Race Results

NASCAR Xfinity Series

Raptor King of Tough 250

Atlanta Motor Speedway

February 24th, 2024

Race #2 of the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Season

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Laps Scheduled: 163
- Extended to 169 laps
Miles Raced : 260.3
Time of Race : 01 Hours 55 minutes 16 seconds
Average Speed: 135.474 mph
Margin of Victory : 00.106 seconds
Cautions: 4
Caution Laps: 23
Lead Changes: 11
Cars in Race : 38
Finished On Lead Lap: 14 (37%)

Austin Hill celebrates with a burnout — Hampton, Georgia - February 24th, 2024: Austin Hill, driver of the #21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series King of Tough 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Photo by Alex Slitz | Getty Images

FIN	ST	Car #	Driver	Make	TOT PTS	F PTS	B PTS	PO PTS	Laps	Led	x Led	S1	S2	STUS
1	2	21	Austin Hill	Chevrolet	43	40	3	5	169	2	1	0	8	Running
2	12	81	Chandler Smith	Toyota	40	35	5	0	169	0	0	0	6	Running
3	13	97	Shane van Gisbergen	Chevrolet	34	34	0	0	169	0	0	0	0	Running
4	10	18	Sheldon Creed	Toyota	37	33	4	0	169	0	0	8	10	Running
5	24	31	Parker Retzlaff	Chevrolet	32	32	0	0	169	0	0	0	0	Running
6	23	51	Jeremy Clements	Chevrolet	31	31	0	0	169	0	0	0	0	Running
7	15	5	Anthony Alfredo	Chevrolet	30	30	0	0	169	0	0	0	0	Running
8	22	26	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Toyota	29	29	0	0	169	0	0	0	0	Running
9	8	19	Ryan Truex	Toyota	42	28	14	0	169	0	0	4	4	Running
10	14	8	Sammy Smith	Chevrolet	34	27	7	0	169	0	0	10	5	Running
11	6	1	Sam Mayer	Chevrolet	34	26	8	0	169	0	0	3	0	Running
12	1	2	Jesse Love	Chevrolet	45	25	20	2	169	157	6	1	1	Running
13	7	16	AJ Allmendinger	Chevrolet	31	24	7	0	169	8	3	6	9	Running
14	18	9	Brandon Jones	Chevrolet	23	23	0	0	169	0	0	0	0	Running
15	4	98	Riley Herbst	Ford	39	22	17	0	168	0	0	2	3	Running
16	11	0	Cole Custer	Ford	25	21	4	0	168	0	0	0	7	Running
17	17	91	Kyle Weatherman	Chevrolet	20	20	0	0	168	0	0	0	0	Running
18	21	78	BJ McLeod	Chevrolet	19	19	0	0	168	0	0	0	0	Running
19	5	48	Parker Kligerman	Chevrolet	24	18	6	0	168	1	1	5	0	Running
20	30	44	Brennan Poole	Chevrolet	17	17	0	0	167	0	0	0	0	Running
21	35	42	Leland Honeyman Jr	Chevrolet	16	16	0	0	167	0	0	0	0	Running
22	20	39	Ryan Sieg	Ford	17	15	2	0	167	0	0	9	0	Running
23	25	27	Jeb Burton	Chevrolet	14	14	0	0	167	0	0	0	0	Running
24	36	14	JJ Yeley	Chevrolet	13	13	0	0	167	0	0	0	0	Running
25	34	43	Ryan Ellis	Chevrolet	12	12	0	0	167	0	0	0	0	Running
26	31	92	Nick Leitz	Chevrolet	11	11	0	0	167	0	0	0	0	Running
27	19	15	Hailie Deegan	Ford	10	10	0	0	167	0	0	0	0	Running
28	9	7	Justin Allgaier	Chevrolet	22	9	13	0	167	0	0	7	2	Running
29	33	35	Joey Gase	Ford	8	8	0	0	166	0	0	0	0	Running
30	28	29	Blaine Perkins	Ford	7	7	0	0	166	0	0	0	0	Running
31	29	4	Dawson Cram	Chevrolet	6	6	0	0	166	0	0	0	0	Running
32	3	20	John Hunter Nemechek	Toyota	0	0	0	0	165	0	0	0	0	Running
33	37	7	Patrick Emerling	Chevrolet	4	4	0	0	165	0	0	0	0	Running
34	32	6	Garrett Smithley	Chevrolet	3	3	0	0	165	0	0	0	0	Running
35	27	38	CJ McLaughlin	Ford	2	2	0	0	164	0	0	0	0	Running
36	26	28	Kyle Sieg	Ford	1	1	0	0	164	1	1	0	0	Running
37	16	11	Josh Williams	Chevrolet	1	1	0	0	159	0	0	0	0	Running
38	38	32	Jordan Anderson	Chevrolet	1	1	0	0	98	0	0	0	0	Steering

