A multi-car crash among race leaders with less than 20 laps remaining set up the trophy dash finish that allowed Georgia native Austin Hill to take the checkered flag in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Focused Health 250 and sweep the 2024 NXS season at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Hill restarted third in his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet with just 13 laps remaining, took the lead one lap later and fought off hard charges from multiple drivers to cross the finish line 0.340-of-a-second ahead of Parker Kligerman’s No. 48 Big Machine Chevrolet. He lead only the final 12 laps.
The Winston, Georgia native swept Atlanta Motor Speedway’s NASCAR Xfinity Series races this season and has won four of the six series races since the speedway was reconfigured for the 2022 season.
“I was doing everything in my power to win the race,” said Hill. “I saw the 48 didn’t have much momentum. I figured that nobody was going to get a run to get back to us. This is such a special win. We had to work for that one. The car didn’t drive the best all day but we were there when it mattered.”
AJ Allmendinger (No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet), Talking Rock, Georgia’s Chandler Smith (No. 81 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota) and Marietta, Georgia’s Corey Heim (No. 26 Sam Hunt Racing Toyota) rounded out the top-five finishers. The balance of the top 10 were pole-winner Jesse Love (No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet), Sammy Smith (No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet), Josh Williams (No. 11 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet), Atlanta’s Brandon Jones (No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet), and Ryan Truex (No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota).
The late-race restart was created after contact on Lap 144 between Cole Custer, Justin Allgaier and Taylor Gray, running second through fourth, created a multi-car incident that brought out the red flag. Ryan Sieg, Riley Herbst and others were also gathered up in the late-race melee.
Allgaier, the series points leader entering the Focused Health 250, was unable to complete the race and finished 30th while Custer, second in points, suffered the same fate and finished 31st.
Stage 1
Love led the field of 37 to the green flag while RCR teammate and eventual race winner Hill quickly moved up two spots to Love’s back bumper. After a caution on Lap 12, racing resumed four laps later with the RCR drivers chased by Allgaier, Chandler Smith, and Taylor Gray.
Allgaier dove low to make a bid for the lead on Lap 23 and accomplished the feat two laps later. He would maintain that lead for the balance of the 40-lap first stage. The rest of the top 10 were Hill, Riley Herbst, Sheldon Creed, Love, Sam Mayer, Jones, Cole Custer, Smith and Gray.
Stage 2
Tire strategies during pit stops under caution after Stage 1 found Allmendinger leading the field to begin Stage 2 on Lap 48 with Sammy Smith, Allgaier, and Herbst in his immediate tow.
The field settled down as the laps clicked off with Allmendinger, Smith, Custer, Herbst and Love making up top five. Early leaders Allgaier and Hill dealt with handling issues for the majority of the stage.
The caution flag waved on Lap 77 when Mayer’s day ended early, and spectacularly, after contact with another driver and then the wall caused a large fireball to burst from the rear of his No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. He would finish 37th.
Stage 2 finished under caution on Lap 80 with Allmendinger grabbing the coveted playoff point, his first of the season. The rest of the top 10 were Sammy Smith, Custer, Herbst, Allgaier, Love, Gray, Chandler Smith, Shane Van Gisbergen, and Hill.
Other notable finishers included: Sheldon Creed, fifth in NXS points entering the weekend, finished 25th, three laps down … NXS rookie Taylor Gray, who qualified second for the Focused Health 250 and finished in the top 10 in the first two stages, was collected in the Lap 144 incident and finished 28th … Tucker, Georgia native Ryan Sieg (No. 39 RSS Racing Ford) finished 32nd after getting gathered up in the late-race melee.
Please visit www.AtlantaMotorSpeedway.com or call 877-9-AMS-TIX for Sunday’s Quaker State Available at Walmart 400.
