Austin Hill had simply had enough — enough of losing, enough of bad luck, and enough of everyone else’s mistakes. The Richard Childress Racing driver had just enough fuel and even more nerve to survive an overtime finish and complete the Xfinity Series season sweep at Talladega on Saturday. It was his fourth win of 2025, coming just weeks after being punted out of the Playoffs.
Hill wasn’t just the winner. He was the last man standing. Because on Saturday, survival wasn’t a theme — it was the only strategy that worked.
The first stage looked more like an endurance test than a race. Polesitter Jesse Love traded the lead with William Sawalich in the early laps, slicing across lanes like a caffeinated traffic cop. Then came the first “Big One.” Lap 16. Three-wide. Brandon Jones got a love tap from Jeb Burton, who had just bounced off Sheldon Creed, and suddenly half the field was a mangled mess Ten cars wiped out, including Creed, Jones, and Sam Mayer — all Playoff drivers. NASCAR stopped the race for cleanup and to repair the frontstretch wall due to the carnage.
After a 16-minute red flag, Hill took control and cruised to the Stage 1 win, followed by Justin Allgaier and Love. Dean Thompson and Kyle Sieg stayed out to start Stage 2, but it was like bringing a butter knife to a gunfight. Love stormed back to the front almost immediately.
Connor Zilisch briefly grabbed the lead — just long enough for Love to snatch it back — before Allgaier took his turn as leader around lap 40. But this being Talladega, disaster was contractually obligated to strike again. Six laps before the end of Stage 2, Leland Honeyman got turned down the track into Zilisch, and another demolition derby broke out. Six more cars gone, another 10-minute red flag.
When they finally got back to racing, Hill snatched the stage win again — his second of the day.
The final stage began on lap 55 with Daniel Dye leading a group of gamblers who stayed out. Aric Almirola took over a couple laps later, but Hill was right there stalking him like a lion in a golf cart. Allgaier knifed through the pack by lap 61, Hill took it back by 63, and for a brief moment the race settled into something that resembled calm.
Connor Zilisch, somehow still alive after the earlier wreck, was hanging inside the top 15 — until lap 71, when his right-front tire decided to give up on life. He kissed the wall, got penalized for rolling through too many pit boxes, and that was that.
With 30 to go, it was single-file serenity — until it wasn’t. Two laps left, Jeb Burton tried to form a bottom line and, predictably, chaos erupted. Jesse Love dropped down in front of him, Sammy Smith checked up, Almirola got punted into the wall so hard his Toyota momentarily levitated, and Daniel Dye was sent careening into the inside wall for good measure.
Cue the overtime finish.
Fuel was now the great equalizer. Hill stayed out while Allgaier and most of the field pitted for a splash, everyone else praying to the racing gods for just one more lap of gas.
On the white flag, Hill was still leading when Nick Sanchez spun behind him. NASCAR held the yellow, Hill held his nerve, and somehow, miraculously, his tank held enough fuel. He crossed the line for his fourth win of the year.
Carson Kvapil, Allgaier, Christian Eckes, and Caesar Bacarella rounded out the top five. Allgaier locked himself into the Championship 4 — as did Zilisch, who somehow survived to finish 23rd, three laps down.
At Talladega, that’s what passes for a victory.
Greg was a writer for DriveTribe supporting Amazon's The Grand Tour and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, and a Masters degree in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek and a regular contributor to Forbes.
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