Racing America Logo

Austin Hill Wins Chaotic Talladega Race Over Kvapil; Xfinity Results

Toby Christie|
Ricky Martinez | TobyChristie.com

Austin Hill emerged victorious at the end of a crash fest on Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway. The driver of the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet was able to steer clear of the chaos throughout the afternoon by staying out front, where he typically finds himself at drafting tracks.

Hill felt it was a little easier to hold off the pack of drivers behind him when crashes thinned the herd.

"I almost thought it was a little bit easier to block the runs that were coming because the inertia they had out back, and the runs that were getting generated by [Justin Allgaier] just never seemed to form," Hill said. "I mean, I could see them back there, they're dragging back trying to make a run. They'd get about half back from me, but they could never break that bubble."

By holding off Carson Kvapil by 0.105 seconds, Hill was able to secure his 10th career NASCAR Xfinity Series win on a drafting track (Atlanta, Daytona, and Talladega). And with the win, Hill's No. 21 Richard Childress Racing team moves on to the Championship 4 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Owner's championship Playoffs.

Hill said chasing the owner's championship gave him plenty of stakes as he attempting to fend off challengers in the closing laps for the win.

"I had just as much to lose as they did," Hill explained in his post-race press conference. "The owner's championship pays more than the driver's championship does. To me, seems like the Owner's Championship should probably get a little more props for if you was to win that, right? So, yeah, I was viewing it as I was one of the drivers in the final 8, and that's just how I raced everyone. Raced everyone extremely hard, and made a lot of big moves, but thought I raced everyone with a lot of respect."

Hill , who was eliminated from the Xfinity Series driver's championship Playoffs at the Charlotte Roval, now eyes his first career NASCAR Cup Series win as he'll drive the No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet on Sunday.

"Sweep the weekend," Hill boasted when asked what he expected in Sunday's race. "I have so much confidence on these superspeedways, but anything can happen."

Kvapil, who narrowly missed out on his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series win, was able to work his way back inside of the Playoff cutline. With one race remaining in the Round of 8 of the Playoffs, which takes place at the 0.526-mile Martinsville Speedway short track, Kvapil sits 11 points ahead of JR Motorsports teammate Sammy Smith for the final Playoff transfer spot.

The 22-year-old, who cut his racing teeth on local short tracks across the country, is very optimistic about his chances of advancing to the Championship 4 next weekend at the paperclip.

"I'm excited," Kvapil said. "Obviously, I'd rather be locked [in] on the screen over there than +11, but from being -22 going into the weekend to +11, I'm a lot happier with it."

Justin Allgaier, the defending series champion, was able to lock his spot in the Championship 4 by way of points on Saturday afternoon with a third-place finish. The driver, who is in his final few races with crew chief Jim Pohlman, who will serve as Kyle Busch's crew chief in the NASCAR Cup Series next season, will attempt to go back-to-back.

Christian Eckes, who was very aggressive with his shoves in the closing laps of the race, was able to come home with a fourth-place finish behind the wheel of the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet, and Caesar Bacarella came home in fifth-place in the No. 5 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet.

In a race that was marred by several high-speed spectacular crashes, a topsy-turvy top-10 lineup followed behind the race winner, Hill.

Blaine Perkins came home in sixth, followed by Parker Retzlaff, Leland Honeyman, Sammy Smith, and Jesse Love, who rounded out the top-10.

Love was one of the stronger cars in the field, but as the race went into overtime, he was forced to pit road to take additional fuel. This dropped Love from a certain top-five run to a 10th-place result. Still, the driver bolstered his Championship 4 hopes as he exited the race 40 points above the Playoff cutline.

Playoff contenders Brandon Jones, Sheldon Creed, and Sam Mayer were all swept up in a Lap 16 melee, caused by Jeb Burton making contact with Creed, and then Burton skidding into Jones. Jones would end the race in 26th, 16 laps off the pace, while Creed and Mayer would be unable to resume the race after the crash and would finish 34th and 38th, respectively.

