Tag: Austin Hill

Hill roars to Xfinity Championship 4 with win at Homestead

An emotional Austin Hill climbed out of his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet on the Homestead-Miami Speedway frontstretch to celebrate one of the most significant race wins of his burgeoning career – claiming the Credit One NASCAR AMEX …

An emotional Austin Hill climbed out of his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet on the Homestead-Miami Speedway frontstretch to celebrate one of the most significant race wins of his burgeoning career – claiming the Credit One NASCAR AMEX Credit Card 300 trophy Saturday and securing one of four positions to race for a trophy in the Nov. 9 series championship finale.

Hill – who also swept both of the race’s stage wins — took the lead from Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer with 11 laps remaining Saturday evening at the 1.5-mile South Florida track and raced off to a healthy 3.045s win over the fellow Playoff driver and reigning series champion Custer.

It was the fourth win of the season for Hill and 10th of this career. But importantly, it is the first time the 30-year-old Georgia native will have a chance to race for the championship trophy after multi-win seasons the last three years.

 

“I worked so hard for this. A lot of people doubt me but I wake up every day to prove them wrong,” Hill said. “I deserve to be here and I deserve to race for a championship. This No. 21 team deserves it just as much as I do. They work their [butts] off each and every day just like I do. I’ve got to give it up to those guys. They gave me a hell of a car.

“I can honestly say I’ve never cried coming to the start-finish line, but I had to get my emotions together going into Turn 1 after the checkered. All the hard work and dedication that goes into this. I don’t think everyone’s going to understand what this means for me, for my family and for [sponsor] Bennett. … I had to be on it today.

Pausing to take it in, he added, “This is amazing. To be able to go the Final Four. I’ve worked so hard at this and my dreams came true.”

With his win and A.J. Allmendinger’s victory last week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, now only two positions remain for the title chase with one more race remaining – at the Martinsville (Va.) Speedway half-miler next week – to establish the championship foursome.

JR Motorsports driver Justin Allgaier – who only had three previous top-10 finishes at Homestead – took the checkered flag in eighth place which was good enough to keep the driver of the No. 7 JRM Chevrolet with the points lead in third place should he need that to advance to the championship race.

Custer, whose No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford led a race best 87 of the 200 laps, is now on that fourth-place cutoff line with a 28-point advantage over Saturday’s race pole-winner Chandler Smith. Smith, finished 13th and as with the bottom four ranked drivers is essentially in a must-win situation next weekend.

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Hill’s rookie teammate Jesse Love ran up front much of the day and finished fourth. He’s now sixth in the points standings – 35 points below Custer.

“It just shows you how good you have to be to get in the Championship Four,” Love said, noting of the Phoenix finale, “I feel like if we could get there we have a shot to win.”

JR Motorsports teammates Sam Mayer and Sammy Smith finished ninth and 22nd, respectively and find themselves in a similar must-win situation to Chandler Smith and Love next week at Martinsville.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Aric Almirola finished third Saturday behind the Playoff drivers, with Love and JGR’s Sheldon Creed rounding out the top five. Custer’s SHR teammate Riley Herbst, RSS Racing’s Ryan Sieg, Allgaier, Mayer and last week’s race winner Allmendinger completed the top 10.

Of note, 18-year-old William Sawalich finished 24th in his much-anticipated Xfinity Series debut.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series moves to the Martinsville (Va.) Speedway half-miler next week for Saturday’s National Debt Relief 200 (4 p.m. ET on The CW, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Allgaier is the defending race winner. Almirola won at the track this Spring.

RESULTS

Hill seizes hometown Atlanta sweep in late-race Xfinity battle

Seizing the lead for the first time on lap 152 of 163 of Saturday’s Focused Health 250, Austin Hill stayed out front the rest of way to win his fourth NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, his home track. The 30-year-old driver from …

Seizing the lead for the first time on lap 152 of 163 of Saturday’s Focused Health 250, Austin Hill stayed out front the rest of way to win his fourth NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, his home track.

