Story, Quotes and more Finish
By Roy J. Akers of www.skyviewsports.net and APNews.Com
Hampton, Ga. – Austin Hill said in media availabilities that his three victories in Atlanta mean little unless he does it again. Well, Hill did and won for the third time this season. Add nine top five finishes and 15 in total in the top ten and Hill if a formidable foe for the playoffs. Hill only led the final six laps for the AMS Focused Health 250 victory. Six other drivers led more times and or more laps. It was all about timing for Hill.
How it Happened
By Jenna Fryer- AP
HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) — Austin Hill swept the Xfinity Series season at Atlanta Motor Speedway, his home track, as the Georgia native continued to excel under the venue reconfiguration.
Since moving to the drafting track configuration in 2022, Hill has won three of the five Xfinity races at Atlanta. The other two winners — Cup Series regulars Ty Gibbs and John Hunter Nemechek — were not in Saturday’s race.
“It had plenty of speed, we had to dig deep for that one,” said Hill, who won in a Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. He did his post-race interview holding his young son, who was wearing a Georgia Bulldogs shirt.
“This is Barrett,” Hill introduced his son as the youngster kept interrupting, ‘Dad, you won.’
“And he’s wild,” Hill continued.
It was the third win of the season for Hill, who opened with back-to-back Xfinity races at Daytona and Atlanta, but then went winless until Saturday. Hill led one time, for the final 21 laps of the race.
Parker Kligerman finished second, and AJ Allmendinger was third in a podium sweep for Chevrolet.
Chandler Smith and Corey Heim were fourth and fifth for Toyota, and Smith was angry he wasn’t more selfish and had expected help from Heim. Instead, as Hill and Smith raced for the late lead, Heim worked with Hill and pushed him past Smith to the win.
Lawless Alan in 13th was the highest-finishing Ford driver.
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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
Custer quote from the last caution
COLE CUSTER, No. 00 Autodesk/Haas Automation Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WHAT COULD YOU HAVE DONE IF THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN? “I thought we definitely could have won. We were up there with the rest of them. It was really weird because everybody was trying to back up to try and get a push from the guy behind you, but nobody was actually pushing because everybody was just trying to back up, so it was interesting racing. I hate these speedways. We go to so many of them in the Xfinity Series now that it’s just a crapshoot if you get wrecked or not. We’re ready to go to Watkins Glen and I think we’ll be good.”
Xfinity Point Standings after Atlanta
Roy J. Akers is a multi-media reporter and covers several sports for www.skyviewsports.net
