October 18, 2025 | By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service

Austin Hill completes Xfinity Series sweep at Talladega

TALLADEGA, Ala.—Once again, Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill proved himself the driver to beat on NASCAR’s big drafting-style tracks, the veteran holding off the field on a dramatic overtime restart with two laps remaining at Talladega Superspeedway to earn the victory in Saturday’s United Rentals 250.

Hill’s No. 21 RCR Chevrolet led a race-best 48 of the 100 laps to earn a season sweep at the 2.66-mile speedway, NASCAR’s biggest track. The 31-year-old Georgia native claimed both stage wins and the .105-second victory over JR Motorsports playoff driver Carson Kvapil. The victory now gives him 10 wins at drafting style tracks – having already eclipsed the previous record set by NASCAR Hall of Famers Dale Earnhardt and Tony Stewart, who each had eight victories on that style of track.

Although Hill has been eliminated from contention for the driver’s title, his win Saturday does guarantee his RCR team a car in the 2025 owner’s championship.

“If you have any questions and it’s green-white-checkered, you probably just go to the bottom [of the track] because of how crazy the second and third lane was there at the end,” an elated Hill said after climbing down from the hood of his Chevy, where he waved his hands and encouraged the huge crowd’s loud reaction.

“Being able to race for Richard Childress is always special, and to be able to deliver wins like this,” Hill continued. “As the playoff started and us getting knocked out the way we did, it stung a lot, but once we knew we were still in it for the owner’s championship, I decided I’d do it just like I would going for a driver’s championship.

“To be able to lock ourselves in and go to Phoenix knowing we’re going for an owner’s championship and be able to try and deliver one to Richard Childress Racing means the world to me.”

Kvapil’s JR Motorsports teammate and fellow playoff driver Justin Allgaier finished third, significant in that it boosted the reigning champion’s points total enough to clinch one of the four Championship-eligible entries for the Nov. 1 season finale at Phoenix.

Another JR Motorsports teammate, rookie Connor Zilisch, had a rough outing Saturday. His No. 88 JRM Chevy finished 23rd, three laps down after being collected in a late-race accident. But the good news for the series 10-race winner and regular season champion was that his outing earned enough points for him to officially claim a Championship 4 bid. While it ended a series record streak of 18 top-five finishes for the young phenom, it was still good enough to allow him a shot at his first NASCAR title.

Additionally, Joe Gibbs Racing driver William Sawalich was also involved in the crash that claimed Zilisch and was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.

The final two championship positions will be decided next week at Martinsville Speedway, although the JR Motorsports team certainly showed the intensity and purpose it’s carrying forward in hopes of deciding the championship completely among themselves.

Sammy Smith, driver of the No. 8 JRM Chevrolet, finished ninth, moving him from last place among the eight playoff drivers entering Saturday’s race to fifth place, only 11 points behind Kvapil, who moved into that all-important fourth-place transfer spot.

Hill’s RCR teammate Jesse Love, who led 19 laps – second only to Hill Saturday – finished 10th after a decision to give up track position to pit for fuel during the caution period leading into the overtime restart. He raced back through the field for that top-10 effort, but had been running top-three behind Hill and Allgaier before topping off for that fuel. He goes to Martinsville third in the standings, a healthy 40 points above the playoff cutoff line.

“Just a bit mundane,” Love said of his result, conceding how difficult the call to get fuel was in the closing laps. “Nothing crazy good or bad, but obviously we’ll never know if that was right call to come down and take fuel, but I had to trust my gut and I didn’t know if I was going to make it or not.

“It was honestly kind of close. … It does stink because I think we had as good a car as the 21 (Hill). I think he was a little bit more aggressive than I was, but we did what we needed to do and didn’t beat ourselves today.”

Overtime was necessitated when Smith – running in the middle lane trying to make a late move for the win – just nudged his No. 8 Chevrolet’s right front bumper from the middle lane into the left rear of Aric Almirola’s Toyota in the outside lane. The result was a five-car accident that eliminated last week’s race winner Almirola and brought out the final two-lap overtime session to decide the trophy.

