NASCAR
Hill Takes Fourth Xfinity Win of 2023 in Pocono after Penalty
LONG POND, Pa. – What appeared to be a very dominant race in Josh Berry’s control fell apart in overtime. After the 8 got loose in turn one, Austin Hill pounced to steal the victory. The Richard Childress Racing No. 21 Chevrolet fought back from a mid-race speeding penalty and saved enough fuel to have a shot late. Hill now has four wins across the 2023 season, but Pocono is the 21’s first victory since March.
From the pole, Josh Berry was unbeaten through both Stages. Driver 8 picked up max-points in a first career Stage sweep. Pit stops after Stage 2 would see Austin Hill nabbed for speeding, sending him to the tail of the field.
For the second week in a row, a restart stack up took out a few strong cars. Parker Kligerman was the first car on old tires, causing the No. 48 to stumble getting up through the gears. This forced Sammy Smith’s 18 hard into the back of John Hunter Nemechek, sending the 20 sideways into Cole Custer.
John Hunter Nemechek's bid for a third @XfinityRacing win in a row appears to be over. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/sMUCOW37Ip
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) July 22, 2023
A fuel mileage race soon unfolded in Stage 3, with three drivers opting to run long and hope for a caution. This group of drivers included Austin Hill, Sam Mayer and Riley Herbst. While Josh Berry was carving his way through the field on fresh tires, this trio was hoping for a miracle.
The caution these three drivers desperately needed came on lap 81, when Joey Gase spun off the bumper of Justin Allgaier. Although Herbst restarted up front, Austin Hill quickly took command with the lead until Berry finally retook the top spot in turn two. Another caution inside of five laps left gave everyone one more shot at the 8.
On the overtime restart, Hill gave Berry a big push into turn one. Berry got loose and ran wide, opening the door up for Hill. With Berry hot on his heels, Hill led at the white flag. As Hill left turn two however, a race-ending caution flew. This yellow was triggered by Josh Berry blowing a tire and pounding the wall.
Winless in his last 14 races, Hill finds victory lane again for the fourth time this season after a massive recovery effort. The 21 team saved just enough fuel to put Hill in position and he capitalized when the seas parted ahead of him.
“We didn’t have the best car all day,” Hill admitted. “Andy (Street, crew chief) and everybody back at RCR and ECR Engines worked really hard and we got the car better. I thought that we were maybe a top-five or seven car, but I didn’t think we had anything for the leader. The 8 was so fast today.”
“On that restart he drove into (turn) one and got really loose on entry. I was just trying to hit my line and throttled up, cleared him, and then taking the white I backed it up way too much into (turn) one. I just did not want to do what the 8 did. He packed air on me, ended up getting into my back bumper, and we drag-raced down the backstretch.”
“I thought the 1 (Sam Mayer) was about to split us three-wide, he had a big run. Me and the 8 both closed it up, and he had to push me at that point. Once I cleared him, I just knew I had to hit my marks. Obviously the caution then came out.”
“I can’t thank everyone enough. This Global Industrial Chevrolet wasn’t as fast as Xfinity 10G today, but we brought it home. These colors must be kind of good luck for me, this is the same exact paint scheme from when we won Las Vegas. Such a special win.
“Obviously with the fuel saving, had to save there and didn’t know if we were going to make it. That was on my mind on the last lap going into the tunnel turn. I was like ‘I got to get back to the start/finish line.’ We even had enough fuel to do a burnout, so we saved enough.”
The Pocono win saw Hill cut into Nemechek’s points lead. The 21 now only trails the 20 by 13 points for the regular season championship.
Behind Hill, the Pocono top-10 were: Sam Mayer, Chase Elliott, Riley Herbst, Daniel Hemric, Sammy Smith, Brandon Jones, Brett Moffitt, Parker Kligerman and Daniel Suarez.
Even with a race-high 51 laps led and both Stages won from the pole, Josh Berry would only finish a disappointing 24th-place.
Seven regular season races remain for the Xfinity Series, still with only seven drivers locked in by wins. The Playoff standings can be seen below, with Riley Herbst growing his points gap over Parker Kligerman.
The Xfinity Series returns to Road America next week for their last standalone event of the year. The Henry 180 will go green Saturday at 3:00 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. The National Park of Speed allows ample opportunity for a potential Playoff-busting upset winner. Some drivers immediately below the cut line are immense road course talents, eagerly awaiting next week at Elkhart Lake.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Sean Gardner/Getty Images for NASCAR