The 30-year-old driver from Winston, Ga., won for the third time this season and completed a sweep of the two Atlanta races. Seven of Hill’s nine career victories have come at race tracks using the superspeedway competition package.

“I’m speechless right now,” Hill said in Victory Lane. “Our Bennett Chevrolet had speed all day, but the handling just was not there the way that I would like. You come to these superspeedway-style events, and you want to have a car that’s trimmed-out. You don’t worry too much about handling.

“But I thought handling was going to be an issue, and it definitely played a part today. We made some right moves at the right time between my spotter, Derek Kneeland, and me. We got up to second and when we had that restart (on lap 150), I was contemplating, ‘Do I go top, or do I go bottom?’

“We both agreed that we have to go bottom and try to get to the lead, and if the bottom didn’t work out, then so be it.”

Hill got help from an unexpected source. He expressed surprise that he got a decisive push on the final lap from Toyota driver Corey Heim, who was making his first superspeedway start in the Xfinity Series.

 

Toyota driver Chandler Smith was equally surprised—and frustrated. Smith dropped to the bottom to attempt to pass Hill on the final circuit and briefly nosed past the front bumper of Hill’s No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Heim stayed with Hill on top.

“I expected my Toyota teammate to come with me, and he didn’t,” said Smith, who ultimately finished fourth in the No. 82 Joe Gibbs Racing Supra. “I’m kind of speechless.”

Heim, who finished fifth behind Smith, thought his best chance to win the race was to stay with Hill.
“He (Smith) had no run and no momentum, so why go to the bottom?” Heim explained.

After he pushed Hill clear of Smith, Heim tried a pass at the top of the track but brushed the outside wall and lost momentum. Parker Kligerman swept past Heim into second place, with AJ Allmendinger following.

Hill beat Kligerman to the finish line by 0.340s, with Allmendinger in third, just 0.004s behind Kligerman.

“Congrats to Austin Hill – he’s the master of this place,” said Kligerman, who matched his career-best finish in the series.

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A multi-car crash on lap 145 dramatically altered the complexion of the race. Contact between the competitive cars of Justin Allgaier and Cole Custer ignited a six-car incident that collected the machines of Taylor Gray, Ryan Sieg, Riley Herbst and pole winner Jesse Love.

The wreck was particularly detrimental to Sieg, who is chasing Sammy Smith for the final spot in the 12-driver Xfinity Series Playoffs.

Sieg was running in the top 10 after making up a two-lap deficit—the result of an electrical issue in the opening laps—when the wreck occurred. He dropped from 10 to 44 points behind Smith, who overcame a pit road safety violation penalty to finish seventh.

The incident sidelined both Allgaier and Custer, who are battling for the regular-season championship. Allgaier maintains a 34-point margin over the reigning series champion, but both Smith (67 points behind) and Hill (71 points) now have outside chances to overtake the leader.

Note: Allmendinger, who led a race-high 40 laps, won the second 40-lap stage of Saturday’s race—his first stage win of the season. Love survived the last major wreck with the bumper cover of Herbst’s car stuck to the roof of his Chevrolet. He recovered to finish sixth. Five drivers led more laps than Hill, the race winner.

RESULTS

Hill set for four Cup Series races with Childress

Austin Hill will run four NASCAR Cup Series races this season with Richard Childress Racing, beginning at Texas Motor Speedway next week. Hill’s other three races with the team will be announced later. Hill will be in a third entry for the …

Austin Hill will run four NASCAR Cup Series races this season with Richard Childress Racing, beginning at Texas Motor Speedway next week. Hill’s other three races with the team will be announced later.

Hill will be in a third entry for the organization, the No. 33 Chevrolet, with sponsorship from United Rentals. A full-time competitor for Childress in the Xfinity Series, United Rentals has long supported Hill in NASCAR.

