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Austin Hill extended his perfect start to the NASCAR Xfinity season on Saturday night, dominating Daniel Hemric at Atlanta Motor Speedway for his third win in five races.
The American driver overcame a caution-filled day in a dual Xfinity and Truck Series race. There were 11 cautions, the most for an Xfinity race in Atlanta, and 12 drivers were eliminated.
Austin Hill previously won Xfinity races at Daytona International Speedway on February 18 and Las Vegas on March 4. Hill, a Winston, Georgia native, added a home-track victory to his good start with the Richard Childress Racing squad.
With eight laps remaining and Hill retaining a narrow lead over Parker Kligerman in a battle of the Chevrolets, the last yellow came out. With two laps remaining, Hill held on as Kligerman crashed before the finish line and finished fourth. Ryan Truex finished third.
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Kligerman's Chevrolet spun sideways across the front bumper of Hemric's car. It also impacted the right rear of Hill's No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevy at the end of a two-lap sprint to the finish.
“What a start to the season. Everybody at Richard Childress Racing, ECR engines, we’ve just had such a fast start with Chevrolet. This has been special, for sure.” Austin Hill said during the post race interview.
Austin Hill's victory was jeopardized by mayhem near the finish line. A caution prompted a disgruntled Josh Williams to abandon the first stage in an unusual way, leaving his car stranded on the start-finish line for dramatic effect.
Four cautions covered 26 of the 40 laps in the opening stages. This included a final yellow when debris flew off Williams' No. 92 Chevy and NASCAR ordered him to park his vehicle.
Hill, the defending race winner, arrived in Atlanta with victories at Daytona and Las Vegas, as well as the Xfinity Series lead. It was Hill's second victory in Atlanta and the fifth of his career. The only thing that rattled Hill all night was the last 100 yards impact with the right rear of his car.
Austin Hill nearly crashes but wins the Atlanta Xfinity race
At the restart, Hill, driving the No. 21 Chevy for Richard Childress Racing, soon took the lead. In the penultimate lap, though, Daniel Hemric collided with Parker Kligerman, who collided with Hill.
Hill's No. 21 wobbled, but he held on to win by 0.085 seconds over Hemric, despite many other cars wrecking behind them. It was Hill's third victory in five races this season and fifth of his career.
