Austin Hill Uses Last Lap Pass to Win Xfinity Race at Vegas
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LAS VEGAS, NV – RIS – Austin Hill ran down Chandler Smith on the final lap to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Smith had dominated most of the race prior to the closing laps, leading 115 laps. Hill and Justin Allgaier gained steadily on Smith over the final 10 laps and eliminated Smith’s 2.5-second lead. Allgaier also passed Smith to finish second. Smith was third, Kyle Busch fourth and Josh Berry fifth.
“I just knew I had to not abuse the tires and try to methodically work our way through traffic,” Hill said after the race. “Traffic was really tough. you had to really paint the line between 3 and 4.”
Smith is entering his first year in the Xfinity Series, but has five victories in the Craftsman Truck Series. He commented that as the laps wore down, his car got tight which accounts for Hill and Justin Allgaier running him down on the final lap.
Hill, driving for Richard Childress Racing, also won the season opener at Daytona International Speedway.
Hill took the race’s second stage, leading Brandon Jones, Kyle Busch, Sam Mayer and Sammy Smith to the finish line. Allgaier, who challenged for the win, was hit with a pass-through penalty on a restart during the second stage but rallied to return to the top five.
John Hunter Nemechek, who rallied to a win at Auto Club Speedway last week, won the first stage, leading 24 of the 45 laps. Following in the top five were Allgaier, Austin Hill, Chandler Smith and Riley Herbst.
Smith appears to be set for a standout season with Kaulig Racing. His performance so far has been exemplary in cars he is uncomfortable with after racing trucks. One driver was trying to get the triple. With a win Friday night under his belt, didn’t succeed. Las Vegas native Kyle Busch. Busch, winner of Friday’s Truck race, lost a shot at the Las Vegas “triple” but had a strong top-five finish in the No. 10 Camaro. He will try to go two out of three in the Cup race on Sunday.
Unofficial Results: Alsco Uniforms 300, March 4, 2023, Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Fin, St, Driver, Car, Laps , St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pt, Pts, Status
1) 9, Austin Hill, No. 21 Global Industrial Chevrolet, 200, 3, 1, 3, 19, 6, 58, Running
2) 2, Justin Allgaier, No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet, 200, 2, , 2, 10, , 44, Running
3) 1, Chandler Smith #, No. 16 Quick Tie Products Inc. Chevrolet, 200, 4, 6, 4, 118, , 46, Running
4) 11, Kyle Busch(i), No. 10 LA Golf Chevrolet, 200, 7, 3, 1, 4, , 0, Running
5) 5, Josh Berry, No. 8 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Chevrolet, 200, 10, , 1, 2, , 33, Running
6) 7, John Hunter Nemechek, No. 20 Mobil 1 Toyota, 200, 1, , 2, 45, 1, 41, Running
7) 13, Sam Mayer, No. 1 Accelerate Pros Talent Chevrolet, 200, , 4, 1, 1, , 37, Running
8) 10, Riley Herbst, No. 98 Monster Energy Ford, 200, 5, 7, , , , 39, Running
9) 12, Sheldon Creed, No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet, 200, 9, 10, , , , 31, Running
10) 8, Daniel Hemric, No. 11 South Point Hotel and Casino Chevrolet, 200, 6, , , , , 32, Running
11) 6, Parker Kligerman, No. 48 Big Machine Racing Spiked Chevrolet, 200, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 3, Cole Custer, No. 00 Haas Automation Ford, 200, , 8, , , , 28, Running
