Austin Hill wins wild crash-filled NASCAR Xfinity race at Talladega

Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity race at Talladega Superspeedway had everything. There was nonstop action, several major crashes, fuel-mileage, an overtime finish, but a familiar name waving the checkered flag.

Superspeedway ace Austin Hill did it again, wining the race despite worries about running out of fuel. While his title hopes ended last round, the victory will lock his car into the Championship 4, giving the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing team a shot at the big trophy.

“Honestly, I wasn’t that nervous, as soon as my crew chief said we should have at least 2.5 gallons,” said Hill in Victory Lane. “I knew I was saving fuel while leading. We slowed the pace down a lot leading the pack, and nobody was really making a move … I thought that we were gonna be close, but I thought we were gonna make it. I started having some fuel pressure issues, dropped to the apron, and it immediately came back up.

“…With how the last half of my season has went, with everything that’s went on, and getting knocked out of the playoffs. I knew I was still in the owner’s championship. That’s one thing I want to do for that man right there, Richard Childress. If I can’t get the driver’s, we at least gotta get the owner’s. So special — always fun to be on these superspeedways.”

Watch: Hill: ‘So special’ to win at Talladega Superspeedway

This is Hill’s 14th career win and his fourth of the 2025 season — which includes a Talladega sweep. Carson Kvapil finished second, Justin Allgaier third, Christian Eckes fourth, and Caesar Bacarella earned a career-best finish in fifth.

Blaine Perkins, Parker Retzlaff, Leland Honeyman, Sammy Smith, and Jesse Love completed the Talladega top 10 at the finish line.

Stage 1

The race was action-packed from the very start. The field fanned out three-wide and the RCR drivers quickly seized control.

About 15 laps into the race, a 12-car wreck broke out on the frontstretch. Jeb Burton shot up the track after a close moment with Sheldon Creed, making contact with Brandon Jones. Jones’ car slid down the track, hooking Creed back through the field and into the outside wall. It was a huge hit for both Creed and Ryan Sieg, but all drivers were checked and released from the infield care center.

The wreck resulted in a 16-minute red flag to repair the wall. The rest of the stage was clean, and it was Hill taking the Stage 1 win with Allgaier, Love, Connor Zilisch, and Aric Almirola in tow.

The second stage was much of the same three-wide racing, but things stayed clean for most of the stage. Unfortunately, that changed with just a few laps to go as some contact in the back of pack led to a six-car wreck.

Leland Honeyman got turned down the track, hitting Zilisch and ending the rookie’s incredible streak of 18 consecutive top five finishes. Connor Mosack spun up the track, where he was hit hard by both Dean Thompson and William Sawalich.

While awake and alert, Sawalich was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.

Stage 2 ended in a shootout, but it was Hill once again claiming victory ahead of Allgaier, Kvapil, Eckes, and Nick Sanchez.

Stage 3

The Kaulig teammates of Eckes and Daniel Dye controlled the race for the start of the final stage, but the lead changed hands often as the field jostled for position.

Allgaier and Almirola took control briefly, as did the damaged but still competitive Burton cousins. Eventually, things got single-file with Hill in command.

It remained that way until the very end, as the inside line suddenly formed up with two laps to go. Love was leading it, but Sammy Smith tried and failed to join. He ended up in the middle, and this awkward spot led to calamity at the exit of Turn 2. He collided with Almirola, who hit Burton and then slammed the outside wall, nearly going fully airborne due to the impact. Dye also lost control and slammed the inside wall.

All drivers were okay, but the incident pushed the race into overtime. Several drivers chose to pit for fuel. Crucially, Hill did not.

He restarted next to Josh Williams, who immediately ran out of fuel. Honeyman was then in pursuit, but he couldn’t mount a real challenge.

At the white flag, some quicker cars began to rapidly approach Hill and he threw a big block on Sanchez, who got hooked into the wall by his own pusher. The race stayed green, and Hill continued to block and weave as he faced challenges from Eckes, then Kvapil as he captured the checkered flag.