“United Rentals has supported me throughout all of the key moments of my racing career so far, which makes their involvement in my upcoming NASCAR Cup Series starts for Richard Childress Racing that much more special,” Hill said. “I’m happy to have another opportunity to race in the Cup Series for RCR. The amount of success that we’ve been able to accomplish together in the Xfinity Series makes me excited for this slate of races.

“It’s not going to be easy competing against the best drivers on Sundays, but I’m thankful to Richard, everyone at RCR, and United Rentals for allowing this Cup Series schedule to come to life. Racing a Next Gen Chevrolet at a mile-and-a-half will be a new challenge, but one that I’m looking forward to.”

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Hill has made six starts in the Cup Series since 2022, most of them with Childress affiliate team Beard Motorsports. However, his debut was in the No. 33 for Childress at Michigan International Speedway in August 2022. A 14th-place finish at Daytona in the summer race last year is Hill’s best effort in the series.

“We’re proud to represent a great brand like United Rentals and to be a part of their efforts to help Austin achieve success at the next level,” said Torrey Galida, president of RCR. “United Rentals is a longtime supporter of our sport, and they have done a superb job of using their relationship with Austin to achieve their business goals from an on-site activation and hosting standpoint.”

Austin Hill to run Cup Series races with Richard Childress Racing in 2024

Richard Childress Racing announced on Friday afternoon that Austin Hill will run select NASCAR Cup Series races in the No. 33 car in 2024.

[autotag]Austin Hill[/autotag] has been among the best drivers in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and his success is paying off. On Friday afternoon, Richard Childress Racing announced that Hill will drive the No. 33 car in select NASCAR Cup Series races during the 2024 season. The 29-year-old driver’s first race will be at Texas Motor Speedway on April 14.

Hill made five Cup Series starts with Beard Motorsports in 2023, but his debut came in Richard Childress Racing’s third entry at Michigan International Speedway in 2022. The driver of the No. 33 car finished in 18th place, but his best finish came at Daytona International Speedway in 2023, where he ended up in 14th place.

The other races on Hill’s schedule were not announced, but Texas represents his first Cup Series event on a 1.5-mile track. The Richard Childress Racing driver has been a force in NASCAR over the last few years, and it will be fascinating to see him translate to the Cup Series. Maybe Hill’s efforts in 2024 could lead to a full-time opportunity in 2025.

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Xfinity superspeedway king Hill aces major fuel gamble at Atlanta

Sunoco rookie Jesse Love led almost all the laps, but in the end, it was his Richard Childress Racing teammate, Austin Hill, who had Saturday’s RAPTOR King of Tough 250 fall into his lap. For Hill, who won last week’s NASCAR Xfinity Series …

Sunoco rookie Jesse Love led almost all the laps, but in the end, it was his Richard Childress Racing teammate, Austin Hill, who had Saturday’s RAPTOR King of Tough 250 fall into his lap.

For Hill, who won last week’s NASCAR Xfinity Series season-opener at Daytona International Speedway, it was the continuation of a serendipitous start to 2024. Hill is the first driver since Tony Stewart in 2008 to win the first two events of an Xfinity season.

The victory was Hill’s third in the last four races at Atlanta Motor Speedway and the eighth of his career.

But victory for the driver of the No. 21 Chevrolet came at the expense of Love, who started from the pole, swept the first two stages and led 157 of 169 laps. Love ran out of fuel at the start of a two-lap overtime, as Hill grabbed the lead for the first time and held off eventual runner-up Chandler Smith by 0.106s.

 

The bottom line? Running behind the leaders in a single-file line, Hill was able to save more fuel than his teammate at the front of the pack. Hill had enough in his tank to stave off Smith who had pitted for fuel under caution on lap 164.

