Entry List : Atlanta Motor Speedway

• Atlanta Motor Speedway
• Raptor King of Tough 250
• Pole Winner: Sammy Smith
• Age: 18
• Team: No. 18 - Pilot Flying J Toyota
• Owner: Joe Gibbs Racing
• Crew Chief: Jeff Meendering
• Start positions set by NASCAR's Performance Metrics Qualifying (PMQ).
• Sammy Smith won the Pole Award for the Raptor King of Tough 250 by having the highest total PMQ.
• PMQ is a total number calculated on four performance metrics from the previous race:
• 15% of the driver's fastest lap time position.
• 25% of the driver's final race finish position.
• 25% of the owner's final race position.
• 35% of the Owner Points position.

• Saturday, March 18th, 2023
• NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer

Austin Hill wins at Atlanta for third NASCAR Xfinity victory of 2023

In a race that started in chaos and ended in bedlam on the last lap, Austin Hill won his third NASCAR Xfinity Series race of the season, beating Daniel Hemric to the checkered flag in Saturday's RAPTOR King of the Tough 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

With his family in attendance, the Winston, Ga., native, led three times for a race-high 103 laps and dominated an event that featured a record 12 cautions for 68 laps.

NASCAR called the final yellow on the last lap, after a multicar wreck erupted as Hill and Hemric approached the finish line.

Parker Kligerman made a race of it until the cars entered the frontstretch dogleg on the last lap. At the end of a two-lap dash to the finish, Kligerman's Chevrolet turned sideways across the front bumper of Hemric's car and hit the right rear of Hill's No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevy.

Hill maintained control and took the checkered flag with Hemric trailing by .085 seconds. Kligerman slid backwards across the finish line in fourth, as Ryan Truex edged him for the third spot by .001 seconds.

"They knew we were here," Kligerman radioed to his Big Machine Racing team.

The defending race winner, Hill came to Atlanta with victories at Daytona and Las Vegas and, understandably, the Xfinity Series lead. The win was Hill's second at Atlanta and the fifth of his career.

The only thing that shook Hill all night was the contact with the right rear of his car in the final 100 yards.

"I have no idea how I saved it coming to the line," Hill said, after his young daughter ran out to greet him at the finish line. "What a start to the season. Everybody at Richard Childress Racing, ECR engines—we've just had such a fast start with Chevrolet. This has been special, for sure."

Riley Herbst finished fifth, followed by Brett Moffitt, Josh Berry, John Hunter Nemechek, Sam Mayer and Justin Haley.

Hill won the first stage, and Kligerman gave Big Machine its first-ever stage victory in the second.

In the first two stages combined, the race featured more caution laps than green-flag laps—49 to 31, to be exact—the result of nine yellow flags.

Josh Williams' No. 92 Chevrolet sustained damage in a Lap 27 accident with the No. 02 Chevy of Kyle Weatherman, and when Williams dropped debris on the frontstretch to cause the fourth caution moments after the subsequent Lap 32 restart, NASCAR parked him under the Damaged Vehicle Policy.

Instead of driving his car to the garage, however, a frustrated Williams parked it at the start/finish line. NASCAR ordered Williams to the hauler for a discussion of the incident, after he was released from the infield care center.

• Drivers Entered: 38
• Laps Scheduled: 163
• Margin of Victory: 0.085 Seconds
• Time of Race: 2 Hours 44 Minutes 49 Seconds
• Average Speed: 91.382
• Cautions: 12 for 68 laps
• Lead Changes: 13
• Green Flag Passes: 2,205 (23.2 passes per green flag lap)

• Atlanta Motor Speedway
• RAPTOR King of Tough 250
• Race Winner: Austin Hill
• Age: 28
• Team : No. 21 - Bennett Transportation Chevrolet
• Owner: Richard Childress
• Crew Chief: Andy Street
• Austin Hill won the RAPTOR King of Tough 250, his fifth victory in 53 Xfinity Series races.
• This is his third victory and fifth top-10 finish in 2023.
• This is his second victory and third top-10 finish in three races at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
• Daniel Hemric (second) posted his fifth top-10 finish in eight races at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It is his third top-10 finish in 2023.
• Ryan Truex (third) posted his third top-10 finish in four races at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
• Sammy Smith (17th) was the highest finishing rookie.
• Austin Hill leads the point standings by 46 points over John Hunter Nemechek.