NASCAR
Austin Hill Wins in Last-Lap Pass at Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – For the second time in three weeks, Austin Hill is an Xfinity Series winner. Not unlike the last-lap thrills of Daytona, at Las Vegas Hill made another late pass for the victory. While rookie Chandler Smith dominated the second half of the Alsco 300, Austin Hill slowly stalked the 16 down. Coming to the white flag, Hill made his move to get by Smith and take his fourth career win. After opening 2023 with two wins in three weeks, Hill and the No. 21 RCR team are positioned nicely as championship contenders.
Both Xfinity winners from the first two weeks of 2023 split the opening Stages, going to John Hunter Nemechek and Austin Hill. Chandler Smith would lead in both Stages, but failed to get either win. The 16’s pace would not shy away, as the Georgia native was lights-out quick in the final Stage. After passing Kyle Busch, Smith drove off unchallenged.
Following everyone’s final trip down pit road, Smith’s lead only increased to multiple seconds. Handling would fall away on the No. 16 Chevrolet late though, as Austin Hill began to draw closer in the final 10 laps. Tracking close to a half-second per lap faster than Smith, Hill made the winning pass after the 16 missed the bottom lane in turn four. While Smith led a race-high 118 laps, it was Austin Hill who led the one that counted.
“Passing one of the lapped cars early in the run when the 16 got by me, I got really really loose on entry to three,” Hill said. “I thought I was going to wreck it, but I saved it. The 16 then got really far out, so I just knew I had to not abuse the tires and try to methodically just work through traffic.
“This track was really tough today, you just had to really paint the line down in (turns) three and four. If you missed it by it seemed like half an inch, you paid for it for the whole lap. That’s just really what I stuck to all race long. Just trying to really be disciplined down there in three and four.
“We were okay in (turns) one and two most of the day. But entry into three I was struggling and the 7, who I saw coming from way back, could really drive deep and roll the center a lot better than I could. I saw the 16 struggling in traffic, and my spotter Derek (Kneeland) was like ‘c’mon baby, you can get it.’ We got down to five, four, three to go, and then I saw him get tight off of four there. I painted the line perfectly and I knew if I could clear him down the frontstretch, we could hold him off.
“I can’t thank everyone at RCR enough, our Global Industrial Chevrolet was good today, I wouldn’t say perfect, but it feels good to win on a mile-and-a-half, not just on superspeedways.”
Sneaking by Smith along with Hill was Justin Allgaier, who rallied to second after a lap 79 restart violation. Behind the front trio, top finishers were Kyle Busch, Josh Berry, John Hunter Nemechek, Sam Mayer, Riley Herbst, Sheldon Creed, and Daniel Hemric.
Despite the heartbreaking loss, Smith was still confident of future wins after this race. Coming into Las Vegas with only one lap led, Smith was the best car in only his sixth career start. Expect the 16 to be a contender for wins all season long.
The next shot Smith has at a victory will be Phoenix Raceway next week. Coverage of the United Rentals 200 begins Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. Both Phoenix winners from 2022 are no longer in the field; now is time for another driver to shine in the desert.
Written by Peter Stratta
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