Race Infractions

Raptor King of Tough 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway

Driver	Infraction	Penalty	Lap	Lap Assessed	Flag
Justin Allgaier	Pre-Race to the Rear Unapproved Adjustments	Tail End	0	0	White
Joey Gase	Pre-Race to the Rear Unapproved Adjustments	Tail End	0	0	White
Jeb Burton	Pre-Race to the Rear Unapproved Adjustments	Tail End	0	0	White
Ryan Ellis	Pre-Race to the Rear Unapproved Adjustments	Tail End	0	0	White
Brennan Poole	Pre-Race to the Rear Unapproved Adustments	Tail End	0	0	White
Brandon Jones	Pre-Race to the Rear Unapproved Adjustments	Tail End	0	0	White
Parker Retzlaff	Pre-Race to the Rear Unapproved Adjustments	Tail End	0	0	White
Anthony Alfredo	Commitment Line Violation	Tail End	39	41	Green/Yellow
Josh Williams	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	40	42	Yellow
Brennan Poole	Equipment Interference	Tail End	42	44	Yellow
Garrett Smithley	Crewmember(s) over the wall too soon	Tail End	43	45	Yellow
Brandon Jones	Tire violation	Tail End	45	47	Yellow
Anthony Alfredo	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	45	47	Yellow
Shane van Gisbergen	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	45	47	Yellow
JJ Yeley	Commitment Line Violation	Tail End	58	60	Green
JJ Yeley	Speeding on pit road	Tail End	59	61	Yellow
Anthony Alfredo	Speeding on pit road	Tail End	60	62	Yellow
Kyle Sieg	Commitment Line Violation	Pass Thru	72	76	Green
Dawson Cram	Commitment Line Violation	Pass Thru	74	76	Green
Jeb Burton	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	81	83	Yellow
Jeremy Clements	Speeding on pit road	Tail End	82	84	Yellow
Jeb Burton	Too many crewmember(s) in contact with pit service area	Tail End	83	85	Yellow
Jeb Burton	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	85	87	Yellow
John Hunter Nemechek	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	85	87	Yellow
Jeremy Clements	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	85	87	Yellow
Jordan Anderson	Commitment Line Violation	Pass Thru	99	102	Green
Jordan Anderson	Commitment Line Violation Garage	Pass Thru	106	0	Green
Cole Custer	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	161	163	Yellow
Cole Custer	Speeding on pit road	Tail End	161	163	Yellow
Riley Herbst	Car/Truck pitting out of the assigned pit box	Tail End	161	163	Yellow
Blaine Perkins	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	161	163	Yellow
BJ McLeod	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	162	164	Yellow
Ryan Sieg	Car/Truck pitting out of the assigned pit box	Tail End	162	164	Yellow
Kyle Weatherman	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	162	164	Yellow
Dawson Cram	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	162	164	Yellow
Hailie Deegan	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	163	165	Yellow
Sammy Smith	Too many crewmember(s) in contact with pit service area	Tail End	164	166	Yellow
Garrett Smithley	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	166	168	Yellow
Sam Mayer	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	166	168	Yellow

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Race Fast Facts

Atlanta Motor Speedway
RAPTOR King of Tough 250
Race Winner: Austin Hill
Age: 29
Team : No. 21 - Bennett Transportation Chevrolet
Owner: Richard Childress Racing
Crew Chief: Andy Street
Austin Hill won the RAPTOR King of Tough 250, his eighth victory in 83 Xfinity Series races.
This is his second victory and second top-10 finish in 2024.
This is his third victory and fourth top-10 finish in five races at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Chandler Smith (second) posted his first top-10 finish in three races at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It is his second top-10 finish in 2024.
Shane Van Gisbergen (third) posted his first top-10 finish in his series track debut at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Shane Van Gisbergen (third) was the highest finishing rookie.
Austin Hill has become the fourth different driver in NASCAR Xfinity Series history to win the first two races of a season; joining Dale Earnhardt (1986), Chad Little (1995) and Tony Stewart (2008).

