“My favorite part [about Hill] is that he has that don’t-(expletive)-me-off attitude, and I like that,” This is what RCR team owner Richard Childress had recently said about Austin Hill. It’s no secret that the #21 Richard Childress Racing driver is aggressive in his driving style. And if NASCAR veteran Dale Earhardt Jr, the intimidator’s son, says he’d get nervous racing around him, you can take his word for it.

However, the aggression seems to have worked for the 30-year-old. Hill’s dominance in the Truck Series led to him being crowned the 2020 champion. And the Georgia native has continued the same dominance in the Xfinity Series. In only his third full season, Austin Hill has already bagged 9 wins, 4 in the current season, making this his best one yet. And now he is en route to take his first Xfinity Series championship.

Austin Hill reaches his first Xfinity Series finale

The #21 driver has been a hallmark of consistency this season, bagging eleven top 5s and nineteen top 10s so far. And after taking the checkered flag at Homestead Miami, he will be joining AJ Allmendinger as the second finalist in the 2024 season. Till the very last moment in the race, it was looking like Cole Custer’s win. However, Hill showing his prowess with just 12 laps to go, easily overtook the reigning Xfinity Champion. Custer finished 2nd, followed by Aric Almirola, wrapping the top 3. NBC journalist Dustin Long took it to X to share the news after the post-race inspection, He wrote, “All clear. No issues. Austin Hill is the winner.”

This would be Austin Hill‘s first Championship 4 appearance in the Xfinity series after he narrowly missed in the last two seasons. The RCR driver finished 6th in the 2022 season and 5th in the 2023, truly showing year-on-year progress. Hill got emotional after the victory lane celebration, where he said, “I work so hard at this. A lot of people doubt me, but I wake up every day to prove everyone wrong. I deserve to be here. I deserve to race for a championship. This No. 21 team deserves it just as much as I do…I can honestly say I’ve never cried coming to the start/finish line. I couldn’t even get my emotions together getting into Turn 1 after the checkered. All the hard work and dedication that goes into this. I don’t think anyone is going to understand what this means to me (and) my family.”

On a track where drivers mostly race up against the wall, Hill felt he had the freedom to choose any line he desired. Perhaps the reason why he easily cruised to victory and also won both stages of the race even after starting 16th. Crediting the RCR team for this, Hill said, “They worked their asses off each and every day just like I do. I have to give it up to those guys. They gave me a hell of a car. I didn’t have to go run the wall. I could run wherever I wanted to … Oh my God, I am out of breath.”

NASCAR is truly a game of uncertainty. Entering the Homestead race, Austin Hill was -5 points below the cutline in the 5th position. However, has now suddenly advanced to the next round. This would not make the championship favorites Justin Allgaier and Cole Custer very comfortable. Allgaier is +35 points above the cutline in 3rd, followed by Custer not far behind with +28 points.

While the points deficit itself isn’t large enough for comfort, a win by any of the bubble drivers in the next race can make things trick for the two.

Who will take the final spots in the championship race?

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Cole Custer has never won at Martinsville in the Xfinity Series. In the spring race this year, he finished 8th. And his best on the track has been 3rd place which came in last year’s spring race. Yet the Stewart Haas driver is confident of his chances. In the post-race interview, he said, “Points-wise, I think we will be in a solid spot, and we just have to go into Martinsville with everything we’ve got. It is going to be crazy. No matter what it is always going to be crazy. We have to bring our best stuff OR there because you never know who is going to win. We just have to go out there and I think being the team that we are, we will be in the fight.”

Opposed to Custer, Allgaier has shone splendid consistency at Martinsville. Out of the total 8 races, he’s finished six times in the top 6. In the most recent race, Allgaier finished in P5. The #7 was also the race winner in last year’s playoff race at Martinsville. While these stats would comfort Allgaier, he should not underestimate the bubble drivers. Yes, pointing their way in is going to be tough. However, all four have shown good runs at the track.

Chandler Smith, in the most recent race, finished 3rd. Whereas Jesse Love in the last race finished 9th, this was Love’s only Martinsville race, and he would be looking to better it. Sam Mayer was the runner-up in the spring Martinsville race. Other than that, out of Mayer’s six Martinsville races, four have been top-6 finishes. Similar to Mayer, Sammy Smith, too, has been consistent here. In the most recent race, he finished 7th, and in the last three races, he’s finished twice in the top 3.

So Martinsville could be anyone’s game. Hence, it would be tough to determine the final two drivers to make it to the Phoenix race. Who do you think it will be? Let us know in the comments below.