1	A. Hill Richard Childress Racing	21		Chevrolet	100	2:01’31.784		4	60
2	C. Kvapil JR Motorsports	1		Chevrolet	100	+0.105 2:01’31.889	0.105	6	45
3	J. Allgaier JR Motorsports	7		Chevrolet	100	+0.216 2:01’32.000	0.111	6	52
4	C. Eckes Kaulig Racing	16		Chevrolet	100	+0.277 2:01’32.061	0.061	6	40
5	C. Bacarella Alpha Prime Racing	5		Chevrolet	100	+0.278 2:01’32.062	0.001	6	32
6	B. Perkins Jordan Anderson Racing	31		Chevrolet	100	+0.659 2:01’32.443	0.381	6	35
7	P. Retzlaff Alpha Prime Racing	4		Chevrolet	100	+1.396 2:01’33.180	0.737	8	30
8	L. Honeyman Jr. Cope Family Racing	70		Chevrolet	100	+1.432 2:01’33.216	0.036	7	29
9	S. Smith JR Motorsports	8		Chevrolet	100	+1.442 2:01’33.226	0.010	6	36
10	J. Love Richard Childress Racing	2		Chevrolet	100	+1.490 2:01’33.274	0.048	6	40
11	N. Leitz SS-Green Light Racing	07		Chevrolet	100	+1.561 2:01’33.345	0.071	10	26
12	G. Smithley SS-Green Light Racing	14		Chevrolet	100	+1.616 2:01’33.400	0.055	6	25
13	H. Burton AM Racing	25		Ford	100	+1.753 2:01’33.537	0.137	9	24
14	J. Williams Alpha Prime Racing	45		Chevrolet	100	+1.842 2:01’33.626	0.089	7	24
15	K. Sieg RSS Racing	28		Ford	100	+3.169 2:01’34.953	1.327	5	22
16	J. Gase Joey Gase Motorsports	53		Chevrolet	100	+3.384 2:01’35.168	0.215	7	21
17	J. Burton Jordan Anderson Racing	27		Chevrolet	100	+3.392 2:01’35.176	0.008	11	21
18	D. Starr Joey Gase Motorsports	35		Chevrolet	100	+3.503 2:01’35.287	0.111	7	19
19	B. Poole Alpha Prime Racing	44		Chevrolet	100	+6.672 2:01’38.456	3.169	8	18
20	N. Sanchez Big Machine Racing Team	48		Chevrolet	100	+11.824 2:01’43.608	5.152	4	23
21	C. Ware Mike Harmon Racing	74		Chevrolet	100	+11.860 2:01’43.644	0.036	8	16
22	M. Maggio DGM Racing with Jesse Iwuji Motorsports	91		Chevrolet	99	+1 Lap 2:01’36.853	1 Lap	9	15
23	C. Zilisch JR Motorsports	88		Chevrolet	97	+3 Laps 2:01’38.400	2 Laps	13	21
24	A. Almirola Joe Gibbs Racing	19		Toyota	92	+8 Laps 1:47’02.310	5 Laps	4	23	Accident
25	D. Dye Kaulig Racing	10		Chevrolet	92	+8 Laps 1:47’02.704	0.394	4	14	Accident
26	B. Jones Joe Gibbs Racing	20		Toyota	84	+16 Laps 2:01’45.315	8 Laps	9	11
27	R. Ellis DGM Racing with Jesse Iwuji Motorsports	71		Chevrolet	49	+51 Laps 1:03’35.308	35 Laps	5	10	Radiator
28	C. Mosack Viking Motorsports	99		Chevrolet	44	+56 Laps 53’36.768	5 Laps	3		Accident
29	D. Thompson Sam Hunt Racing	26		Toyota	44	+56 Laps 53’36.875	0.107	3	11	Accident
30	W. Sawalich Joe Gibbs Racing	18		Toyota	44	+56 Laps 53’36.948	0.073	3	8	Accident
31	T. Gray Joe Gibbs Racing	54		Toyota	41	+59 Laps 51’04.552	3 Laps	8	6	Rear gear
32	J. Anderson Jordan Anderson Racing	32		Chevrolet	19	+81 Laps 26’38.751	22 Laps	5	5	Accident
33	A. Alfredo Young’s Motorsports	42		Chevrolet	17	+83 Laps 24’16.170	2 Laps	5	4	Accident
34	S. Creed Haas Factory Team	00		Ford	15	+85 Laps 12’51.345	2 Laps	10	3	Accident
35	R. Sieg RSS Racing	39		Ford	15	+85 Laps 12’51.414	0.069	2	2	Accident
36	B. Queen Kaulig Racing	11		Chevrolet	15	+85 Laps 12’51.450	0.036	9	1	Accident
37	J. Clements Jeremy Clements Racing	51		Chevrolet	15	+85 Laps 12’51.564	0.114	6	1	Accident
38	S. Mayer Haas Factory Team	41		Ford	15	+85 Laps 12’51.683	0.119	4	1	DVP

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