Race Recap

Austin Hill saves enough fuel to win second straight NASCAR Xfinity race

February 24th, 2024

By Reid Spencer - NASCAR Wire Service

Sunoco rookie Jesse Love led almost all the laps, but in the end, it was his Richard Childress Racing teammate, Austin Hill, who had Saturday’s RAPTOR King of Tough 250 fall into his lap.

For Hill, who won last week’s NASCAR Xfinity Series season-opener at Daytona International Speedway, it was the continuation of a serendipitous start to 2024. Hill is the first driver since Tony Stewart in 2008 to win the first two events of an Xfinity season.

The victory was Hill’s third in the last four races at Atlanta Motor Speedway and the eighth of his career.

But victory for the driver of the No. 21 Chevrolet came at the expense of Love, who started from the pole, swept the first two stages and led 157 of 169 laps. Love ran out of fuel at the start of a two-lap overtime, as Hill grabbed the lead for the first time and held off eventual runner-up Chandler Smith by 0.106 seconds.

The bottom line? Running behind the leaders in a single-file line, Hill was able to save more fuel than his teammate at the front of the pack. Hill had enough in his tank to stave off Smith who had pitted for fuel under caution on Lap 164.

“I was really thinking we were down and out,” Hill said. “I was thinking the 2 (Love) was going to go get ‘em, and hey, if I can’t win, let my teammate win. We were riding there in fourth or fifth—whatever it was—I was saving fuel…”

On the overtime restart on Lap 168, Hill’s car stumbled when he shifted from third to fourth gear.

“The 81 (Smith) hit me really hard, and that woke it back up, and I had enough fuel to complete the lap. But I’ve got to take this moment to congratulate, Jesse Love, my teammate. He ran an awesome race. To be a rookie and to lead that many laps, he should be sitting in Victory Lane right now.”

The coup de grace for Love came when the Ford of Ryan Sieg ran out of fuel on Lap 161 of a scheduled 163 and stopped on the track in Turn 4. The caution extended the race by six laps and allowed a dozen cars to pit before the overtime restart.

Among those who took advantage of the fuel stop was New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen, who finished third in his second Xfinity Series start.

“It’s almost comical,” Love said. “Man, I’m just so damn proud of everybody on this Whelen car. It just wasn’t meant to be. Obviously, as a Christian, I’m not going to allow myself to question why we were under caution so long or what happened.

“I always try to take responsibility for everything, so I as a driver I should have saved more fuel. Man, I just didn’t want anybody to catch me off-guard. I thought I saved a ton. Man, that overtime or that caution just lasted forever.

“No matter what, I’m really proud of our guys. We had a great showing. Led a lot of laps man. It just wasn’t in store for us today.”

Van Gisbergen was delighted to be on the other side of the fuel equation.

“Pretty awesome,” he said. “Great job by (crew chief) Bruce (Schlicker) on the box there to pit us. I had so much fun. Just learning about it and running in the pack. Yeah, to be P3 in the second race in the WeatherTech Chevy is pretty awesome. I’m stoked.

“It’s just good to get a result and have a clean car, especially after last week (at Daytona) when I got involved in so much stuff. So, to have a clean race, not make too many mistakes, and complete every lap, we learned a lot. It was awesome.”

Riley Herbst, Love’s foremost challenger over the closing laps was among the first to run out of fuel—from the second position on Lap 160. Cole Custer hit empty almost simultaneously, then Sieg, causing the fateful caution.

The gas shortage throughout the field scrambled the finishing order, leaving Sheldon Creed fourth and Parker Retzlaff fifth. Jeremy Clements, Anthony Alfredo, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Ryan Truex and Sammy Smith completed the top 10.

Note: Love is the first driver since Christopher Bell in 2017 to lead more than 100 laps in his first two Xfinity Series starts combined. Bell led 152 of 250 laps in his second start at Iowa. Love led 34 laps in his series debut last Monday at Daytona, giving him a total of 191 for the two races.