Race Results

NASCAR Xfinity Series

Explore The Pocono Mountains 225

Pocono Raceway

July 22nd, 2023

Race #19 of the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series Season

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Explore The Pocono Mountains 225
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Laps Scheduled: 90
- Extended to 92 laps
Miles Raced : 230.0
Time of Race : 01 Hours 52 minutes 16 seconds
Average Speed: 122.922 mph
Cautions: 6
Caution Laps: 21
Lead Changes: 11
Cars in Race : 38
Finished On Lead Lap: 23 (61%)

Austin Hill celebrates with crew after winning — Long Pond, Pennsylvania - July 22nd, 2023: Austin Hill, driver of the #21 Global Industrial Chevrolet, celebrates with crew after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series Pocono 225 at Pocono Raceway. Photo by Logan Riely | Getty Images

FIN	ST	Car #	Driver	Make	TOT PTS	F PTS	B PTS	PO PTS	Laps	Led	x Led	S1	S2	STUS
1	11	21	Austin Hill	Chevrolet	41	40	1	5	92	2	1	10	0	Running
2	8	1	Sam Mayer	Chevrolet	43	35	8	0	92	0	0	7	7	Running
3	13	17	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	0	0	0	0	92	9	1	0	0	Running
4	21	98	Riley Herbst	Ford	36	33	3	0	92	3	1	0	8	Running
5	2	11	Daniel Hemric	Chevrolet	43	32	11	0	92	0	0	2	9	Running
6	6	18	Sammy Smith	Toyota	43	31	12	0	92	0	0	4	6	Running
7	7	9	Brandon Jones	Chevrolet	42	30	12	0	92	12	1	6	4	Running
8	18	25	Brett Moffitt	Ford	29	29	0	0	92	0	0	0	0	Running
9	22	48	Parker Kligerman	Chevrolet	28	28	0	0	92	0	0	0	0	Running
10	23	10	Daniel Suarez	Chevrolet	0	0	0	0	92	5	1	0	0	Running
11	3	2	Sheldon Creed	Chevrolet	32	26	6	0	92	0	0	5	0	Running
12	12	27	Jeb Burton	Chevrolet	25	25	0	0	92	0	0	0	0	Running
13	26	78	Anthony Alfredo	Chevrolet	24	24	0	0	92	0	0	0	0	Running
14	25	3	Ty Dillon	Chevrolet	0	0	0	0	92	0	0	0	0	Running
15	14	51	Jeremy Clements	Chevrolet	22	22	0	0	92	0	0	0	0	Running
16	20	28	Kyle Sieg	Ford	21	21	0	0	92	0	0	0	0	Running
17	30	38	Joe Graf Jr	Ford	20	20	0	0	92	0	0	0	0	Running
18	27	43	Ryan Ellis	Chevrolet	19	19	0	0	92	0	0	0	0	Running
19	35	45	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Chevrolet	18	18	0	0	92	0	0	0	0	Running
20	16	16	Chandler Smith	Chevrolet	18	17	1	0	92	0	0	0	10	Running
21	34	4	Garrett Smithley		16	16	0	0	92	0	0	0	0	Running
22	17	39	Ryan Sieg	Ford	15	15	0	0	92	0	0	0	0	Running
23	9	7	Justin Allgaier	Chevrolet	26	14	12	0	92	8	2	8	2	Running
24	1	8	Josh Berry	Chevrolet	33	13	20	2	91	51	4	1	1	Running
25	24	26	Kaz Grala	Toyota	12	12	0	0	91	0	0	0	0	Running
26	36	53	Patrick Emerling	Chevrolet	11	11	0	0	91	0	0	0	0	Running
27	38	2	Blaine Perkins	Chevrolet	10	10	0	0	91	0	0	0	0	Running
28	33	91	Chad Chastain	Chevrolet	0	0	0	0	91	0	0	0	0	Running
29	31	6	Brennan Poole	Chevrolet	8	8	0	0	91	0	0	0	0	Running
30	32	8	Alex Labbe	Ford	7	7	0	0	91	0	0	0	0	Running
31	37	35	Joey Gase	Chevrolet	6	6	0	0	90	0	0	0	0	Running
32	5	20	John Hunter Nemechek	Toyota	21	5	16	0	89	0	0	3	3	Running
33	10	0	Cole Custer	Ford	10	4	6	0	87	2	1	0	5	Running
34	4	19	Connor Mosack	Toyota	5	3	2	0	85	0	0	9	0	Accident
35	19	31	Parker Retzlaff	Chevrolet	2	2	0	0	84	0	0	0	0	Running
36	28	92	Josh Williams	Chevrolet	1	1	0	0	82	0	0	0	0	Running
37	15	24	Corey Heim	Toyota	0	0	0	0	81	0	0	0	0	Suspension
38	29	44	Sage Karam	Chevrolet	1	1	0	0	7	0	0	0	0	Transmission

Race Infractions

Explore The Pocono Mountains 225 at Pocono Raceway

Driver	Infraction	Penalty	Lap	Lap Assessed	Flag
Kyle Weatherman	Pre-Race to the Rear Unapproved Adjustments	Tail End	0	0	White
Sheldon Creed	Unspecified Unapproved Adjustments	Tail End	0	0	Yellow
Chad Chastain	Pre-Race to the Rear Unapproved Adjustments	Tail End	0	0	White
Josh Williams	Equipment Interference	Tail End	22	24	Yellow
Kyle Weatherman	Improper fueling	Tail End	23	25	Yellow
Austin Hill	Speeding on pit road	Tail End	41	43	Yellow
Cole Custer	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	46	48	Yellow
John Hunter Nemechek	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	46	48	Yellow
Sammy Smith	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	46	48	Yellow
Sammy Smith	Crewmember(s) over the wall too soon	Tail End	48	50	Yellow
Ryan Ellis	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	49	51	Yellow
Brennan Poole	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	49	51	Yellow
Austin Hill	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	49	51	Yellow
Anthony Alfredo	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	49	51	Yellow
Josh Berry	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	49	51	Yellow
Chad Chastain	Jumping the restart	Tail End	49	51	Yellow
Connor Mosack	Driving through more than 3 pit boxes	Pass Thru	69	71	Green
Parker Retzlaff	Speeding on pit road	Pass Thru	70	72	Yellow

