February 24, 2024 | By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

Austin Hill saves enough fuel to win second straight NASCAR Xfinity race

HAMPTON, Ga. — 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 0.106 seconds.

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 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 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.

“It’s almost comical,” Love said. “Man, I’m just so damn 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.


NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Number 2
Race Results for the RAPTOR King of Tough 250 - Saturday, February 24, 2024
Atlanta Motor Speedway - Hampton, GA - 1.54 - Mile Paved

Total Race Length - 169 Laps - 260.26 Miles

Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 2/24/2024 @ 07:51 PM Eastern

Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 2 21 Austin Hill Bennett Transportation Chevrolet 169  8 43 Running 1 2 5
2 12 81 Chandler Smith QuickTie Toyota 169  6 40 Running  
3 13 97 Shane Van Gisbergen # WeatherTech Chevrolet 169   34 Running  
4 10 18 Sheldon Creed Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota 169 8 10 37 Running  
5 24 31 Parker Retzlaff FVP/Bommarito.com Chevrolet 169   32 Running  
6 23 51 Jeremy Clements One Stop/All South Electric Chevrolet 169   31 Running  
7 15 5 Anthony Alfredo Chapman Fence Chevrolet 169   30 Running  
8 22 26 Jeffrey Earnhardt ForeverLawn Toyota 169   29 Running  
9 8 19 Ryan Truex Toyota Genuine Parts Toyota 169 4 4 42 Running  
10 14 8 Sammy Smith Pilot Flying J Chevrolet 169 10 5 34 Running  
11 6 1 Sam Mayer Raptor High Heat Chevrolet 169 3  34 Running  
12 1 2 Jesse Love # Whelen Chevrolet 169 1 1 45 Running 6 157 2
13 7 16 AJ Allmendinger Campers Inn RV Chevrolet 169 6 9 31 Running 3 8
14 18 9 Brandon Jones Menards/Atlas Roofing Chevrolet 169   23 Running  
15 4 98 Riley Herbst Monster Energy Ford 168 2 3 39 Running  
16 11 00 Cole Custer Haas Automation Ford 168  7 25 Running  
17 17 91 Kyle Weatherman DriveSmartWarranty.com Chevrolet 168   20 Running  
18 21 78 BJ McLeod BJ McLeod Motorsports Chevrolet 168   19 Running  
19 5 48 Parker Kligerman Spiked Lite Coolers Chevrolet 168 5  24 Running 1 1
20 30 44 Brennan Poole Finance Pros Plus Chevrolet 167   17 Running  
21 35 42 Leland Honeyman # LH Waterfront Construction Chevrolet 167   16 Running  
22 20 39 Ryan Sieg Sci Aps Ford 167 9  17 Running  
23 25 27 Jeb Burton State Water Heaters Chevrolet 167   14 Running  
24 36 14 JJ Yeley  Chevrolet 167   13 Running  
25 34 43 Ryan Ellis Classic Collision Chevrolet 167   12 Running  
26 31 92 Nick Leitz(i) Precision Measurements Inc. Chevrolet 167   11 Running  
27 19 15 Hailie Deegan # AirBox Ford 167   10 Running  
28 9 7 Justin Allgaier Jarrett 25 Years Chevrolet 167 7 2 22 Running  
29 33 35 Joey Gase NCPC Race Against Crime Chevrolet 166   8 Running  
30 28 29 Blaine Perkins Pritchard Injury Firm Ford 166   7 Running  
31 29 4 Dawson Cram # KSDT CPA Chevrolet 166   6 Running  
32 3 20 John Hunter Nemechek(i) Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota 165   0 Running  
33 37 07 Patrick Emerling SIMFORGE Chevrolet 165   4 Running  
34 32 6 Garrett Smithley  Chevrolet 165   3 Running  
35 27 38 CJ McLaughlin Viking Motorsports Ford 164   2 Running  
36 26 28 Kyle Sieg Night Owl Ford 164   1 Running 1 1
37 16 11 Josh Williams Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet 159   1 Running  
38 38 32 Jordan Anderson EasyCare Chevrolet 98   1 Steering  

Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 55 Mins, 16 Secs. Average Speed: 135.474 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.106 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 2, 98, 1, 19, 48, 16, 7, 18, 39, 8
Stage 2 Top 10: 2, 7, 98, 19, 8, 81, 00, 21, 16, 18

Caution Flags: 4 for 23 laps; Laps: 42-47 (Stage 1 Conclusion [4]); 59-63 (#14, 91 Incident Turn 1 [5]); 82-87 (Stage 2 Conclusion [78]); 162-167 (#39 Stopped On Track [None]).

Lead Changes: 11 among 5 drivers; J. Love # 1-42; K. Sieg 43; J. Love # 44-47; P. Kligerman 48; J. Love # 49-83; A. Allmendinger 84-89; J. Love # 90; A. Allmendinger 91; J. Love # 92; A. Allmendinger 93; J. Love # 94-167; A. Hill 168-169.

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Next Race: March 2, 2024 - Las Vegas Motor Speedway

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