Austin Hill goes back-to-back at Talladega
LINCOLN, Ala. — Austin Hill has become a back-to-back winner at Talladega Superspeedway in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with a win in Saturday’s United Rentals 250.
Hill led three times for 48 of the 100 laps run Saturday at Talladega to win his second consecutive Xfinity Series race at the 2.66-mile superspeedway.
TOP-10 FINISHERS: Austin Hill, Carson Kvapil, Justin Allgaier, Christian Eckes, Caesar Bacarella, Blaine Perkins, Parker Retzlaff, Leland Honeyman, Sammy Smith, Jesse Love.
Hill reprised his April victory at Talladega with a sweep of the stages Saturday. He will race for the owners championship with the No. 21 car at Phoenix Raceway.
Justin Allgaier and Connor Zilisch will race for the driver’s championship at Phoenix. They locked themselves into the Championship 4 based on their points position after Talladega.
NASCAR Xfinity Series playoff standings after Talladega
- Connor Zilisch IN
- Justin Allgaier IN
- Jesse Love +40
- Carson Kvapil +11
- Sammy Smith -11
- Brandon Jones -20
- Sam Mayer -22
- Sheldon Creed -41
Who won the stages in today’s NASCAR Xfinity race at Talladega?
Austin Hill won both stages in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Talladega. He did that back in 2022 — but did not win.
STAGE TWO TOP-10 (LAP 50): Austin Hill, Justin Allgaier, Carson Kvapil, Christian Eckes, Nick Sanchez, Jesse Love, Aric Almirola, Sammy Smith, Daniel Dye, Jeb Burton.
STAGE ONE TOP-10 (LAP 25): Austin Hill, Justin Allgaier, Jesse Love, Connor Zilisch, Aric Almirola, Sammy Smith, Blaine Perkins, Dean Thompson, Carson Kvapil, William Sawalich.
FINAL STAGE
TOP 10 FOR OVERTIME: Hill, Williams, Honeyman, Perkins, Eckes, Sanchez, Kyle Sieg, Harrison Burton, Smithley, Starr.
OVERTIME: Sammy Smith is out of fuel and is coasting to pit road. Other drivers will have to pit for fuel too, including Justin Allgaier and Jesse Love. Smith beats Austin Hill out of the pits.
LAP 92: Jesse Love gets shuffled out! Now Aric Almirola wrecks hard! Every Toyota is out of the race now that Aric Almirola has wrecked.
Still very little movement yet with eight laps to go (lap 86). Top 10 is Austin Hill, Justin Allgaier, Jesse Love, Aric Almirola, Sammy Smith, Leland Honeyman, Josh Williams, Daniel Dye, Blaine Perkins, Nick Sanchez.
LAP 71: Connor Zilisch off the pace with a cut tire.
LAP 70: William Sawalich has been taken to a local hospital for further evaluation.
LAP 67: Single-file racing up front but the field is clicking off laps after calamity early on. Austin Hill leads and has combined with Jesse Love to lead over half of the race so far.
LAP 61: Justin Allgaier to the lead with Austin Hill pushing him. Hill now goes to the lead.
LAP 60: Harrison Burton to the lead with help from Jeb Burton and Blaine Perkins. Burton and Perkins are teammates with Jordan Anderson Racing.
LAP 58: Aric Almirola to the lead over Christian Eckes!
LAP 54: 13 of the 38 starters are 5 or more laps down going into the final stage:
Ryan Ellis, Connor Mosack, Dean Thompson, William Sawalich, Jordan Anderson, Anthony Alfredo, Sheldon Creed, Ryan Sieg, Brenden Queen, Jeremy Clements, Sam Mayer, Taylor Gray, Brandon Jones.
Top 10 is Daniel Dye, Christian Eckes, Carson Kvapil, Austin Hill, Aric Almirola, Leland Honeyman Jr., Nick Sanchez, Joey Gase, Justin Allgaier and Sammy Smith. Allgaier earned 18 stage points, Jesse Love earned 13, Kvapil earned 10, Smith earned eight and Connor Zilisch earned seven.
The final stage ends on lap 94, the scheduled endpoint of the race. Sunset is at 7 p.m. ET, which is just an hour away. They will need to get these final 40 laps in quickly.