“I was really thinking we were down and out,” Hill said. “I was thinking the No. 2 (Love) was going to go get ‘em, and hey, if I can’t win, let my teammate win. We were riding there in fourth or fifth—whatever it was—I was saving fuel…”

On the overtime restart on lap 168, Hill’s car stumbled when he shifted from third to fourth gear.

“The No. 81 (Smith) hit me really hard, and that woke it back up, and I had enough fuel to complete the lap. But I’ve got to take this moment to congratulate, Jesse Love, my teammate. He ran an awesome race. To be a rookie and to lead that many laps, he should be sitting in Victory Lane right now.”

The coup de grace for Love came when the Ford of Ryan Sieg ran out of fuel on lap 161 of a scheduled 163 and stopped on the track in Turn 4. The caution extended the race by six laps and allowed a dozen cars to pit before the overtime restart.

Among those who took advantage of the fuel stop was New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen, who finished third in his second Xfinity Series start.

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“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. Obviously, as a Christian, I’m not going to allow myself to question why we were under caution so long or what happened.

“I always try to take responsibility for everything, so I as a driver I should have saved more fuel. Man, I just didn’t want anybody to catch me off-guard. I thought I saved a ton. Man, that overtime or that caution just lasted forever.

“No matter what, I’m really proud of our guys. We had a great showing. Led a lot of laps man. It just wasn’t in store for us today.”

Van Gisbergen was delighted to be on the other side of the fuel equation.

“Pretty awesome,” he said. “Great job by (crew chief) Bruce (Schlicker) on the box there to pit us. I had so much fun. Just learning about it and running in the pack. Yeah, to be P3 in the second race in the WeatherTech Chevy is pretty awesome. I’m stoked.

“It’s just good to get a result and have a clean car, especially after last week (at Daytona) when I got involved in so much stuff. So, to have a clean race, not make too many mistakes, and complete every lap, we learned a lot. It was awesome.”

Riley Herbst, Love’s foremost challenger over the closing laps was among the first to run out of fuel—from the second position on lap 160. Cole Custer hit empty almost simultaneously, then Sieg, causing the fateful caution.

The gas shortage throughout the field scrambled the finishing order, leaving Sheldon Creed fourth and Parker Retzlaff fifth. Jeremy Clements, Anthony Alfredo, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Ryan Truex and Sammy Smith completed the top 10.

Note: Love is the first driver since Christopher Bell in 2017 to lead more than 100 laps in his first two Xfinity Series starts combined. Bell led 152 of 250 laps in his second start at Iowa. Love led 34 laps in his series debut last Monday at Daytona, giving him a total of 191 for the two races.

RESULTS

Austin Hill wins Xfinity race at Atlanta, opens 2024 with back-to-back victories

Austin Hill opens the 2024 season with back-to-back victories after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series arrived at Atlanta Motor Speedway with a feeling of inevitably after [autotag]Austin Hill[/autotag] won the opening race of the season at Daytona International Speedway. Despite the late-race drama, plus a lack of speed, he put himself in position again. Hill beat Chandler Smith to win the Xfinity Series race at Atlanta in overtime after teammate Jesse Love ran out of fuel.

Love dominated the race at Atlanta but ran out of fuel on the final restart. Hill was pushed to the front by Smith, who held the No. 81 car behind him. The Richard Childress Racing driver had enough fuel to win and perform a burnout on the front stretch. Hill said in his post-race interview that Love should have won the race after he won the first two stages.

Yet, Hill found a way through the drama. After winning Atlanta, Hill became the first driver since Tony Stewart in 2008 to win back-to-back races to open an Xfinity Series season. The next time the series heads to a superspeedway race, that same inevitability will be felt again.