On the other side of the afternoon, there was almost immediate trouble at the start of the race for a trio of playoff contenders. Both Haas Factory Team cars driven by Sheldon Creed and Sam Mayer were eliminated from the race after suffering significant damage in 10-car pileup at Lap 15. They finished 34th (Creed) and 38th (Mayer). JGR’s playoff driver, Brandon Jones, was also involved in the accident to a lesser degree and was able to keep his No. 20 Toyota running, albeit several laps down. He finished 26th.

Jones now sits sixth in the standings, 20 points below the cutoff line heading into Martinsville. Mayer dropped from fourth place to seventh place – 22 points behind Kvapil, the first time he’s fallen below the elimination line this playoff run. Creed is now 41 points below the transfer line in eighth place, needing a clutch victory at Martinsville to continue his championship hopes.

On the upside of Saturday’s Talladega results, Kaulig Racing rookie Christian Eckes finished fourth, his sixth top five of the year. And veteran Caesar Bacarella’s fifth-place run in the No. 5 Alpha Prime Racing Chevy was a career-best effort.

Blaine Perkins, Parker Retzlaff, Leland Honeyman, Smith and Love rounded out the top-10.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series moves to Martinsville Speedway for next Saturday’s all-important IAA and Ritchie Bros. 250 (7:30 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Almirola is the defending race winner.



NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Number 31
Race Results for the United Rentals 250 - Saturday, October 18, 2025
Talladega Superspeedway - Talladega, AL - 2.66 - Mile Paved

Total Race Length - 100 Laps - 266. Miles

Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 10/18/2025 @ 06:49 PM Eastern

Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 5 21 Austin Hill (P) Bennett Transportation Chevrolet 100 1 1 60 Running 3 48 7
2 4 1 Carson Kvapil # (P) Bass Pro Shops/Clarience Tech Chevrolet 100 9 3 45 Running  
3 8 7 Justin Allgaier (P) BRANDT Chevrolet 100 2 2 52 Running 2 11
4 3 16 Christian Eckes # Morris-Shea Bridge Co Inc Chevrolet 100  4 40 Running  
5 25 5 Caesar Bacarella Mongoose Power Solutions Chevrolet 100   32 Running  
6 14 31 Blaine Perkins WERNER Chevrolet 100 7  35 Running  
7 24 4 Parker Retzlaff Every Man Jack Chevrolet 100   30 Running  
8 29 70 Leland Honeyman Wawa Chevrolet 100   29 Running  
9 11 8 Sammy Smith (P) Pilot Chevrolet 100 6 8 36 Running  
10 1 2 Jesse Love (P) Whelen Chevrolet 100 3 6 40 Running 4 19
11 28 07 Nick Leitz Firman Chevrolet 100   26 Running  
12 33 14 Garrett Smithley ThermoTech Chevrolet 100   25 Running  
13 30 25 Harrison Burton DEX Imaging Ford 100   24 Running 1 1
14 31 45 Josh Williams Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet 100   24 Running  
15 35 28 Kyle Sieg Big House Construction Ford 100   22 Running  
16 36 53 Joey Gase Donate Life Alabama Chevrolet 100   21 Running  
17 6 27 Jeb Burton Sportsman Channel Chevrolet 100  10 21 Running  
18 32 35 David Starr To Rescue The American Spirit Chevrolet 100   19 Running  
19 34 44 Brennan Poole Clarks Directional Boring Chevrolet 100   18 Running  
20 20 48 Nick Sanchez # Caroline Jones No Tellin Chevrolet 100  5 23 Running 1 6
21 37 74 Carson Ware Costa Oil Filters Chevrolet 100   16 Running  
22 19 91 Mason Maggio Denssi Energy Pouches Chevrolet 99   15 Running  
23 7 88 Connor Zilisch # (P) First Bank of Alabama Chevrolet 97 4  21 Running 1 1
24 9 19 Aric Almirola (P) Young Life Toyota 92 5 7 23 Accident 1 4
25 15 10 Daniel Dye # Champion Container Chevrolet 92  9 14 Accident 1 4
26 10 20 Brandon Jones (P) Menards/Little Hugs Toyota 84   11 Running  
27 22 71 Ryan Ellis Tablo Chevrolet 49   10 Radiator  
28 18 99 Connor Mosack(i) Apave Chevrolet 44   0 Accident  
29 17 26 Dean Thompson # Assured Partners/TPG Toyota 44 8  11 Accident 1 4
30 2 18 William Sawalich # Soundgear Toyota 44 10  8 Accident 2 2
31 38 54 Taylor Gray # Operation 300 Toyota 41   6 Rear Gear  
32 26 32 Jordan Anderson Bommarito Automotive Group Chevrolet 19   5 Accident  
33 27 42 Anthony Alfredo Botticelli Chevrolet 17   4 Accident  
34 16 00 Sheldon Creed (P) Road Ranger Ford 15   3 Accident  
35 23 39 Ryan Sieg Sci Aps Ford 15   2 Accident  
36 12 11 Brenden Queen Action Industries Chevrolet 15   1 Accident  
37 21 51 Jeremy Clements All South Electrical Chevrolet 15   1 Accident  
38 13 41 Sam Mayer (P) Audibel Ford 15   1 DVP  

