Dale Earnhardt Jr’s Record NASCAR Record Broken as Austin Hill Joins Tony Stewart’s Elite Table

When you think superspeedways, you think the Earnhardts. It’s such a big part of the family’s legacy. For Junior especially, these are the tracks that have been so impactful on his life. 2001 one saw him lose Dale Earnhardt Sr. when the #3 Chevy smashed into the barriers. Just a few months later, he claimed a win at the same track in memory of his father, and it became more than just a win at a superspeedway. Essentially, Junior took on his father’s legacy on superspeedways.

With Junior out of the game, his record at the tracks was up for grabs, and Austin Hill made short work of it.

Austin Hill joins the elite table

Toppling a legend’s record must feel like heaven. That is exactly what Austin Hill felt as he was on top of the world following the Xfinity race in Atlanta. Dominating 146 of the 163 laps to win his fifth trophy, Hill proved that he truly ‘owned’ his home track. But besides clinching four of the last six Atlanta races, Hill also broke some hallowed records. These were held by none other than the Earnhardts.

Like Dale Earnhardt Sr., his son also inherited the superspeedway talent. Dale Earnhardt Jr. owns six victories at Talladega Superspeedway, including a four-peat consecutive streak between 2001 and 2003. Besides, Dale Jr. was at the top of the leaderboard of most laps led at superspeedways in Xfinity Series history – 691. His father Dale Sr. came next at 573. However, now Austin Hill has surpassed both Earnhardt after his Atlanta dominance, as the Richard Childress Racing driver’s tally stands at 692. Not only this, but Hill has also toppled three-time Cup Series champion Tony Stewart’s record as well.

According to NASCAR on NBC, Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Tony Stewart held the highest number of Xfinity Series wins on drafting tracks. Each of them had won eight trophies at superspeedways. However, after clinching the 2025 Bennett Transportation & Logistics 250 trophy, Austin Hill has joined this elite table. Fetching two records in a row makes Hill’s victory in Atlanta even more special. Additionally, Hill’s fifth Atlanta victory also ties a record set by 2014 Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick.

This is hardly the end of the RCR team’s streak of excellence. Last weekend, Austin Hill’s teammate Jesse Love won the Daytona race, after Hill hoisted the pole victory and swept up both stage wins. This weekend in Atlanta, Love picked up the pole, his third one in all three Atlanta starts. Hill again swept up both stages on his way to a thumping victory. No other team has won a pole position or hoisted a trophy in 2025. The Atlanta win also marks the 99th Xfinity Series victory for the NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Childress’s team.

Evidently, Austin Hill is scripting history from all sides. And he attributes that to a push from a fellow Chevrolet driver.

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This time Retzlaff got it right

Remember the Coke Zero Sugar 400 race last year? The final laps of that race are still enshrouded in controversy, as Parker Retzlaff gave a controversial push to Ford driver Harrison Burton. This happened while his Chevrolet teammate Kyle Busch lagged behind. But this time, Retzlaff got it right. During the ending laps of the Atlanta race, JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier and Joe Gibbs Racing’s veteran Aric Almirola hounded Austin Hill. Both drivers led various times on the final restart. At that crucial time, a timely tap in the rear by Retzlaff allowed Hill to push forward and take the lead entering the turn on the first lap.

Austin Hill was thereby able to win over Justin Allgaier by a narrow 0.216-second margin. This was significant as Hill had to claw for the trophy with three laps to go as the Xfinity Series reigning champion chased him in the end. So after finally winning it, Hill saluted Parker Retzlaff for his timely push, due to which the RCR driver broke so many legendary records. “Thank you to Parker Retzlaff for giving me that push, and then once I got clear and into [Turn] 1, I was just wide open and I was hoping they weren’t going to build up momentum,” Hill said, adding, “To be able to do this is something special.”

Austin Hill tied his name with several legendary NASCAR drivers in one weekend. This feat is something extraordinary, and we expect the RCR driver to script history multiple times soon.