NASCAR Xfinity Series results: Austin Hill continues superspeedway dominance at Atlanta

The NASCAR Xfinity Series race on Saturday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway saw so much: Cars sliding sideways. Classic superspeedway wrecks. Twelve cautions — the most at this level at this racetrack ever.

It even saw Josh Williams, the driver of the 92 car with an iconic mullet and incomparable moxy, park his car at the start-finish line in frustrated protest in Stage 1.

And yet, after all that craziness, the best driver still won.

Austin Hill notched his third win of the 2023 season, edging Parker Kligerman on an epic final run that saw him hold strong even as Kligerman knocked into him and spun out as he and the field crossed the start-finish line.

That final run came thanks to a caution that surfaced with about 10 laps to go. It featured Hill (21 car) taking the inside line and moving and blocking Kligerman (48 car). The 48 car then got hit and was nudged into Hill, but the 21 somehow stayed steady and powered through to victory.

“Once I got to the lead, I knew it was wreckers or checkers,” Hill told the remaining fans who’d braved the cold weather. “When the 48 hit me in the right-rear, I’m guessing he got hit or something, I thought I was heading into the outside wall, but I was able to gather it up, bring it on home. This is so special. That was a tough one to win.”

Daniel Hemric finished second. Ryan Truex finished third. Kligerman officially finished fourth, per NASCAR.

Hill — a Winston, Georgia, native who had all of his family gathered around him in Victory Lane on Saturday — has asserted himself as the best superspeedway driver at the Xfinity Series level: In addition to Saturday’s virtuoso, he won at Daytona International Speedway in the first race of the season and also won at Las Vegas earlier this month.

Just because the race was “crazy” doesn’t mean it was “great.” Atlanta’s spring race was one of attrition. Fourteen drivers didn’t finish all 163 laps, and the carnage started immediately: Joey Gase and Caesar Barcarella wrecked and suffered irreparable damage only one lap in.

It was so choppy that Justin Allgaier, in a mid-race availability after emerging from the infield care center, told the Fox broadcast that he was “a bit embarrassed” for the sport.

But an exciting end overshadowed a lot of the race’s flaws. It ultimately saw 12 cautions for 68 laps and 13 lead changes. Hill led 103 laps — a dominant day punctuated with a deserved win.

”I thought it was going to be a drag race to the start-finish line, then when I got hit in the right-rear, I don’t know how I saved it,” Hill said with a smile. “But when we go back and watch it, I’m sure it’s going to be pretty cool to watch.”

Hill was asked after the race if he could explain his superspeedway dominance in his own words. After all, drivers have said that this kind of racing in recent years has largely been the result of circumstance — of right-place-right-time serendipity mixed in with surviving the dreaded inevitable final-lap wrecks.

“Having a fast race car helps a lot on these superspeedways,” Hill said. “You know, Daytona worked out the way we needed it to. Anyone could’ve won that race the way it unfolded, and we were just in the right place at the right time. But you know, tonight, we had to come from the back. During Stage 2, we fell back just based on how the pit sequence and all unfolded after Stage 1. ... We had to go to the back, and we still drove up to the front. So I still think there’s that.”

Hill then credited his Richard Childress Racing team before adding, “I don’t think it’s circumstantial at all that we’re sitting here in Victory Lane on these superspeedway style tracks.”

Unofficial results for Xfinity race

This story was originally published March 18, 2023 at 8:29 PM.

Alex Zietlow

The Charlotte Observer

Alex Zietlow writes about the Carolina Panthers and the ways in which sports intersect with life for The Charlotte Observer, where he has been a reporter since August 2022. Zietlow’s work has been honored by the Pro Football Writers Association, the N.C. and S.C. Press Associations, as well as the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) group. He’s earned six APSE Top 10 distinctions for his coverage on a variety of topics, from billion-dollar stadium renovations to the small moments of triumph that helped a Panthers kicker defy the steepest odds in sports. Zietlow previously wrote for The Herald in Rock Hill (S.C.) from 2019-22. Support my work with a digital subscription