Fastest Lap Bonus:  # 45 lap 12 / 50.063
                                                         
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 1 Mins, 32 Secs. Average Speed: 131.322 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.105 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 21, 7, 2, 88, 19, 8, 31, 26, 1, 18
Stage 2 Top 10: 21, 7, 1, 16, 48, 2, 19, 8, 10, 27

Race Comments: Austin Hill won the United Rentals 250 at Talladega Superspeedway, his 14th NASCAR Xfinity Series victory. Prior to the green flag, the following cars dropped to the rear for the reason indicated: Nos. 31, 54, 91 (unapproved adjustments).

Failed to Qualify: None.

Caution Flags: 5 for 22 laps; Laps: 16-20 (#27, 25, 20, 41, 39, 32, 51, 00, 11, 42 incident fronstretch [Red Flag: Lap 18, 16:20] [74]); 27-31 (Stage 1 Conclusion [None]); 46-48 (#26, 18, 88, 70, 99, 31 incident turn 1 [Red Flag: Lap 47, 10:35] [None]); 52-55 (Stage 2 Conclusion [07]); 94-98 (#07, 8, 27, 10, 19 incident backstretch [74]).

Lead Changes: 17 among 10 drivers; W. Sawalich # 1; J. Love (P) 2-5; W. Sawalich # 6; J. Love (P) 7-14; N. Sanchez # 15-20; A. Hill (P) 21-27; D. Thompson # 28-31; J. Love (P) 32; C. Zilisch # (P) 33; J. Love (P) 34-39; J. Allgaier (P) 40-49; A. Hill (P) 50-52; D. Dye # 53-56; A. Almirola (P) 57-60; H. Burton 61; J. Allgaier (P) 62; A. Hill (P) 63-100.

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Next Race: October 25, 2025 - Martinsville Speedway

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CURRENT NASCAR XFINITY SERIES PLAYOFF STANDINGS

POS NO. DRIVER MFR +/-

1 88 Connor Zilisch Chevrolet ADVANCED      1 PLAYOFF WIN - 10 TOTAL WINS
2 7 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet ADVANCED        3 TOTAL WINS
3 2 Jesse Love Chevrolet +40
4 1 Carson Kvapil Chevrolet +11

CUTOFF LINE - FOUR DRIVERS TO BE ELIMINATED AFTER MARTINSVILLE (OCT. 25)

5 8 Sammy Smith Chevrolet -11        1 TOTAL WIN
6 20 Brandon Jones Toyota -20     1 PLAYOFF WIN - 2 TOTAL WINS
7 41 Sam Mayer Ford -22     1 TOTAL WIN
8 00 Sheldon Creed Ford -41