13) 15, Tyler Reddick(i), No. 24 GearWrench Toyota, 199, , , , , , 0, Running
14) 24, Jeb Burton, No. 27 Alsco Uniforms Chevrolet, 199, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 17, Joe Graf Jr., No. 19 CoverSeal Toyota, 199, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 26, Kyle Weatherman, No. 02 Our Motorsports Chevrolet, 199, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 14, Sammy Smith #, No. 18 Pilot Flying J Toyota, 199, 8, 5, , , , 29, Running
18) 32, Alex Labbe, No. 28 G Coin/Larue Ford, 199, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 23, Anthony Alfredo, No. 78 Dude Wipes Chevrolet, 198, , , 1, 1, , 18, Running
20) 22, Kyle Sieg, No. 38 TopPool.com Ford, 198, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 19, Brandon Jones, No. 9 Menards/Jeld-Wen Windows Chevrolet, 198, , 2, , , , 25, Running
22) 4, Brett Moffitt, No. 25 AM Technical Solutions Ford, 198, , 9, , , , 17, Running
23) 21, Kaz Grala, No. 26 Fire Department Coffee Toyota, 198, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 18, Ryan Sieg, No. 39 CMRroofing.com Ford, 197, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 25, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 First Pacific Funding Chevrolet, 197, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 16, Rajah Caruth(i), No. 45 Wendell Scott Foundation/Microsoft Chevrolet, 197, , , , , , 0, Running
27) 36, Ryan Ellis, No. 43 Shine Water Chevrolet, 197, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 29, Bayley Currey, No. 4 KSDT CPA Chevrolet, 197, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 35, Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 44 Jesus Revolution - The Movie Chevrolet, 197, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 27, Josh Williams, No. 92 Call 811/Alloy Employer Chevrolet, 197, , , , , , 7, Running
31) 31, Josh Bilicki, No. 91 JAG Metals LLC Chevrolet, 196, , , , , , 0, Running
32) 34, Gray Gaulding, No. 08 Panini NFT Ford, 196, , , , , , 5, Running
33) 33, Brennan Poole, No. 6 Macc Door Systems Chevrolet, 196, , , , , , 4, Running
34) 38, Patrick Emerling, No. 53 Sci Aps Chevrolet, 194, , , , , , 3, Running
35) 30, Blaine Perkins #, No. 07 AUTOPARKit.com Chevrolet, 192, , , , , , 2, Running
36) 28, Garrett Smithley, No. 99 PCARx Chevrolet, 187, , , , , , 1, Running
37) 20, Parker Retzlaff #, No. 31 FUNKAWAY Chevrolet, 186, , , , , , 1, Running
38) 37, Joey Gase, No. 35 Nevada Donor Network Toyota, 156, , , , , , 1, Fuel Pump
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 11 Mins, 51 Secs.
Race Length: 200 Laps - 300. Miles
Average Speed: 136.519 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.268 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 20, 7, 21, 16, 98, 11, 10, 18, 2, 8
Stage 2 Top 10: 21, 9, 10, 1, 18, 16, 98, 00, 25, 2
Comments: Austin Hill has won the Alsco Uniforms 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his fourth career victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Prior to the start, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reason(s) indicated: Nos. 2, 8, 9, 10, 00, 08 (backup cars), No. 53 (driver change), Nos. 6, 28, 43, 99 (unapproved adjustments)
Failed to Qualify: (2) 66 Mason Maggio(i), 74 Ryan Vargas.
Cautions: 4 for 22 laps;
Laps: 4-6 (No. 48 Spin Turn 2 [None]);
47-53 (Stage 1 Conclusion [45]);
75-78 (No. 8 Spin Turn 4 [51]);
90-97 (No. 45 Spin Turn 2 / Stage 2 Conclusion [4]).
Lead Changes: 14 among 8 drivers;
