Richard Childress’ NASCAR ace joins Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Tony Stewart’s exclusive club after Atlanta sweep

Richard Childress Racing driver Austin Hill won Saturday's Bennett Transportation and Logistics 250 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway in an emphatic fashion, winning both stages and leading 143 of 163 laps. It's Hill's third consecutive victory and fifth overall at Atlanta. This result puts Austin Hill in an elite NASCAR club where he joins Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Tony Stewart.

Hill’s victory came just one week after a mechanical issue in his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet cost him a potential fourth consecutive win at Daytona. However, in Atlanta, there were no setbacks, and he executed flawless restarts to defend his lead from defending Xfinity champion Justin Allgaier and Aric Almirola in the closing laps.

After securing his fifth career win at Atlanta in just seven starts, Hill reflected on the team’s solid performance:

"To be able to do this is something special. We were able to do it last year with the gold car for their 50th Anniversary, and they sponsored the qualifying. It looks like to me they need to sponsor some more NASCAR Xfinity races because this has been a good omen for us," Hill was quoted as saying by tobychristie.com.

This was also his eighth victory on a drafting track, which is what puts him in the exclusive club with Earnhardt Sr. (who also drove for Richard Childress) and Stewart, both of whom have also won eight races at drafting-style tracks. This achievement was first highlighted by NASCAR on NBC, which posted on X:

"Dale Earnhardt, Tony Stewart, and now Austin Hill. His eighth Xfinity Series win on a drafting track ties him with two legendary NASCAR Hall of Famers."

The Richard Childress Racing driver's dominant run also saw him set another record, as his 146 laps led at Atlanta made him the outright lap leader in Xfinity Series superspeedway history, overtaking both Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

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Austin Hill stung by the disappointment at Daytona

While his Atlanta triumph put him in the record books, the Richard Childress Racing driver entered the weekend seeking redemption after a heartbreaking experience at Daytona the week before.

Competing in the United Rentals 300, Hill was on course to win his fourth consecutive season opener at the track. However, his No. 21 Chevrolet Camaro encountered a mechanical issue late in Stage 3 ruining his chances of victory.

With 40 laps to go, Hill noticed a strong smell of oil and smoke in the cockpit, forcing him to return to pit road for repairs. He eventually finished the race in P33, several laps after the leaders.

Recalling the race, Hill admitted that the setback was tough to accept.

"I don't really say this often, but I thought that our Bennett Chevrolet was class of the field,” Hill said in an official press release. “I always say that we can make our cars better; I think we could have made that car better, but I think that that might have been one of the best cars I've had on a superspeedway. So that stung a lot."

Not only that, the Richard Childress Racing driver was also on course to beat Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s record of three back-to-back victories at Daytona (both Daytona races in 2003 and in the season opener in 2004). Austin Hill had won all three season-openers since joining RCR in 2022 but missed the record through no fault of his own.