Austin Hill overcame a late race challenge from rivals Justin Allgaier and Aric Almirola to win the Bennett Transportation and Logistics 250 Saturday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Hill led a race-best 146 laps in his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevy to claim his third consecutive victory at his home track and fifth overall. It is his first win of the 2025 season and his 11th career victory in the Xfinity Series.
Hill had the dominant car of the night but was challenged by both Allgaier and Almirola in separate runs after a late-race caution brought on an intense three-lap final sprint to the checkered flag that brought fans to their feet.
At first, defending Xfinity Series champ Allgaier moved into the front of the field after taking the bottom lane of the front row on the restart. Hill surged back to the lead and then had to fend off a pesky Almirola who was part-timing in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 machine.
Almirola looked high and then low and got Hill loose at one point with two laps to go. Hill managed to maintain control and pulled away to cross the finish line first in a thrilling finish.
“The 7-car got clear of me on that restart and I can’t believe he didn’t go to the top,” Hill said. “That was a present for me to be honest. We got clear of him and didn’t want the 19 to get in my top rear. He had a run and I was worried about him getting under me. I have to give a big thanks to Parker Retzlaff for giving me that push at the end. I was wide open and hoping they weren’t going to come back and give me another run at the end.”
Hill started the race second and was joined on the front row by teammate Jesse Love, who earned the pole position. Love eventually finished 16th after posting top-five positions in both stages. Love, who opened the season with a victory at Daytona last weekend, led 13 laps in the race before his No. 2 RCR Chevy faded to mid-pack at the end of the race.
Hill, who swept both stages, was pleased to be able to ultimately give RCR its 99th career Xfinity Series victory and also claim the win at his home track; his race car sponsor Bennett was also serving as the race entitlement partner for the event. It’s a dream win for the kid who grew up in nearby Winston, Ga. and got his start in the sport by racing Legends cars here on the quarter-mile track in the tri-oval.
“To be able to do this is something special,” said Hill, who with the win tied Kevin Harvick for most Atlanta Motor Speedway Xfinity Series victories. “Looks like (Bennett Transportation) should sponsor more Xfinity races. It’s a good omen for us. I saw the trophy earlier and I didn’t touch it because I didn’t want to jinx it. I gave it all I had tonight and I have to give it all to my crew chief (Chad Haney) for his first win. We are going to soak this one up and get ready for the next one.”
Allgaier said there wasn’t much more he could’ve done at the end and was happy to finish second in his No. 7 JR Motorsports entry.
“It was hard at the end there,” Allgaier said. “It’s such a weird race where it’s single file for the majority. When it got to double-file it was hard to know what we should do. I saw the run develop on the top and felt like I didn’t have any push behind me and knew I would be a sitting duck if I pulled up top without any help. Congrats to Austin, I mean to lead 145 laps here is really strong for that team. To get another bowtie in Victory Lane is a good thing.”
Almirola, a former full-time Cup racer got a late call to again pilot the No. 19 JGR machine and as the white flag was waving thought he was about to grab another race victory.
“I love racing these cars, it’s so much fun,” Almirola said. “When I took the checkered flag in Phoenix last year I was like, oh well I will just ride off into the sunset, I’m done. But then I got this opportunity last week. I really thought I was going to steal this one away there at the end. The 21 was the dominant car and when I got to his left rear corner, I got into him and got him close and crossed him back over and unfortunately our lane just didn’t have any energy on the bottom for some reason. I was drag racing him and there just wasn’t any drag racing an RCR car tonight. He was the class of the field. They are so strong here, you just have to tip your cap to them.”
For fans there’s still one more opportunity this weekend to enjoy more intense side-by-side racing as tickets are still available for Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400 NASCAR Cup Series race. To purchase tickets, please visit www.AtlantaMotorSpeedway.com.
Bennett Transportation and Logistics 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series results:
- Austin Hill
- Justin Allgaier
- Aric Almirola
- Sammy Smith
- Nick Sanchez
- Jeb Burton
- Daniel Dye
- Leland Honeyman
- William Sawalich
- Harrison Burton
- Jeremy Clements
- Matt DiBenedetto
- Brandon Jones
- Josh Williams
- Sheldon Creed
- Jesse Love
- Brennan Poole
- Blaine Perkins
- Ryan Ellis
- Ryan Sieg
- Joey Gase
- Nick Leitz
- Garrett Smithley
- CJ McLaughlin
- Carson Kvapil
- Kris Wright
- Parker Retzlaff
- Mason Massey
- Christian Eckes
- Josh Bilick
- Mason Maggio
- Carson Ware
- Kyle Sieg
- Connor Zilisch
- Dean Thompson
- Sam Mayer
- Anthony Alfredo
- Taylor Gray