C. Smith # 1-12;
J. Allgaier 13-21;
J. Nemechek 22-48;
A. Hill 49-53;
J. Nemechek 54-71;
C. Smith # 72-85;
A. Hill 86-97;
K. Busch(i) 98-101;
C. Smith # 102-140;
J. Allgaier 141;
S. Mayer 142;
J. Berry 143-144;
A. Alfredo 145;
C. Smith # 146-198;
A. Hill 199-200.
Unofficial Points: Alsco Uniforms 300
Rank Driver Car Starts GL Points Ldr Nxt Race Wins Stage Wins Playoff Pts
1) Austin Hill 21 3 0 156 0 0 2 2 12
2) Justin Allgaier 7 3 1 135 -21 21 0 1 1
3) John Hunter Nemechek 20 3 -1 132 -24 3 1 1 6
4) Chandler Smith # 16 3 0 122 -34 10 0 0 0
5) Riley Herbst 98 3 0 112 -44 10 0 0 0
6) Sam Mayer 1 3 1 95 -61 17 0 0 0
7) Cole Custer 00 3 -1 88 -68 7 0 2 2
8) Josh Berry 8 3 1 85 -71 3 0 0 0
8) Josh Berry 8 3 1 85 -71 3 0 0 0
9) Joe Graf Jr) 19 3 -1 78 -78 7 0 0 0
10) Parker Kligerman 48 3 1 77 -79 1 0 0 0
11) Sammy Smith # 18 3 4 73 -83 4 0 0 0
12) Jeb Burton 27 3 1 71 -85 2 0 0 0
13) Ryan Sieg 39 3 -3 65 -91 6 0 0 0
14) Daniel Hemric 11 3 7 65 -91 0 0 0 0
15) Brett Moffitt 25 3 -1 63 -93 2 0 0 0
16) Sheldon Creed 2 3 7 61 -95 2 0 0 0
17) Brandon Jones 9 3 2 59 -97 2 0 0 0
18) Kyle Sieg 38 3 0 55 -101 4 0 0 0
19) Parker Retzlaff # 31 3 -7 51 -105 4 0 0 0
20) Jeremy Clements 51 3 -3 51 -105 0 0 0 0
21) Anthony Alfredo 78 3 1 51 -105 0 0 0 0
22) Josh Williams 92 3 -6 50 -106 1 0 0 0
23) Kaz Grala 26 3 1 43 -113 7 0 0 0
24) Myatt Snider 1 -4 33 -123 10 0 0 0
25) Alex Labbe 28 2 8 28 -128 5 0 0 0
26) Joey Gase 35 3 -1 28 -128 0 0 0 0
27) Jeffrey Earnhardt 44 3 1 28 -128 0 0 0 0
28) Stefan Parsons 1 -2 24 -132 4 0 0 0
29) Gray Gaulding 08 3 0 23 -133 1 0 0 0
30) Parker Chase 1 -3 21 -135 2 0 0 0
31) Kyle Weatherman 02 1 -31 21 -135 0 0 0 0
32) Brennan Poole 6 3 -1 20 -136 1 0 0 0
33) David Starr 2 -3 17 -139 3 0 0 0
34) Bayley Currey 4 3 0 17 -139 0 0 0 0
35) Ryan Ellis 43 3 3 15 -141 2 0 0 0
36) Jade Buford 1 -4 12 -144 3 0 0 0
37) Blaine Perkins # 07 3 0 9 -147 3 0 0 0
38) Jesse Iwuji 1 -3 7 -149 2 0 0 0
39) CJ Mclaughlin 2 -3 7 -149 0 0 0 0
40) Josh Bilicki 91 1 8 6 -150 1 0 0 0
41) Patrick Emerling 53 1 10 3 -153 3 0 0 0
42) Garrett Smithley 99 1 3 1 -155 2 0 0 0
43) Kyle Busch(i) 10 1 0 0 -156 1 0 0 0
44) Austin Dillon 1 -5 0 -156 0 0 0 0
45) Justin Haley 1 -5 0 -156 0 0 0 0
46) Tyler Reddick(i) 24 2 -2 0 -156 0 0 0 0
47) Rajah Caruth(i) 45 2 -6 0 -156 0 0 0 0
48) Ross Chastain 1 -6 0 -156 0 0 0 0
49) Timmy Hill 1 -6 0 -156 0 0 0 0
50) Dexter Stacey 0 -4 0 -156 0 0 0 0
51) Mason Maggio 0 0 0 -156 0 0 0 0
52) Ryan Vargas 0 -5 0 -156 0 0 0 0
-Ldr/-Nxt = Points behind Leader/Next higher, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Ronald Fleshman with John Davison
Ron Fleshman and John Davison are Editors at ris-news.com