Heartbreak for Jesse Love as Austin Hill Claims a Consecutive Xfinity Victory at Atlanta

It’s official, folks! Austin Hill has officially kicked off another season of Xfinity Series dominance for Richard Childress Racing after scoring back-to-back wins at the season opener last week in Daytona as well as this week’s RAPTOR 250. While it looked like Jesse Love would bring home the victory after sweeping the first two stages, Hill’s #21 RCR Chevrolet managed to outrun the rest of the pack based on fuel mileage!

Marking his second consecutive win at his home track in Atlanta in two years, Hill was one of the favorites for the checkered flag from the very start. While the first stage saw the 29-year-old drop back out of the top 15 for a brief period, a meteoric rise through the field saw Hill finish first ahead of Chandler Smith, Shane Van Gisbergen, Sheldon Creed, and Parker Retzlaff, who completed the top five, respectively.

Austin Hill wins back-to-back races at the Atlanta Motor Speedway with a distinct fuel mileage superiority

While Richard Childress Racing looked promising throughout all stages of the race, Jesse Love looked on course to bring home gold at the King of Tough Raptor 250 for the outfit. But that would all change seconds into the overtime restart. Austin Hill quickly gained a position as Kligerman’s #48 lost power, slotting in behind Ryan Truex and teammate Jesse Love. Soon enough, Love also lost power and began dropping back when Hill took the inside line to move up to the lead with Truex on his outside.

With his fuel-saving masterclass gifting Richard Childress Racing with a trip to victory lane, Hill was ecstatic at another weekend of strong results at a superspeedway. He shared with NASCAR right after the race, “I mean I’ve just got to thank my guys. Everyone on this #21 Chevrolet, we all worked through it. I was really thinking I was down and out. I’m thinking that the #2 is going to win so I’m like, hey, if I can’t win it, let my teammate win and you know, we were riding there in fourth or fifth whatever it was and I was saving fuel.” 

At the end of the 163 scheduled laps, the extended caution had resulted in Jesse Love’s #2 Camaro running out of gas right as the field entered the second turn. While this naturally gifted the win to Austin Hill, the back-to-back glory at Atlanta may have slipped out of the 29-year-old’s reach on that restart if it were not for a push for Chandler Smith’s #81 Supra.

Sharing a heart-stopping moment that Hill encountered on the restart, Hill stated; “Derek Kneeland, my spotter, we’re sitting there talking about how much fuel to save, and we came into the restart zone and I’m like tossing it around through the gears and when I went to shift from I think it was third to fourth, I actually stumbled, and the #81 (C Smith) hit me really hard and that like, woke it back up and I just had enough fuel to complete the lap.”

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For Hill, not only does this win bring in his third Xfinity trophy at his home circuit, but it also showcases just how confident the team are after last week’s Daytona glory. With that said, however, Hill also commended the dominance that his rookie teammate Jesse Love displayed up to that deciding moment.

Despite outsmarting his teammate, Hill had nothing but praise for Jesse Love

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While Austin Hill bagged another superspeedway win owing to his fuel advantage, there was no man more deserving of a trip to victory lane at Atlanta this time around than Jesse Love. Throughout the race, the rookie did a brilliant job maintaining pace as the lead car while also managing fuel. Even if things may have gone up in flame for Love by the end of the race, Austin Hill felt his rookie teammate deserved all the praises.

Hill stated.  “I do gotta take this moment to congratulate Jesse Love, my teammate. Man, he ran an awesome race and to be a rookie, and to lead that many laps, he should be sitting here in victory lane right now so. You know, he just ran out of fuel, right? I mean you’re leading the line so he can’t save as much as I can and ultimately, that’s kind of what did him there unfortunately. But the #2 team did a hell of a job.” 

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With the RCR Star unravelling the advantage he had over his teammate and inspiring Love to not forget the effort he put in, it’s safe to say Austin Hill is stepping up as the leader Richard Childress envisioned to lead his Xfinity side to glory. With that said, do you think RCR and Hill can continue their dominance in Las Vegas?