NASCAR PHOTO
TALLADEGA, Ala. – Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill prevailed
in a three-wide photo finish in the Ag-Pro 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series
race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway Saturday afternoon – edging
ahead of Jeb Burton and his RCR teammate Jesse Love at the time the
field was frozen with an electronic timestamp approaching the checkered
flag.
The caution flag and checkered flag flew simultaneously after Love’s
No. 2 Chevrolet made contact with the rear of then-race leader, JR
Motorsports rookie Connor Zilisch’s No. 88 Chevy just after the white
flag came out signaling one lap to go. Zilisch’s car spun down into
the track apron hitting the wall hard leaving Hill, Burton and Love to
sort out the trophy.
It marks the ninth superspeedway victory for Hill, making the
30-year-old Georgia-native the NASCAR Xfinity Series all-time winningest
driver on drafting style tracks such as Talladega, Daytona and Atlanta –
breaking a tie with a pair of NASCAR Hall of Famers, Tony Stewart and
the late Dale Earnhardt.
“Man, we really had to work for that one,’’ said Hill, who now has
a series-best three victories this year and 13 in his career. “It just
seemed like our car was really good. Everyone at RCR and RCR engines are
bad to the bone, like always. We had to work. I thought the 2 (Love) was
really good and when we got the push from the 2 going into [turn] one,
he got inside of me and I thought that was a bad mistake and I should
have covered it. So I thought we were done. But I just locked in and
kept pushing the heck out of the 2-car.
“I knew it was either me or the 27 [Burton],’’ he said of the
photo finish. “Man, to win them – any way you win them is always great
– and finally to conquer Talladega, that’s something I’ve really
wanted to do for a long time.
“We’ve won at all these other superspeedways and to finally get it
done at all the different superspeedways we go to, it just shows the 21
team can win at any of them and we’re really good at this style of
racing.’’
It was especially tough outcome for Burton, who has two previous wins in
this 2.66-mile high-banked Talladega track – NASCAR largest – and
still felt after the race that his No. 27 Jordan Anderson Racing
Chevrolet was leading the field at the time of caution – although
ultimately video did confirm Hill’s win.
“I felt like we did everything we could today, so just
frustrated,’’ said an emotional Burton, “Every angle I see, we won
the race.
“Just appreciate my guys,’’ he continued. “We do a lot with a
little team. We don’t have a lot of chances to win, you know. That’s
what’s frustrating.’’
The defending race winner Love, who was scored third, led a race best 50
of the 113 laps on the day, but conceded the last lap was a typical
superspeedway all-out rush to the checkered flag.
“I’m pretty sure I wrecked my best friend, I’m going to owe him an
apology,’’ Love told the Motor Racing Network of contact with
Zilisch, who was checked out in the infield care center and released
post-race.
“I just got really good pushes there at the end and I was able to lift
enough off of [turn] two to get really good pushes. I kind of thought
we’d made our bed and were not in position to win, but I was able to
get Austin [Hill] connected to me and he was able to give me a push down
the backstretch and get rolling again.”
Reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series champion, JR Motorsports’ Justin
Allgaier, finished fourth followed by Viking Motorsports’ Matt
DiBenedetto. Anthony Alfredo, Blaine Perkins, Harrison Burton, Sheldon
Creed and rookie Daniel Dye rounded out the top 10. Zilisch, who led
nine laps, was credited with 27th place.
Of note, Katherine Legge became the fourth woman in history to lead a
NASCAR Xfinity Series race – and the second at Talladega. The sports
car and IndyCar veteran led lap 75 in the No. 32 Jordan Anderson
Motorsport Chevrolet, equaling Danica Patrick’s one-lap out front at
Talladega in 2012.
Legge looked to be turning in a solid Talladega debut – her second
NASCAR Xfinity Series start this season – and was running 15th on lap
100 when she was collected in an accident triggered by NASCAR veteran
Aric Almirola, who later apologized, saying miscommunication with his
spotter led to the high-speed miscue.
Allgaier’s runner-up showing was enough for him to maintain a 79-point
advantage over Hill atop the standings.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series moves to the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway for
next Saturday’s Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 (2 p.m. ET, The CW
Network, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Haas Factory Team driver Sam Mayer
is the defending race winner.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race – Ag-Pro 300
Talladega Superspeedway
Talladega, Alabama
Saturday, April 26, 2025
By Holly Cain