AVONDALE, Ariz: Austin Hill did not have the fastest car during Saturday night’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race. Still, his Richard Childress Racing team hoped to overcome their faults with a Hail Mary effort in overtime at Phoenix (Ariz.) Raceway.
The No. 21 Richard Childress Racing team brought a brand-new Chevrolet Camaro for the season’s 33rd and final Xfinity Series race, but as the race progressed and transitioned from day to night, Hill struggled with the balance of his race car.
From fighting inside the top five during Stage 1, Hill struggled to stay inside the top 15 in Stage 3.
Out of the championship fight, Hill’s team, led by veteran crew chief Andy Street, decided to gamble when the caution flag waved with under five laps to go, sending the lead lap cars to pit road.
With their fresh tires gone, Hill’s team elected to put on right side scuffs, giving him track position and clean air for what they hoped would be a two-lap shootout to the checkered and the opportunity at Hills’ first Xfinity Series championship.
On the restart, Hill made his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro extremely wide, trying to keep the hungry hound of competitors behind him. However, those on fresher tires were able to eventually overtake Hill by the time the cars screamed to the exit of the backstretch.
Before returning to the white flag, another caution waved for an accident involving Parker Retzlaff – stacking the field again and allowing Hill to take advantage of anything that might develop on the restart.
The second and final restart of the season took off without a significant hitch. Cars beat and banged — but the vehicles stayed straight, and those on fresher Goodyear tires continued to drive away toward the checkered flag.
Hill finished 10th, two-tenths of a second behind Championship 4 rival A.J. Allmendinger, but fourth amongst the Championship 4 drivers. Justin Allgaier finished second, and Cole Custer was ahead of Allmendinger in eighth.
After the race, Hill said he would review with his team the mistakes in executing their on-track Phoenix performance.
“We just need to go back and look at it and see where it went wrong,” Hill admitted.
“Stage 1, we didn’t have a winning race car, but we were better than the other three I felt like. The No. 7 (Allgaier) was really good. He drove through the field. So, I’m not sure I was better than him on Stage 1.
“Kind of felt free in Stage 1, then we tightened up. And for whatever reason, when we tightened up, it just started over-slipping the fronts, but it wasn’t helping the rear grip any. I still was loose on entry.
“Maybe I just needed to ask for the car — our Bennett Chevrolet to just stay on the free side all day. Might have got us behind there on adjustments.”
Hill joined the rest of the lead pack on pit road under green flag conditions. He could contend with his four Championship rivals and keep them in his sights with a better balance.
“Yeah, then we came in with the No. 7 and put on stickers,” explained Hill. “We drove up through there, and I saw the 7 and 00 fighting it out. And I knew we were running out of laps, but I thought if they got into a battle and, I could have had a shot, because we were running some decent lap times there, and when the caution came out.”
The 10-time Xfinity Series winner said he knew he was going to be at a tire deficit on what was supposed to be the final restart of the night, but with a championship title on the line, he knew he could not beat his rivals square up – so they had to do the opposite.
“I knew we were going to be at a tire deficit, and we had to try something,” Hill explained.
“We put the right side tires on it, and just got down into 1, and I drove as deep as I could just trying to protect from out back and over-slipped — the front tires started sliding, and then I saw the 00 trying to
get to my right rear, and I didn’t want him to get to my outside.
“So, kind of slid up the track, and then he got in the back of me. And then coming off the corner, I was sideways and then allowed the No. 7 to get by both of us because I couldn’t put the throttle down.
“A lot of hard racing out there.”
Hill supported his Richard Childress Racing team’s decision to bring a brand-new race car to the Championship event.
“This was a brand-new race car for us, and I thought our car had really good speed,” sounded Hill. “I think there’s definitely things to work on and bugs to work out, but I think that overall, if you look back at some of the races that I’ve ran here in our other equipment, in our other cars, it wasn’t like we ran any worse or any better, really.
“I do think overall our new car was a little bit better. Just more so than anything, we just got behind on adjustments, and I think that was the main difference maker.
“It’s always nice to have a brand-new race car underneath you. We just, unfortunately, weren’t able to close it out.”
The 30-year-old praised his Championship 4 rival and Chevrolet teammate Justin Allgaier on capturing the Xfinity Series title in his seventh appearance.
“I want to say congrats to the No. 7 team,” said Hill. “Justin Allgaier has been doing this for a really long time. I think this was his seventh playoff appearance. To see him finally get it done, I’m very happy for him.
“I’m happy for his family. He’s a great guy to be around, a great competitor. Been fun racing with him all year. Hat’s off to JR Motorsports for getting it done.”
Hill reflected on his third full-time season and is excited about contending for another Xfinity Series championship in 2025, especially with the chatter of new personnel expected to join his Welcome, N.C.-based team during the offseason.
“Obviously you want to win the championship, so we came up short there,” remarked Hill. “But all in all, I think at the start of February in Daytona, you just want to be one of those final four drivers to have a shot at it.
“We were able to do that. I think all in all, this year has been a solid year for us. There’s areas that we still need to work on and be better as a race team, some other areas to win some more races.
“I think that we’re going to be a lot better going into next year. There’s a lot of things going on at RCR with new cars and just some moving parts and pieces. I feel really good about where I’m at with RCR. I think we’re making strides each and every year, and if we keep doing that, we’ll end up a champion one day.”
Follow Chris Knight on X (Twitter) @Knighter01 or email at [email protected].
