XFINITY: Austin Hill Emerges Victorious in Chaotic Finish at Talladega

Josh Calloni | Racing America On SI

Austin Hill, the most prolific superspeedway racer in NASCAR Xfinity Series history, notched another victory on his career stat sheet in Saturday's Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway. And in doing so, he did something he had incredibly never done before -- win at the 2.66-mile speedway in Alabama.

RESULTS: NASCAR Xfinity Series Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega

Prior to Saturday's win, which came as the field was frozen during a last-lap crash involving Hill's Richard Childress Racing teammate Jesse Love and Connor Zilisch, who was leading the race at the time, Hill had done all of his superspeedway celebrations in Victory Lane at Daytona International Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway.

This win, Hill had to wait for though as it took several minutes of NASCAR looking at replays and syncing up caution lights to determine who had actually won the race. Hill knew it was between Jeb Burton and him, but wasn't completely sure who was the leader at the time of caution.

"I knew that it was just between [Jeb Burton] and I, because I saw when the yellow light flashed getting into Turn 3. I saw that flash, and right when it flashed, I looked left and me and the No. 27 were side-by-side and we were like a half-car length ahead of [Jesse Love]," Hill explained.

After a few tough moments of waiting for the confirmation, Hill was declared the winner of the race.

With the win, Hill now has three wins through the opening 11 races of the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, and he is up to 13 wins overall in his 125-race NASCAR Xfinity Series career.

Hill's victory spelled heartbreak for Jeb Burton, who was initially scored as the race winner prior to NASCAR re-analyzing the moment of caution. Burton, who drives the No. 27 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet, truly thought he had secured his third career NASCAR Xfinity Series win.

Love, who sparked the race-ending caution, would be credited with a third-place finish, while defending NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier and Matt DiBenedetto finished fourth and fifth.

For DiBenedetto, his fifth-place run marked the first top-five finish of his 108-race NASCAR Xfinity Series career, and he accomplished the feat with his No. 99 Viking Motorsports team.

Anthony Alfredo, who will also race in Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series Jack Link's 500, registered a sixth-place finish in the No. 42 Young's Motorsports Chevrolet, and he was followed in the running order by Blaine Perkins, Harrison Burton, Sheldon Creed, and Daniel Dye inside the top-10.

Zilisch, 18, would finish 27th after being crashed from the lead with a half lap remaining in the event. Fortunately, the driver was able to walk away from the infield care center with a clean bill of health, especially considering he was complaining of back pain on his team radio after the initial crash.

Katherine Legge, who has taken the brunt of a lot of criticism after rough outings in her two NASCAR National Series starts of the season, came back strong with potentially her best overall effort behind the wheel of a stock car on Saturday.

The driver of the No. 32 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet led a lap during a green flag pit cycle, becoming just the fourth female racer to ever lead a lap in the history of the NASCAR Xfinity Series. She would go on to run solidly inside the top-15, and in the closing laps, she was closing in on a top-10.

Unfortunately, an error by Aric Almirola's spotter caused the veteran racer to collide with Legge in an attempt to sneak up in front of her in a drafting lane. This would spark a crash, which would also sweep up Brandon Jones, and Jeffrey Earnhardt.

While it was a great race for Legge, she would be credited with a 34th-place finish.

Next up for the NASCAR Xfinity Series is a trip to Fort Worth, Texas. The Andy's Frozen Custard 300 at Texas Motor Speedway is set for Saturday, May 3 and the race will be televised on The CW. Television coverage of the event will kick off at 2:00 PM ET.

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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.

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