Austin Hill, the NASCAR Xfinity Series driver from Winston, Georgia, celebrated his third victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday night, after saving enough fuel to survive a two-lap overtime. Hill, who drives the No. 21 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, has won three of the last four races at his home track, and is off to a historic start in the 2024 season.
Hill follows Tony Stewart’s footsteps
By winning the RAPTOR King of Tough 250, Hill became the first driver since Tony Stewart in 2008 to win the first two events of an Xfinity season. Hill had previously won the season-opener at Daytona International Speedway, where he has also won for the past three years. Hill is now the undisputed king of superspeedways, with seven of his eight career victories coming at Daytona and Atlanta.
Hill credited his team for giving him a fast and reliable car, and said he was happy to share the spotlight with his teammate, Jesse Love, who led 157 of 169 laps before running out of fuel in the final restart. “I was thinking the No. 2 (Love) was going to go get ’em, and hey, if I can’t win, let my teammate win,” Hill said. “We were riding there in fourth or fifth—whatever it was—I was saving fuel…”
Love dominates but falls short in dramatic finish
Love, the Sunoco rookie of the year contender, started from the pole and swept the first two stages of the race, showing impressive speed and control in his No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet. Love seemed to be on his way to his first Xfinity win, until a late caution for Ryan Sieg’s stalled car on lap 161 extended the race by six laps and forced him to stretch his fuel tank beyond its limit.
Love ran out of gas at the start of the overtime, as Hill took the lead for the first time and held off Chandler Smith, who had pitted for fuel under the last caution. Smith finished second, followed by Shane van Gisbergen, who made his second Xfinity start. Love coasted to the finish line in fifth place, disappointed but proud of his performance. “It’s almost comical,” Love said. “Man, I’m just so…proud of everybody on this Whelen car. It just wasn’t meant to be.”
A record-breaking day of cautions
The race was marred by a record-setting number of cautions, with 11 yellow flags slowing down the action for 54 laps. The previous record for an Xfinity race at Atlanta was nine cautions in 2017. The cautions eliminated 12 drivers from the race, including some of the favorites such as Noah Gragson, Justin Allgaier, and Harrison Burton.
One of the most dramatic moments came in the first stage, when Josh Williams angrily parked his car on the start-finish line after being ordered by NASCAR to retire his damaged vehicle. Williams then climbed out and walked toward his pit crew, waving to the fans in a sarcastic gesture. Williams later apologized for his actions, saying he was frustrated by the lack of communication from NASCAR officials.
