MARTINSVILLE, Va.—Austin Hill was two laps away from winning Dead On Tools 250 at Martinsville Speedway and advancing to the Championship 4 Round.
But when a race rolls into overtime—and it’s an elimination race with eight drivers battling for four spots—all bets are off.
The Richard Childress Racing teammates—Hill and Sheldon Creed—lined up on the front row with champion contenders Justin Allgaier and John Hunter Nemechek behind them. Only Nemechek was safely locked into the Championship 4 on points, but that didn’t diminish his desire to win.
When the green flag waved, the RCR drivers were teammates no more. Creed nudged Hill out of the lead. Allgaier banged Creed’s bumper from behind. Hill hung onto to lead the white flag lap, but Creed bumped the No. 21 Chevrolet again. Creed became more aggressive. He body-slammed Hill and took the lead.
“I drove into (Turn) 1 (on the restart),” Hill said. “I overdrove the corner because I thought the 20 (Nemechek) might try and dive bomb it in there. He went to block behind him. I really didn’t know where he was at. I couldn’t see that good in the mirrors. I could only go off of my spotter, who thought he was going to have a run off of 1.
“I went up the race track—kind of got into the 2 (Creed) and then got off of him. He didn’t give me a chance coming off of 3—and shoved me up the track. He didn’t give me a chance again. Then he overdrove in 3 and parks it. Then I drove into the back of him and blew out the radiator.”
As the RCR cars got out of shape in their battle for the win, Allgaier saw his opening. He banged doors with Creed then beat him to the line by 0.0032 seconds for his fourth win of the season. Allgaier’s victory knocked Creed out of the Playoffs despite the No. 2 Chevy finishing second.
Hill’s contact with Creed on the final lap destroyed his car. He dropped to 21st and finished seven points behind Cole Custer, allowing the No. 00 Ford to join Sam Mayer, Allgaier and Nemechek in the final four.
“Just frustrating,” Hill said. “I really feel like I’ve raced (Creed) with a lot of respect and haven’t gotten it in return. He was racing for the win, right? Then he gets into 3, slides up in front of me and the 7 (Allgaier) get beside him and by him. He made a couple of dumb mistakes on the white flag lap and ended up costing him and me, so there’s not either RCR team in the final four. That’s pathetic.”
“I can’t wait for the next adventure next year with Jesse Love (announced this week as RCR’s new Xfinity Series driver). Hopefully, we work better together.”
Saturday’s run-in between the two RCR drivers was not the first. The two made contact at Bristol Motor Speedway—the site of the last Xfinity Series short track race—which Allgaier also won after Hill found himself on the sidelines.
Creed, who announced he is leaving the team at the end of the season and is expected to join Joe Gibbs Racing felt no remorse for his performance.
“I saw the checkered flag coming and then I saw the 7,” Creed said of Allgaier. “I feel like in that situation—I definitely moved the 21 off the bottom—but I feel like I played it pretty nice. I gave him a chance. I beat him off of 1 on the restart. He’s the one that drove up into my door. I moved him in 3 and 4, then I moved him again in 1 and 2.
“It’s not like I blasted him. We were side-by-side in 3 and 4. I felt like I was very fair. For me to win, and for him to run second or third to still have a chance to be in—that was my goal. Winning would have easily fixed it. I didn’t even know the 7 was there. I didn’t even know he was an option. He kind of ran into all of us there. That’s just what this race has been the last two years.”
Clearly, the two drivers simply agreed to disagree over the what transpired on track.
“I’m going to talk to him,” Hill said of Creed. “I don’t know where he’s at, but I’m going to talk to him. It might not be today, but we’re going to have a conversation. It will be just between him and me behind closed doors.
“It’s just uncalled for. If you’re going to move somebody—and it’s your teammate to the win the race—at least win the damn race.”
Follow Lee Spencer on Twitter @CandiceSpencer or email her at: [email protected].
