custer. Both drivers worked their way around Creed, who lost a further spot to Las Vegas winner A.J Allmendinger.
Creed continued to struggle in the opening run of the race, falling outside the top ten by lap 11.
Later in the run, Custer began to cut into Smith’s lead, while Creed finally leveled off and settled in around 10th place. As Custer closed in on the rear bumper of Smith, Allmendinger caught both frontrunners to make it a three-horse race for the stage. Custer passed Smith for the lead on lap 32 and both Allmendinger and Almirola followed suit a few laps later, relegating the No. 81 to fourth.
The top three competitors found themselves under a blanket with seven laps left in the stage. Almirola muscled his way past Allmendinger for second as Smith, Sam Mayer, and Austin Hill also started to catch the top three. While this occurred, playoff driver Sammy Smith made contact with the outside wall, causing a tire to go flat and necessitating a green flag pit stop.
The entire top seven continued to trade positions, with Almirola winning a three-wide battle for the lead between Custer and Hill with three laps to go in the stage. Hill worked his way around Almirola the following lap and was able to fend off the No. 20 and Custer for the stage victory. The biggest loser in the battle was Chandler Smith, who sunk to ninth place, while Creed rebounded back to third after his struggles to begin the race.
Sammy Smith, who lost one lap making his unscheduled pit stop, was able to take the wave around under the stage caution to get back onto the lead lap.
Hill and Almirola led the field back to green flag conditions, but Custer found his way past Almirola swiftly. Ryan Sieg climbed into the top five shortly after, fresh off his runner-up finish in last week’s event at Las Vegas. During the run, Riley Herbst had a run-in with the wall that required him to pit and get four new tires. Matt DiBenedetto also took his No. 38 Ford to the garage with a mechanical issue.
With six laps to go in the stage, Leland Honeyman, like Herbst, hit the wall on the right side, forcing him to pit. On the following lap, Nick Leitz went for a spin in his No. 92 Chevrolet, bringing out the race’s first caution for an on-track incident. Since the caution occurred so late in the stage, the stage would end under caution, giving Hill a sweep of the race’s two stages. Leitz, who spun due to a flat right front tire, had his tire shredded and flapped around, causing significant damage to the right front fender. Leitz was unable to continue due to the damage suffered, leaving him with a DNF in his second straight race.
Hill and Custer brought the field up to speed to begin the final stage. Hill retained the lead initially, but Custer and Almirola, the two biggest threats to Hill all race, both closed back in, with Custer passing the No. 21 after a handful of laps.
The next caution flew on lap 123 for an incident involving the No. 26 of Ryan Truex and the No. 11 of Josh Williams. Going into turn one, the No. 11 had something break under the car, causing it to shoot up the track and clip the left rear quarter panel of Truex’s car. The contact sent the No. 26 spinning down the track and onto the apron. Both cars were able to make it back around to pit road, with the No. 11 losing one lap making repairs. Sammy Smith, who had lost a lap for the second time after having the hood up on his car during the stage two caution, received the free pass to once again get back on the lead lap.
Hill and teammate Jesse Love led the field to the restart, with Custer quickly vaulting from third past both Richard Childress Racing Chevrolets to regain the top spot. On lap 145, William Sawalich, making his Xfinity Series debut, had a right front tire go down, causing him to make contact with the outside wall. Sawalich brought his No. 19 down pit road for new tires, costing him two laps.
Sawalich’s teammate Almirola joined him a few laps later to begin the final round of pit stops. Custer, Hill, Love, and the rest of the leaders followed suit, taking four tires and fuel for the run to the finish of the race.
Kaulig Racing teammates Allmendinger and Shane van Gisbergen, as well as Brandon Jones, stayed out much longer than the rest of the field. Allmendinger did not pit until there were 20 laps remaining, handing the keys to the race back to Custer.
With 12 laps remaining, Hill caught Custer and passed him for the top spot. Jones finally peeled down pit road with ten laps to go after stretching his fuel as long as possible, while van Gisbergen was able to stretch it all the way to the end, coming home 17th. Hill continued increasing his lead over Custer and was able to coast his way to a win and a spot in the Championship Four.
Leaving Homestead, Hill and Allmendinger are locked into the championship round at Phoenix by virtue of their wins in the round. Cole Custer holds the fourth and final spot in the Final Four by 28 points over Chandler Smith. Jesse Love leaves 35 points under the cutline, Sam Mayer is 47 points behind, and Sammy Smith is 95 points back, leaving the No. 8 in a must-win situation.
The next NASCAR Xfinity Series race is scheduled for Saturday, November 2, at Martinsville Speedway, and will be broadcast by The CW. The race will be the final event of the Round of Eight, with the Championship Four being decided at the conclusion of the race.
