Austin Hill emerges from chaos to victory at NASCAR Xfinity in Atlanta

• Hill leads the race with 103 laps for his third Xfinity win of 2023.

• The race had a record 12 cautions in 68 laps, the last coming when Hill crossed the line.

• Parker Kligerman finishes fourth sliding back under the checkered flag.

In a race that started in chaos and ended in turmoil on the last lap, Austin Hill won his third NASCAR Xfinity Series race of the season, beating Daniel Hemric to the checkered flag in Saturday’s RAPTOR King of the Tough 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

With his family in attendance, the Winston, Georgia native led three times for a race-record 103 laps and dominated an event that featured a record 12 cautions in 68 laps.

NASCAR called the final yellow on the final lap after a multi-car crash broke out as Hill and Hemric approached the finish line.

Parker Kligerman had a run until the cars entered the dogleg frontstretch on the last lap. At the end of a two-lap race to the finish, Kligerman’s Chevrolet veered sideways into the front bumper of Hemric’s car and struck the right rear of Hill’s No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevy.

Hill maintained control and took the checkered flag with Hemric trailing by 0.085 seconds. Kligerman slid back across the finish line in fourth, while Ryan Truex passed him for third by 0.001 seconds.

“They knew we were here,” Kligerman said over the radio to his Big Machine Racing team.

The reigning race winner, Hill came to Atlanta with wins at Daytona and Las Vegas and, understandably, the lead in the Xfinity Series. The victory was Hill’s second at Atlanta and the fifth of his career.

The only thing that rattled Hill all night was contact with the right rear of his car in the final 100 metres.

“I have no idea how I saved him by getting to the finish line,” Hill said, after his daughter ran to greet him at the finish line. “What a start to the season. All at Richard Childress Racing, ECR engines – we just got off to a good start so fast with Chevrolet. That has been special for sure.”

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Riley Herbst finished fifth, followed by Brett Moffitt, Josh Berry, John Hunter Nemechek, Sam Mayer and Justin Haley.

Hill won the first stage and Kligerman gave Big Machine its first stage win in the second.

In the first two stages combined, the race had more caution laps than green flag laps – 49 to 31, to be exact – the result of nine yellow flags.

At the. Damaged vehicle policy.

Instead of driving his car into the garage, however, a frustrated Williams parked it at the start/finish line. NASCAR ordered Williams to the truck to discuss the incident after he was released from the in-house service center.

NASCAR Xfinity Series RAPTOR King of Tough 250 race results

Atlanta Motor Speedway

Hampton, Georgia

Saturday, March 18, 2023

1. (3) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 163.

2. (11) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 163.

3. (4) Ryan Truex, Toyota, 163.

4. (13) Parker Kligerman, Chevrolet, 163.

5. (5) Riley Herbst, Ford, 163.

6. (12) Brett Moffitt, Ford, 163.

7. (9) Josh Berry, Chevrolet, 163.

8. (2) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 163.

9. (10) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, 163.

10. (18) Justin Haley(i), Chevrolet, 163.

11. (14) Ryan Sieg, Ford, 163.

12. (8) Cole Custer, Ford, 163.

13. (29) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 163.

14. (15) Antônio Alfredo, Chevrolet, 163.

15. (23) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 163.

16. (16) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 163.

17. (1) Sammy Smith #, Toyota, 163.

18. (32) Patrick Emerling, Ford, 163.

19. (21) Brandon Jones, Chevrolet, 163.

20. (35) Gray Gaulding, Chevrolet, 163.

21. (7) Sheldon Creed, Chevrolet, 163.

22. (36) Blaine Perkins #, Chevrolet, 163.

23. (24) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 163.

24. (37) Chad Chastain, Chevrolet, 163.

25. (27) Joe Graf Jr., Ford, 163.

26. (26) Kyle Sieg, Ford, 161.

27. (17) Parker Retzlaff #, Chevrolet, Accident, 154.

28. (6) Chandler Smith #, Chevrolet, Rear Gear, 127.

29. (19) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, Accident, 77.

30. (25) Connor Mosack, Toyota, Accident, 69.

31. (30) Sage Karam, Chevrolet, Radiator, 43.

32. (22) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, Accident, 33.

33. (20) Kyle Weatherman, Chevrolet, Accident, 26.

34. (31) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet, Accident, 11.

35. (28) Kaz Grala, Toyota, Accident, 11.

36. (34) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, Accident, 11.

37. (33) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, Accident, 1.

38. (38) Caesar Bacarella, Chevrolet, Accident, 1.

Race winner’s average speed: 91.382 mph.

Running time: 2 hours, 44 minutes, 49 seconds. Margin of victory: 0.085 seconds.

Caution flags: 12 to 68 loops.

Lead changes: 13 out of 8 drivers.

Back Leaders: S. Smith #0;J. Nemechek 1-10;A. Colina 11-43;J. Haley(i) 44-46;A. Alfredo 47;J. Haley(i) 48-49;A. Alfredo 50-66;B. Jones 67-76;P. Kligerman 77-81;G. Gaulding 82;R. Herbst 83-92;A. Colina 93-98;R. Herbst 99;A. Hill 100-163.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Time Leader, Lap Leader): Austin Hill 3 times in 103 laps; Anthony Alfredo 2 times in 18 laps; Riley Herbst 2 times in 11 laps; John Hunter Nemechek 1 time for 10 laps; Brandon Jones 1 time for 10 laps; Parker Kligerman 1 time for 5 laps; Justin Haley(i) 2 times for 5 laps; Gray Gaulding 1 time per 1 lap.

Step #1 Top Ten: 21,2,20,16,98,25,11,39,00,10

Step #2 Top Ten: 48,98,9,2,78,39,8,21,00,51