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Race Fast Facts

Pocono Raceway
Explore the Pocono Mountains 225
Race Winner: Austin Hill
Age: 29
Team : No. 21 - Global Industrial Chevrolet
Owner: Richard Childress
Crew Chief: Andy Street
Austin Hill won the Explore the Pocono Mountains 225, his sixth victory in 67 Xfinity Series races.
This is his fourth victory and 15th top-10 finish in 2023.
This is his first victory and second top-10 finish in three races at Pocono Raceway.
Sam Mayer (second) posted his second top-10 finish in three races at Pocono Raceway. It is his 11th top-10 finish in 2023.
Chase Elliott (third) posted his second top-10 finish in two races at Pocono Raceway.
Sammy Smith (sixth) was the highest finishing rookie.
John Hunter Nemechek leads the point standings by 13 points over Austin Hill.

Race Recap

Austin Hill Wins Explore the Pocono Mountains 225 at Pocono Raceway

July 22nd, 2023

By Holly Cain - NASCAR Wire Service

Austin Hill survived an early race pit road speeding penalty, gambled on fuel strategy and prevailed in an incredible wheel-to-wheel run to the checkered flag in overtime to claim his fourth NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the season in the Explore the Pocono Mountains 225 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway on Saturday.

As important as the victory for the 29-year old Georgia-native his good day combined with an uncharacteristic disappointing day for his closest rivals in the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship standings gave him a huge boost in the points with only seven races remaining to set the 12-driver field. He trailed championship leader John Hunter Nemechek by 33 points before the green flag and took the checkered flag now only 13 behind.

On a dramatic – at times chaotic – overtime re-start, Hill had to get around the day's most dominant driver, JR Motorsports' Josh Berry. His No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet was behind Berry on the restart and gave him a big push at the green flag, but Berry got loose and Hill got around him to lead his first lap on the afternoon.

Both Berry and his JRM teammate Justin Allgaier hit the wall in separate accidents on the final lap bringing out the yellow flag and the race ultimately ended under caution with Hill out front.

“We didn't have the best car all day.," Hill said. “Andy [Petree] and all the guys back at RCR engines worked really hard. We got the car better. I thought we were maybe a top-five or top-seven car. I didn't think we had anything for the leader today.

“On that restart he drove into one and got really loose into the entry.. … we drag raced down the backstretch and once I cleared him [Berry] I knew I just had to hit my marks.

“Such a special win," he added. “Obviously with fuel saving, we didn't know if we were going to make it and it was on my mind going into the Tunnel Turn (Turn 2) that I had to get back to the start-finish line. I had enough fuel to do a burnout so we saved enough."

It was especially heartbreaking for Berry, who dominated all the race's major statistics. For the first time in his career he swept both Stage wins. And he started from pole position for the first time this year, leading a race high 51 of the 92 laps. He finished 24^thafter his No. 8 JRM Chevrolet trailed up track and into the wall racing Hill – bringing out the final caution that ended the race.

“Just a wild restart there," said Berry, who will take over for retiring NASCAR Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick in the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford next year.

“The 21 [Hill] was behind me and gave me a really good push but pushed me a little longer and harder than I wanted into Turn 1 and got me into the marbles .. I was able to battle back and race with him. Tried to time the run, but got there a little quicker.

“Just a racing deal.," he added. “Hate we didn't get the finish we deserved today. ..Just really proud of the car we brought today and I know if we continue to have that kind of speed we'll win plenty of races. Just a tough way to end but still a lot of positives from the day."

His JR Motorsports teammate Sammy Smith finished second to Hill, followed by former NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott, who was competing in his first NASCAR Xfinity Series race in two years – driving the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in a paint scheme honoring his team owner Rick Hendrick's late son, Ricky Hendrick – a popular NASCAR competitor.

Stewart-Haas Racing's Riley Herbst finished fourth, also coming out on the right side of fuel-save gamble. Kaulig Racing's Daniel Hemric was fifth.

“We finished fourth and that's what we needed at a track I don't particular love," Herbst said “Lucky to get out of here with a Top-5."

The effort was good enough to keep Herbst in the points picture for the championship. He is ranked 12^th– the final Playoff transfer position – 26 points ahead of Parker Kligerman, who finished ninth Saturday.

Sammy Smith, Brandon Jones, Brett Moffitt, Kligerman and another NASCAR Cup Series regular, Daniel Suarez, who drove for Kaulig Racing rounded out the Top-10.

A mid-race incident with two of the three championship leaders – Nemechek and third place Cole Custer – changed the complexion on the regular season title chase. On a restart just over halfway through the race – with both Nemechek and Custer running inside the Top-10 – Nemechek hit the wall and washed back across the track, his Toyota hitting Cole Custer's Ford. Custer was third in the championship entering the race.

Both teams made quick repairs to the cars, but they were non-competitive for the remainder of the race. Nemechek finished 32^ndand Custer, 33^rd.