Austin Hill won Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Pocono Raceway.
Hill became victorious after gambling on fuel strategy and staying out front in the final laps of the race. For Hill, this marks his fourth win of the 2023 Xfinity Series season.
Driver No. 21 started 11th and after the first stage was complete, Hill would only have one stage point. Hill would then receive a speeding penalty on pit road during pit stops that would send him to the rear of the field for the start of the final stage.
Hill would not become a factor in the final stage until the leaders pitted under green flag conditions. That would leave just Hill, Riley Herbst and Sam Mayer as the only drivers out on the track that have yet to pit.
Hill would catch a big break when the caution would come out after Joey Gase spun out on Lap 80. As result, Hill would restart from the second row. When the race would resume, Hill would take over the top spot from Herbst and Mayer. Josh Berry would challenge Hill for the lead and ultimately take over the top spot before Connor Mosack hit the wall and sent the race into a overtime finish.
Driver No. 21 would take the lead from Berry entering Turn 1 in overtime, but Berry would not back down after the Jr Motorsports driver made one last charge on the final lap.
Hill would be able to hold onto the lead until the yellow and checkered flag flew in the air, signaling the race was over.
“On that restart Berry drove into one and he got really loose on entry and I was just trying to hit my line,” Hill told NBC Sports following his victory.
Rounding out the top five were Sam Mayer in second, Chase Elliott in third, Riley Herbst in fourth and Daniel Hemric in fifth.
Daniel Hemric, who finished fifth marked his third consecutive top five this season and his fifth consecutive top ten finish.
Rounding out the top ten were Sammy Smith in sixth, Brandon Jones in seventh, Brett Moffitt in eighth, Parker Kligerman in ninth and Daniel Suarez in tenth.
After Saturday’s race at Pocono, John Hunter Nemechek currently holds the top spot in the points standings over Austin Hill. Cole Custer, Justin Allgaier and Chandler Smith round out the top five in points.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Road America in the running of the Henry 180 on Saturday, July 29th at 3:00 p.m. Eastern on NBC.
Stage 1 Winner: Josh Berry
Stage 2 Winner: Josh Berry
Race Winner: Austin Hill
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