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Georgia on his mind: Hill wins at home track once again

NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Austin Hill (21) celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the RAPTOR King of Tough 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. David Yeazell-USA TODAY Sports

Georgia on his mind: Austin Hill wins at home track for third consecutive year

By Samuel Stubbs | Last updated 2/24/24

For the third consecutive year, Austin Hill has won a NASCAR Xfinity Series race at his home track of Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The win marks the sixth win in 13 superspeedway races since Hill joined the Xfinity Series full-time in 2022, with three each at Daytona and Atlanta.

Hill's win in Saturday's RAPTOR King of Tough 250 came as the Georgia driver was running on fumes, with his teammate, 19 year old Jesse Love, running out of gas with two laps to go.

Love, who won the pole for Monday's race at Daytona and Saturday's race at Atlanta swept the stages and led 157 of the 169 total laps run. Hill led just two laps in total after starting on the front row, but all that mattered is that he led the final one.

Winning hits different when it’s at your home track. pic.twitter.com/FY8P0A1ePd
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) February 25, 2024

The final restart was brought on by Ryan Sieg running out of gas and stopping on the racetrack. With the entire field close on fuel, it was Ford who went down first, with Stewart-Haas teammate Riley Herbst and Cole Custer running out of gas, as well as Hailie Deegan.

The Chevy's fell on the ensuing restart, with both the aforementioned Love, as well as Parker Kligerman running on empty as the field roared by. This led to Hill, along with Chandler Smith, taking over the top two spots as the final cars who had yet to pit over the final run, with Shane van Gisbergen lurking behind the pair in third.

Just like at Daytona, however, a Joe Gibbs Racing car was unable to catch Hill on the final lap, as Smith didn't have the help necessary to make a final push.

Shane van Gisbergen got his first career Xfinity Series top five in just his second start, while Sheldon Creed and Parker Retzlaff rounded out the top five.

Love slipped to 12th on the results sheet, Justin Allgaier, who earned stage points during the race but ran out of fuel coming to the overtime restart finished 28th, two laps down.

"I was thinking the 2 was gonna go get 'em, and if I can't win, let my teammate win," Hill said after the race. "(Jesse) ran an awesome race. To be a rookie and lead that many laps, he should be sitting in Victory Lane right now."

While a disappointing end to a career day for Love, Hill's win gives him 11 playoff points after just two races. Love currently sits 20 points above the playoff cutline with 24 races remaining in the regular season.

Austin Hill will get a chance to defend his 2023 win at Las Vegas and notch win number three on the year when the Xfinity Series field heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 2.

The third race of the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series season will run at 4 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

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