STAGE TWO Winner: Austin Hill
STAGE TWO TOP-10 (LAP 50): Austin Hill, Justin Allgaier, Carson Kvapil, Christian Eckes, Nick Sanchez, Jesse Love, Aric Almirola, Sammy Smith, Daniel Dye, Jeb Burton.
LAP 48: Sammy Smith, Justin Allgaier, Carson Kvapil, Austin Hill, Nick Sanchez, Aric Almirola, Jesse Love, Jeb Burton, Joey Gase and Blaine Perkins is the top 10 with two to go in the stage.
LAP 45: Dean Thompson, William Sawalich, Connor Zilisch, Connor Mosack and Leland Honeyman Jr. have crashed in turn one. Zilisch’s top-five finish streak could come to an end at 18.
LAP 44: Taylor Gray to pit road with a mechanical issue that could be terminal. In the pack, Jesse Love is back to 10th. Aric Almirola took the middle lane and is up to fifth. They are racing hard!
LAP 41: Justin Allgaier takes the lead but Austin Hill on the inside lane and Christian Eckes are hot on his heels. Allgaier and teammate Connor Zilisch could possibly each clinch a Championship 4 spot today.
Connor Zilisch clears Jesse Love for the lead, lap 33! That was impressive! Now Love takes it back and leads lap 34.
The second stage ends on lap 50. The winner of the second stage of a NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Talladega has gone on to win in two of the last four races — Austin Hill (April 2025), Jeb Burton (April 2023).
STAGE ONE Winner: Austin Hill
STAGE ONE TOP-10 (LAP 25): Austin Hill, Justin Allgaier, Jesse Love, Connor Zilisch, Aric Almirola, Sammy Smith, Blaine Perkins, Dean Thompson, Carson Kvapil, William Sawalich.
LAP 24: Jesse Love for the lead after getting pushed out of line by Justin Allgaier. They pushed Love out of line again as here comes Connor Zilisch with new tires.
LAP 22: Hill and Love lead but here comes Kvapil!
LAP 20: Nick Sanchez, Austin Hill, William Sawalich, Jesse Love, Connor Mosack, Justin Allgaier, Christian Eckes, Aric Almirola, Sammy Smith and Carson Kvapil make up the top 10 on the track coming to the green on lap 21. Sam Mayer is done for the day.
LAP 18: Red flag is lifted and 88 54 26 53 pit, among others. Connor Zilisch, in the 88 car, could possibly clinch a spot in the Championship 4 after Talladega. He needs to be 60 points ahead of the first driver above the cutline to do so.
CBS Sports’ Steven Taranto shared these photos on social media of Creed’s car going to the garage during the red flag:
LAP 17: Sheldon Creed is destroyed after hitting the wall basically head-on, Brandon Jones is in it, as is Sam Mayer, Harrison Burton, Jordan Anderson and others. That started when Jeb Burton gave a bad push to Creed when the line accordioned. Ryan Sieg, Jeremy Clements, Brenden Queen and others got a piece of that.
LAP 16: Nick Sanchez to the lead! He takes it from Jesse Love who he had beef with last week as the big one breaks out in the tri-oval!
LAP 10: The two outside lanes dropped back with some siding and moving. Now, Austin Hill and Aric Almirola go to the outside lane to renew the effort and go to the lead. Jesse Love successfully defended the lead.
LAP 7: William Sawalich clears Jesse Love but Love fights back. The third lane is moving, now up to the third car on the inside lanes.
LAP 5: William Sawalich for the lead with Carson Kvapil pushing
LAP 4: Jesse Love leads after William Sawalich led lap 1. They are racing two-wide for about six rows and then they are three-wide. Sheldon Creed leads the third lane.
Blaine Perkins, Taylor Gray and Mason Maggio will go to the rear of the field for the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Talladega. Jesse Love will lead them and others to the green flag.
The first stage ends on lap 25. The winner of the first stage of a NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Talladega has gone on to win the race just twice in the last 10 races — Jesse Love (April 2024), Justin Haley (June 2020).
RACE INFO
Eight drivers could earn a Championship 4 berth Saturday with a win — but 30 other drivers will be going after that too.
Richard Childress Racing drivers Austin Hill and Jesse Love have won the last two spring Talladega races, while Sammy Smith won here a year ago. Love and Smith are still in driver’s championship contention.
Lineup:
Categories
Discover more from The Racing Experts
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com