Austin Hill won his fourth race of the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series season at the Credit One NASCAR Amex Credit Card 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday (Oct. 26), taking the victory over Cole Custer by 3.045 seconds.
The emotional Hill earned his 10th career Xfinity win by leading a race-high 82 laps and sweeping all three stages. The win clinched a Championship 4 spot for Hill, who will make his first-ever appearance in the series’ championship finale at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 4.
“I work so hard at this,” Hill told The CW. “A lot of people doubt me, but I wake up every day to prove everyone wrong that I deserve to be here. I deserve to race for a championship. This [No.] 21 team deserves it just as much as I do. They work their asses off each and every day just like I do. I got to give it up to those guys. They gave me a hell of a car.”
Custer led late but was passed by Hill after being unable to maneuver around the lapped car of Dawson Cram on the high side with 12 to go. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver led 67 laps on the day but had no answer for the No. 21 car down the stretch.
“I thought that second to last run we had it,” Custer said to The CW. “The car was really good. We freed it up a little bit and definitely gained some speed, but that last run, we got pretty free, and the [No.] 21 seemed like they got way better than what they were in the second-to-last run.”
Custer leaves Homestead 28 points above the playoff cut line.
Aric Almirola was the highest finishing Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, taking third, while Hill’s fellow RCR teammate and playoff driver Jesse Love crossed the line fourth. The second JGR driver in the top five was Sheldon Creed, who ended up fifth.
Riley Herbst made contact with the wall while running 10th in stage two and had a puncture in his tire, forcing him to pit under green for fresh tires, but he made an impressive recovery drive to finish sixth.
Ryan Sieg, Justin Allgaier, Sam Mayer and AJ Allmendinger rounded out the top 10.
Chandler Smith started on the pole, but he was passed for the lead by Custer in the middle of the first run. Hill, who started 16th, worked his way to the front at the end of the stage to take the stage one win.
Hill continued to hold the lead throughout the second stage with a brief challenge from Custer. He took the stage two win in convincing fashion after a caution for Nick Leitz spinning coming out of turn 2 ended the stage prematurely.
Custer took the lead to start stage three, but Hill eventually got him and began to pull away once again.
A caution for Josh Williams cutting a tire and running into Ryan Truex in turn 1 allowed the leaders to pit once more under caution.
Hill slid up the track in turn three on the restart as the sun began to set, giving the lead to Custer. Hill fell back to fourth, but had made his way up to second by the time the final round of pit stops were complete.
Chandler Smith had a slow final pit stop after he drove off the jack, which cost him multiple spots. He entered the race eight points above the playoff cut, but a 13th-place finish leaves him 28 points out heading into the Round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway.
Some drivers such as Allmendinger and Mayer stayed out to try to find a caution late to get track position, but the alternate strategy would not work out, setting up the battle between Custer and Hill for the win, with Hill prevailing for his first win on a non-superspeedway since Pocono Raceway last year.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Homestead Results
The final race of the Round of 8 kicks off at Martinsville next Saturday, Nov. 2, at 4 p.m. ET, with TV coverage provided by The CW.
Wyatt Watson has followed NASCAR closely since 2007. He joined Frontstretchas a journalist in February 2023 after serving in the United States Navy for five years as an Electronic Technician Navigation working on submarines. Wyatt writes breaking NASCAR news and contributes to columns such as Friday Faceoff and 2-Headed Monster. Wyatt also contributes to Frontstretch's social media and serves as an at-track reporter, collecting exclusive content for Frontstretch.
Wyatt Watson can be found on X @WyattGametime