RAPTOR King of Tough 250 finishing order:

  1. No. 21 Austin Hill
  2. No. 81 Chandler Smith
  3. No. 97 Shane van Gisbergen
  4. No. 18 Sheldon Creed
  5. No. 31 Parker Retzlaff
  6. No. 51 Jeremy Clements
  7. No. 5 Anthony Alfredo
  8. No. 26 Jeffrey Earnhardt
  9. No. 19 Ryan Truex
  10. No. 8 Sammy Smith
  11. No. 1 Sam Mayer
  12. No. 2 Jesse Love
  13. No. 16 A.J. Allmendinger
  14. No. 9 Brandon Jones
  15. No. 98 Riley Herbst
  16. No. 00 Cole Custer
  17. No. 91 Kyle Weatherman
  18. No. 78 B.J. McLeod
  19. No. 48 Parker Kligerman
  20. No. 44 Brennan Poole
  21. No. 42 Leland Honeyman
  22. No. 39 Ryan Sieg
  23. No. 27 Jeb Burton
  24. No. 14 J.J. Yeley
  25. No. 43 Ryan Ellis
  26. No. 92 Nick Leitz
  27. No. 15 Hailie Deegan
  28. No. 7 Justin Allgaier
  29. No. 35 Joey Gase
  30. No. 29 Blaine Perkins
  31. No. 4 Dawson Cram
  32. No. 20 John Hunter Nemechek
  33. No. 07 Patrick Emerling
  34. No. 6 Garrett Smithley
  35. No. 38 C.J. McLaughlin
  36. No. 28 Kyle Sieg
  37. No. 11 Josh Williams
  38. No. 32 Jordan Anderson

Austin Hill wins third straight Xfinity Series opener at Daytona, full results

Austin Hill wins his third straight NASCAR Xfinity Series opening race at Daytona. Check out the full results and race recap from the night!

[autotag]Austin Hill[/autotag] has done it again. On Monday night, the NASCAR Xfinity Series finally ran its season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway, and Hill came out on top for a third straight year. The driver of the No. 21 car cruised to the checkered flag with a sizable lead over former teammate Sheldon Creed. There was no caution following a last-lap wreck.

Hill was involved in an earlier incident that caused damage to his right front and sped on pit road in the Final Stage. Despite his issues, the Richard Childress Racing driver still won the race. On the final lap, Ryan Sieg and Sammy Smith got together, triggering a wreck on the backstretch. Creed lost touch with Hill and cruised to a 0.591-second victory.

Now, the Xfinity Series will travel to Atlanta Motor Speedway for its second race of the season. It will be another superspeedway race, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see Hill go back-to-back to open the 2024 NASCAR season.

United Rentals 300 finishing order:

  1. No. 21 Austin Hill
  2. No. 18 Sheldon Creed
  3. No. 31 Parker Retzlaff
  4. No. 32 Jordan Anderson
  5. No. 81 Chandler Smith
  6. No. 98 Riley Herbst
  7. No. 20 John Hunter Nemechek
  8. No. 7 Justin Allgaier
  9. No. 9 Brandon Jones
  10. No. 16 A.J. Allmendinger
  11. No. 43 Ryan Ellis
  12. No. 97 Shane van Gisbergen
  13. No. 00 Cole Custer
  14. No. 29 Blaine Perkins
  15. No. 78 B.J. McLeod
  16. No. 6 Garrett Smithley
  17. No. 07 Patrick Emerling
  18. No. 36 Natalie Decker
  19. No. 44 Brennan Poole
  20. No. 2 Jesse Love
  21. No. 19 Ryan Truex
  22. No. 39 Ryan Sieg
  23. No. 8 Sammy Smith
  24. No. 5 Anthony Alfredo
  25. No. 48 Parker Kligerman
  26. No. 27 Jeb Burton
  27. No. 10 Daniel Dye
  28. No. 26 Sage Karam
  29. No. 51 Jeremy Clements
  30. No. 42 Leland Honeyman
  31. No. 4 Dawson Cram
  32. No. 92 Josh Bilicki
  33. No. 35 Frankie Muniz
  34. No. 11 Josh Williams
  35. No. 14 Daniel Suarez
  36. No. 1 Sam Mayer
  37. No. 15 Hailie Deegan
  38. No. 91 Kyle Weatherman

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Austin Hill clinches 2023 Xfinity Series regular season championship

Austin Hill has clinched the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season championship at Kansas Speedway.

