Austin Hill stands alone as one of the greatest to ever do it at drafting style racetracks after another dominant performance by Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Hill was able to survive a chaotic ending to Saturday’s (April 26) Ag-Pro 300 to pick up the victory when the caution was called for Connor Zilisch’s hard impact to the inside wall down the backstretch.
The victory is the ninth of Hill’s career on this track type, all of them occurring within the last four NXS seasons. Saturday marked his first career victory at Talladega, adding to his total of three at Daytona International Speedway and five at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Runner-up finisher Jeb Burton was left very upset with the race result. In disbelief that the No. 21 was ahead of him at the time of caution, Burton seesawed from anger to agitation to crying in the middle of pit road. Emotions spilled over for Jordan Anderson Racing, as Burton explained how hard they work to win races like these because they don’t get many opportunities at other track types.
Behind the top two, Jesse Love finished third after being the driver who really dominated the day for RCR. Love led the entirety of stage one and looked to be the clear favorite the whole afternoon. At times, the No. 2 looked untouchable, but Love ultimately came up short at the finish.
The rest of the top five was rounded out by defending Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier and Matt DiBenedetto. Both drivers were key players in the top 10 throughout the afternoon and worked well with each other late in the race.
The Winners
RCR’s dominance at drafting tracks continues on. The team almost looks virtually unstoppable at this point, even when the pair of Hill and Love get shuffled out of the draft. When all looked lost Saturday, the duo worked together and powered themselves into contention over the race’s final seven laps.
Even without scoring the victory, it was a fantastic day for Burton. While the win would’ve been sweeter for JAR, the finish showed it’s here to compete at a high level week in, week out at this track type. A runner-up result also helped Burton and JAR immensely in their battle to stay near the playoff bubble.
Finally, underdogs DiBenedetto and Anthony Alfredo got much needed top-10 finishes. They will no doubt make the future look brighter for both organizations moving forward.
The Losers
Taylor Gray was able to come home 11th, the only Joe Gibbs Racing car seemingly in one piece. Left in the garage was the No. 19 of Aric Almirola, who wasn’t clear when cutting across the nose of Katherine Legge’s No. 32 Chevrolet and took out teammate Brandon Jones in the process.
Alimirola finished 33rd and Jones 28th after the multi-car incident. To his credit, Almirola took the blame, telling The CW, “Katherine didn’t do anything wrong. She was right where she needed to be.”
William Sawalich had the worst luck of all of the JGR drivers, continuing his abysmal rookie campaign. Sawalich had an engine failure that caused the team to finish 37th, a whopping seventh straight result outside the top 20 in 11 starts.
Parker Retzlaff had a day that he and the team would like to forget. After cutting a tire down early and falling multiple laps behind, the Alpha Prime Racing driver had to bring the No. 4 car behind the wall due to mechanical issues. Once the team got back out on track, they then got into trouble when Sammy Smith spun down the track into Greg Van Alst, sparking a multi-car wreck that would involve Retzlaff. He finished dead last with a torn-up racecar just one week after a runner-up finish at Rockingham Speedway.
Fuel For Thought
Will any teams be able to catch up with RCR at the drafting tracks? Since Hill joined the team in 2022, RCR has won 11 out of 20 races at drafting style events. The pair of Hill and Love combined to lead a race-high 69 of 113 laps run in Saturday’s race. No other driver even hit double digits in laps led. Will any team be able to step up and challenge this team, or will their reign of terror continue?
Paint Scheme of the Week
It’s hard to miss the Ollie’s colors on any car during race weekend. This week was no exception for Sheldon Creed. He was one of the easiest drivers to spot in the pack Saturday, thanks to that beautiful yellow-and-red color palette.
Where to Next?
The Xfinity Series will head to the Lone Star State for a second time this season, but this time, it will run the Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 at Texas Motor Speedway. Last year saw Sam Mayer narrowly squeeze a victory from Ryan Sieg in a photo finish for the ages. Pre-race festivities start around 2 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 3, with television coverage provided by The CW.
Post-Race Roundup
Jeb Burton: “We Won The Race”
Jesse Love On Third, Connor Zilisch’s Last-Lap Wreck & Talladega Success
Xfinity Underdogs Discuss Strong Results
Connor Zilisch On His Last-Lap Wreck
Ryan Sieg & Greg Van Alst Dissect Post-Race Talladega Crash
Frontstretch Post-Race Conversations (Dalton Hopkins & Tanner Marlar)