All three drivers find themselves below the cutline heading into the final race of the Round of 8 at Martinsville, and they all face essentially a must-win situation.

In addition to Allgaier, Connor Zilisch was also able to stamp his spot into the Championship 4 by way of points despite suffering damage in a crash, and being hampered by a flat tire and additional damage later in the race. Zilisch finished 23rd on Saturday as he locked up his Championship 4 berth.

In the crash with Zilisch and Connor Mosack, Joe Gibbs Racing driver William Sawalich took the biggest impact and was transported to a local area hospital for further evaluation after a hard crash on Lap 45 ended his day early. JGR has yet to update his condition at the time of publishing.

Aric Almirola, who secured a Championship 4 berth in the owner's championship playoffs with a win at Las Vegas a week ago, was in the furious lead pack in the closing laps, but contact from Sammy Smith sent him hard into the outside wall. As Almirola nearly flipped after contacting the outside wall, Daniel Dye went spinning into the inside wall with a severe impact as well.

Almirola explained that he had a bruised foot from the crash, but that his driving status for next week's race at Martinsville is not in question.

Next up for the NASCAR Xfinity Series is the IAA and Ritchie Bros. 250 at Martinsville Speedway, which will serve as the final race of the Round of 8 of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs. That race is set for Saturday, October 25 and will be televised on The CW with coverage set to kick off at 7:30 PM ET. The Motor Racing Network (MRN) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will provide the radio broadcast of the event.

NASCAR Xfinity Series United Rentals 250 at Talladega Superspeedway Race Results (Race 31 of 33):

Fin

Car

Driver

Laps

Diff

1

21*

Austin Hill (S1) (S2)

100

--

2

1

Carson Kvapil # (P)

100

0.105

3

7*

Justin Allgaier (P)

100

0.216

4

16

Christian Eckes #

100

0.277

5

5

Caesar Bacarella

100

0.278

6

31

Blaine Perkins

100

0.659

7

4

Parker Retzlaff

100

1.396

8

70

Leland Honeyman

100

1.432

9

8

Sammy Smith (P)

100

1.442

10

2*

Jesse Love (P)

100

1.490

11

07

Nick Leitz

100

1.561

12

14

Garrett Smithley

100

1.616

13

25

Harrison Burton

100

1.753

14

45

Josh Williams

100

1.842

15

28

Kyle Sieg

100

3.169

16

53

Joey Gase

100

3.384

17

27

Jeb Burton

100

3.392

18

35

David Starr

100

3.503

19

44

Brennan Poole

100

6.672

20

48

Nick Sanchez #

100

11.824

21

74

Carson Ware

100

11.860

22

91

Mason Maggio

99

1 lap

23

88*

Connor Zilisch # (P)

97

3 laps

24

19*

Aric Almirola (P)

92

Out

25

10

Daniel Dye #

92

Out

26

20*

Brandon Jones (P)

84

16 laps

27

71

Ryan Ellis

49

Out

28

99

Connor Mosack

44

Out

29

26

Dean Thompson #

44

Out

30

18

William Sawalich #

44

Out

31

54

Taylor Gray #

41

Out

32

32

Jordan Anderson

19

Out

33

42

Anthony Alfredo

17

Out

34

00*

Sheldon Creed (P)

15

Out

35

39

Ryan Sieg

15

Out

36

11

Brenden Queen

15

Out

37

51

Jeremy Clements

15

Out

38

41*

Sam Mayer (P)

15

Out

(P) indicates NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff Driver
* indicates NASCAR Xfinity Series Owner's Championship Playoffs
# indicates Rookie of the Year contender
(i) indicates a driver ineligible to score points
(S1) indicates Stage 1 winner
(S2) indicates Stage 2 winner
(X) indicates Xfinity Fastest Lap

Recommended Articles

Published | Modified
Toby Christie
TOBY CHRISTIE

Toby Christie is the Editor-in-Chief of Racing America. He has 15 years of experience as a motorsports journalist and has been with Racing America since 2023.

Share on XFollow toby_christie
Home/News