19 races have passed in the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series. Only two racers have won four races in the season.
Austin Hill became the second, overcoming a penalty for exiting pit road too fast, betting on saving his fuel and came out on top in a thrilling overtime finish at the Explore the Pocono Mountains 225 at Pocono Raceway.
It was a dramatic restart in the end, as Hill got around Josh Berry, who dominated the race having swept the first two stages and led in 51 of the race's 92 laps. Hill's no. 21 was behind Berry's no. 8, and he was pushing Berry at the green flag, and Hill got around him for his first lead in the afternoon.
This win gave Hill 41 points in the standings, moving him up to second place with 738 points, four wins, and 11 top-five finishes. The only one ahead of him is John H. Nemecheck, who maintained his top position on the table with a 13-point lead, at 751 points, four wins, and 10 top-five finishes.
It was an especially heartbreaking race for both Berry and Nemecheck. Berry dominated the race's major stats, starting from pole position for the first time this year. Unfortunately, he finished 24th after his car trailed through the track and into the wall, leading to the caution that ended the race.
He and JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier hit the wall in separate accidents. Though Berry still sits at 6th place with 577 points from seven top-five finishes.
Nemecheck placed top three in the second stage, though he and third-place Cole Custer, who previously won the Pocono 225 in 2019, lightly collided with each other, leading to Nemecheck hitting the wall. While they made repairs to their cars, they were not among the top for the rest of the race, with Nemecheck finishing 32nd and Custer 33rd.
Custer dropped down one spot in the standings, with 666 points, with Allgaier passing him at 696, so it's not all that bad for Custer.
JR Motorsports' Sam Mayer, who, like Hill, bet on fuel saving, finished second on the race, followed by former NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott, who was competing in his first Xfinity Series in two years, driving the no. 17 for Hendrick Motorsports.
Rounding out the top five was Stewart-Haas Racing's Riley Herbst, who also used the fuel-saving technique, followed by Kaulig Racing's Daniel Hemric.
Herbst was running on a nearly empty tank, but his effort was good enough to keep him in the points picture. He is currently 12th on the standings, the final playoff transfer position, and is 26 points ahead of Parker Kligerman, who finished 9th.
Rounding out the top 10 in this race aside from Kligerman were Sammy Smith, Brandon Jones, Brett Moffitt, and another NASCAR Cup Series regular, Daniel Suárez.
I would like to give a special shoutout to my good friend and NASCAR diehard Victor Santiago Jr. (@AutismRacingFan on Twitter), as he was at the scene waving the green flag to start the race! Another special shoutout goes to Randy Corbitt (@Corbittrcc) on helping me out on my first ever NASCAR broadcast on Twitter Spaces. I'm hoping to do more of these broadcasts later down the season!
Race Results
Austin Hill (no. 21), Chevrolet, 92 laps, started 11th, led for 2 laps, 41 pts, 1 bonus
Sam Mayer (no. 1), Chevrolet, 92 laps, started 8th, led for 0 laps, 43 pts, 8 bonus
Chase Elliott (no. 17), Chevrolet, 92 laps, started 13th, led for 9 laps, 0 pts, 0 bonus
Riley Herbst (no. 98), Ford, 92 laps, started 21st, led for 3 laps, 36 pts, 3 bonus
Daniel Hemric (no. 11), Chevrolet, 92 laps, started 2nd, led for 0 laps, 43 pts, 11 bonus
Sammy Smith (no. 18), Toyota, 92 laps, started 6th, led for 0 laps, 43 pts, 12 bonus
Brandon Jones (no. 9), Chevrolet, 92 laps, started 7th, led for 12 laps, 42 pts, 12 bonus
Brett Moffitt (no. 25), Ford, 92 laps, started 18th, led for 0 laps, 29 pts, 0 bonus
Parker Kligerman (no. 48), Chevrolet, 92 laps, started 22nd, led for 0 laps, 28 pts, 0 bonus
Daniel Suárez (no. 10), Chevrolet, 92 laps, started 23rd, led for 5 laps, 0 pts, 0 bonus
Sheldon Creed (no. 2), Chevrolet, 92 laps, started 3rd, led for 0 laps, 32 pts, 6 bonus
Jeb Burton (no. 27), Chevrolet, 92 laps, started 12th, led for 0 laps, 24 pts, 0 bonus
Anthony Alfredo (no. 78), Chevrolet, 92 laps, started 26th, led for 0 laps, 24 pts, 0 bonus
Ty Dillon (no. 3), Chevrolet, 92 laps, started 25th, led for 0 laps, 0 pts, 0 bonus
Jeremy Clements (no. 51), Chevrolet, 92 laps, started 14th, led for 0 laps, 22 pts, 0 bonus
Kyle Sieg (no. 28), Ford, 92 laps, started 20th, led for 0 laps, 21 pts, 0 bonus
Joe Graf Jr. (no. 38), Ford, 92 laps, started 30th, led for 0 laps, 20 pts, 0 bonus
Ryan Ellis (no. 43), Chevrolet, 92 laps, started 27th, led for 0 laps, 19 pts, 0 bonus
Jeffrey Earnhardt (no. 45), Chevrolet, 92 laps, started 35th, led for 0 laps, 18 pts, 0 bonus
Chandler Smith (no. 16), Chevrolet, 92 laps, started 16th, led for 0 laps, 18 pts, 1 bonus
Garrett Smithley (no. 4), Chevrolet, 92 laps, started 34th, led for 0 laps, 16 pts, 0 bonus
Ryan Sieg (no. 39), Ford, 92 laps, started 17th, led for 0 laps, 15 pts, 0 bonus
Justin Allgaier (no. 7), Chevrolet, 92 laps, started 9th, led for 8 laps, 26 pts, 12 bonus
Josh Berry (no. 8), Chevrolet, 91 laps, started 1st, led for 51 laps, 33 pts, 20 bonus
Kaz Grala (no. 26), Toyota, 91 laps, started 24th, led for 0 laps, 12 pts, 0 bonus
Patrick Emerling (no. 53), Chevrolet, 91 laps, started 36th, led for 0 laps, 11 pts, 0 bonus
Blaine Perkins (no. 02), Chevrolet, 91 laps, started 38th, led for 0 laps, 10 pts, 0 bonus
Alex Labbe (no. 08), Ford, 91 laps, started 32nd, led for 0 laps, 9 pts, 0 bonus
Brennan Poole (no. 6), Chevrolet, 91 laps, started 31st, led for 0 laps, 8 pts, 0 bonus
Chad Chastain (no. 91), Chevrolet, 91 laps, started 33rd, led for 0 laps, 0 pts, 0 bonus
Joey Gase (no. 35), Chevrolet, 90 laps, started 37th, led for 0 laps, 6 pts, 0 bonus
John H. Nemecheck (no. 20), Toyota, 89 laps, started 5th, led for 0 laps, 21 pts, 16 bonus
Cole Custer (no. 00), Ford, 87 laps, started 10th, led for 2 laps, 10 pts, 6 bonus
Connor Mosak (no. 85), Toyota, 85 laps, started 4th, led for 0 laps, 5 pts, 2 bonus
Parker Retzlaff (no. 31), Chevrolet, 84 laps, started 19th, led for 0 laps, 2 pts, 0 bonus
Josh Williams (no. 92), Chevrolet, 82 laps, started 28th, led for 0 laps, 1 pt, 0 bonus
Corey Heim (no. 24), Toyota, 81 laps, started 15th, led for 0 laps, 0 pts, 0 bonus
Sage Karam (no. 44), Chevrolet, 7 laps, started 29th, led for 0 laps, 1 pt, 0 bonus
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