HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) — Austin Hill grabbed the second spot next month in the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship finale, racing to his fourth victory of the season Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Hill drove the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet past Cole Custer with 12 laps to go, and held on to join AJ Allmendinger in the four-driver championship field at Phoenix. Allmendinger punched his ticket last week in Las Vegas.
“I worked so hard at this,” said Hill, chasing his first season title, “a lot of people doubt me, but I wake up every day to prove everyone wrong. I deserve to be here. I deserve to race for a championship.”
Hill, who started the race fifth out of eight playoff drivers and below the cutline, swept the day and led for 79 laps. He beat Custer, who is still in title contention, by 3.045 seconds.
Hill became emotional before even crossing the finish line, saying “Aw, man. That’s awesome,” between tears.
“I can honestly say I’ve never cried coming to the finish line,” he said. “I couldn’t even get my emotions together going into Turn 1.”
Custer, in the No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, moved to fourth in the standings.
Aric Almirola, who isn’t in the playoffs, finished third for Joe Gibbs Racing. Jesse Love of Richard Childress Racing, who remained sixth in the standings, was next.
The remaining playoff drivers were Justin Allgaier (eighth), Chandler Smith (13th), Sam Mayer (ninth) and Sammy Smith (22nd).
The last race before the championship is at Martinsville Speedway on Nov. 2.
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NASCAR-Xfinity Series
Credit One NASCAR AMEX Credit Card 300 Results
At Homestead-Miami Speedway
Homestead, Fla.
Lap length: 1.50 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (16) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 200 laps, 60 points.
2. (4) Cole Custer, Ford, 200, 49.
3. (3) Aric Almirola, Toyota, 200, 49.
4. (14) Jesse Love, Chevrolet, 200, 35.
5. (2) Sheldon Creed, Toyota, 200, 45.
6. (8) Riley Herbst, Ford, 200, 34.
7. (17) Ryan Sieg, Ford, 200, 38.
8. (5) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 200, 40.
9. (9) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, 200, 33.
10. (6) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 200, 40.
11. (7) Parker Kligerman, Chevrolet, 200, 26.
12. (13) Connor Zilisch, Chevrolet, 200, 25.
13. (1) Chandler Smith, Toyota, 200, 29.
14. (21) Kyle Weatherman, Chevrolet, 200, 23.
15. (18) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 200, 22.
16. (23) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 200, 21.
17. (25) Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 199, 20.
18. (19) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 199, 19.
19. (20) Brandon Jones, Chevrolet, 199, 18.
20. (15) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 199, 17.
21. (22) Ryan Truex, Toyota, 199, 16.
22. (10) Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 199, 15.
23. (11) Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, 199, 14.
24. (12) William Sawalich, Toyota, 199, 0.
25. (31) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 199, 12.
26. (27) Kyle Sieg, Ford, 199, 11.
27. (24) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 197, 10.
28. (28) Brad Perez, Chevrolet, 197, 9.
29. (34) Austin Green, Ford, 197, 8.
30. (26) Leland Honeyman, Chevrolet, 197, 7.
31. (32) Mason Maggio, Chevrolet, 197, 0.
32. (30) Dylan Lupton, Ford, 196, 5.
33. (29) Dawson Cram, Chevrolet, 196, 0.
34. (35) Blaine Perkins, Ford, 195, 3.
35. (37) Armani Williams, Chevrolet, 193, 2.
36. (36) Thomas Annunziata, Ford, ignition, 190, 1.
37. (33) Nick Leitz, Chevrolet, suspension, 87, 1.
38. (38) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, overheating, 56, 1.
Race Stats
Average Speed of Race Winner: 128.211 mph.
Time of Race: 2 hours, 20 minutes, 23 seconds.
Margin of Victory: 3.045 seconds.
Caution Flags: 3 for 19 laps.
Lead Changes: 10 among 6 drivers.
Lap Leaders: C.Smith 0-29; C.Custer 30-41; A.Almirola 42; A.Hill 43-97; C.Custer 98-112; A.Hill 113-127; C.Custer 128-158; S.Creed 159-170; A.Allmendinger 171-179; C.Custer 180-188; A.Hill 189-200
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): A.Hill, 3 times for 82 laps; C.Custer, 4 times for 67 laps; C.Smith, 1 time for 29 laps; S.Creed, 1 time for 12 laps; A.Allmendinger, 1 time for 9 laps; A.Almirola, 1 time for 1 lap.
Wins: A.Hill, 3; S.Mayer, 3; S.Van Gisbergen, 3; J.Allgaier, 2; C.Custer, 2; C.Smith, 2; A.Almirola, 2; R.Truex, 2; A.Allmendinger, 1; J.Love, 1; S.Smith, 1; R.Herbst, 1; C.Zilisch, 1.
Top 16 in Points: 1. J.Allgaier, 3088; 2. C.Custer, 3072; 3. C.Smith, 3064; 4. A.Allmendinger, 3063; 5. A.Hill, 3056; 6. J.Love, 3051; 7. S.Mayer, 3041; 8. S.Smith, 3011; 9. S.Creed, 2131; 10. R.Herbst, 2126; 11. P.Kligerman, 2112; 12. S.Van Gisbergen, 2103; 13. R.Sieg, 773; 14. B.Jones, 651; 15. A.Alfredo, 588; 16. B.Poole, 515.
