In NASCAR, there aren’t many things as special as winning a race at home, much less a track you grew up competing at, no matter the division.
That feeling is one that Winston, Georgia-native Austin Hill will remember for a long time, as he captured the victory in Saturday’s Alsco Uniforms 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, in what can only be described as a dominating performance.
Hill, currently competing in his first full-time season for Richard Childress Racing, led a race-high 73 of 163 laps in Saturday’s 250-mile event, securing his second victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
The 28-year-old totally dominated the final stage of the event, securing the lead for the final time with 63 laps remaining, using the draft to dart to the inside of Ryan Truex for the lead, never looking pack.
As the field started the final lap, fourth-place runner Daniel Hemric dove to the inside line in an attempt to make up positions and challenge for the victory. Hill was able to defend the advances from the Kaulig Racing driver, pulling away to a lead of 0.111 seconds at the start-finish line.
Not able to conjure enough momentum to make the winning pass, Josh Berry had to settle for a second-place finish, after winning the race’s first stage, his fourth top-four finish in the last five races.
Ryan Truex, in a last-minute addition to his schedule with Joe Gibbs Racing, finished in third, his first top-five finish of the year, and his best finish in a NASCAR National Series event since 2019.
Tyler Reddick rebounded from a speeding penalty to finish in fourth, the second top-five result in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for Big Machine Racing, and the first top-10 result since the organization’s victory at Texas.
Defending series champion, Daniel Hemric, rounded out the top five. Noah Gragson, Justin Allgaier, Landon Cassill, Riley Herbst, and AJ Allmendinger rounded out the top-10.
The 163-lap event featured a total of six caution flags for 28 laps, the final of which occurred with 55 laps to go, when Sam Mayer – trying to get in a hole on the outside lane — made contact with Jeffrey Earnhardt, causing the No. 26 to hook Mayer into the outside wall.
Video: Sam Mayer Hooked by Jeffrey Earnhardt, Slams Outside Wall at Atlanta
Ty Gibbs, the winner of the inaugural event at Atlanta Superspeedway’, finished in 35th place, after contact between himself and Riley Herbst knocked the No. 54 Toyota Supra into the outside wall, ending his day with front suspension damage.
Exiting Atlanta, the NASCAR Xfinity Series gets ready to head north to Loudon, New Hampshire, for the series’ annual trip to New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
AJ Allmendinger continues to lead the regular-season point standings by 29 points heading into the 1.058-mile oval, with Justin Allgaier in third, only 30 points back of Allmendinger. Josh Berry, and Noah Gragson round out the top five in points.