[autotag]Austin Hill[/autotag] entered the 2023 NASCAR season looking to improve upon an already successful rookie campaign and immediately showed he will be a force to be reckoned with all year. Hill won three times in the first five races of the season and then followed it up with another win at Pocono Raceway later in the summer. This all led up to Saturday afternoon at Kansas Speedway.

The Richard Childress Racing driver officially clinched the 2023 Xfinity Series regular season championship over John Hunter Nemechek at Kansas in the finale. Hill officially earned 15 playoff points, which equals out to three victories, for accomplishing the feat. It has been a massive season for the driver of the No. 21 car.

Now, Hill will enter the Round of 12 with 39 playoff points. The Richard Childress Racing driver has been one the most consistent drivers during the regular season and he has finally been rewarded with the highest honor at this point in the year. The chase for a first Xfinity Series title begins next weekend.

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Austin Hill talks about re-signing with Richard Childress Racing beyond 2023

Austin Hill discusses his decision to re-sign with Richard Childress Racing as the 29-year-old driver seeks his first Xfinity Series title.

It was announced on August 17 that [autotag]Austin Hill[/autotag] had signed a multi-year contract to remain with Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. This came as a surprise due to Hill’s impressive 2023 season with four victories. In fact, the driver of the No. 21 car was linked to Kaulig Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series before the announcement.

Many believed that Hill was ready to make the jump to the Cup Series due to his performances with Richard Childress Racing; however, he decided to stick with the organization that gave him a chance in the Xfinity Series. Hill talked about his decision to re-sign with the race team in an interview reported by Motorsport.com.

“I’ve been talking to a lot of different teams, potentially about going  (NASCAR Cup Series) racing and I’ve actually came very close to going Cup racing,” Hill said. “At the end of the day, (Richard Childress) made it pretty tough on me, just because of the man he is and everything that we’ve done last season and this season together.”

“I’m very, very loyal to a fault. There’s a lot of things outside of just driving the race car that this just made sense to me. That’s one of the reasons it made it at the end of the day an easy decision to stay here with (Richard Childress Racing) and to keep building that momentum with them going forward.”

Hill certainly deserved the opportunity to go racing in the Cup Series but it is impossible to blame him for staying with Richard Childress Racing. The No. 21 team appears to be one of the championship favorites and Hill will have a good chance of being at Phoenix Raceway with a shot at lifting the trophy.

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Austin Hill signs multi-year deal with Richard Childress Racing, staying in Xfinity for 2024

Austin Hill has signed a multi-year deal with Richard Childress Racing, which keeps him in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for the 2024 season.

[autotag]Austin Hill[/autotag] and [autotag]Richard Childress Racing[/autotag] officially announced a multi-year extension that keeps the driver in the No. 21 Xfinity car for the 2024 NASCAR season. Hill currently leads the NASCAR Xfinity Series point standings over Joe Gibbs Racing driver John Hunter Nemechek with four wins, 13 top-5 finishes, and 17 top-10 finishes.

On paper, the Richard Childress Racing driver has been one of the best drivers in the Xfinity Series and will be one of the championship favorites in 2024. Hill was previously linked to Kaulig Racing as the organization is looking to replace Justin Haley in the No. 31 Cup car following his departure to Rick Ware Racing.

Overall, this seems like a strategic move for Hill when it relates to his future in the NASCAR Cup Series. There aren’t many premium seats available in NASCAR silly season and if there are some open for 2025, Hill could be one of the most pursued drivers in the lower ranks of the sport.

For now, Hill will continue to dominate the Xfinity Series as he pushes for his first NASCAR championship at Phoenix Raceway in November.

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