Austin Hill successfully gambles on fuel as rivals wreck out in Pocono

Austin Hill took a risk by staying out instead of pitting for fuel in the closing laps of Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Pocono Raceway, and a dramatic overtime restart put him out front for the first and only time en route to his fourth win of the year.

Overtime commenced with Hill behind Josh Berry. The former gave a push, but it was what Berry called “a little longer and harder than I wanted into turn one” and sent him careening wide. Hill slipped by and led the rest of the way. The win provides a strong end to Hill‘s Saturday after retiring from the Craftsman Truck Series race earlier in the day due to a late crash.

“We didn’t have the best car all day,” said Hill. “Andy (Petree) and all the guys back at RCR Engines worked really hard. We got the car better. I thought we were maybe a top-five or top-seven car. I didn’t think we had anything for the leader today.

“With fuel saving, we didn’t know if we were going to make it and it was on my mind going into the Tunnel Turn (turn two) that I had to get back to the start/finish line. I had enough fuel to do a burnout so we saved enough.”

The contact dropped Berry back before being clipped into the wall with Ryan Sieg on the final lap to end the race under caution. Relegated to twenty-fourth, the finish ruined an otherwise oustanding day as he claimed the pole, led fifty-one laps, and won two stages.

As is usually the case at Pocono, thanks to its length and tendency to have long green-flag runs, fuel strategy became a prime topic in Stage #3 as teams debated when to pit or if they should stay out and hope for either a caution or that they would have enough to reach the finish. Those in the latter camp like Hill had their request fulfilled when Justin Allgaier spun a slow Joey Gase and received another break two laps later after Connor Mosack crashed, both resulting in yellow flags.

Hill seemed to be the only championship contender whose day did not end in catastrophe. Points leader John Hunter Nemechek and third-placed Cole Custer were colleted in a lap 47 crash that caused the latter to drop a spot in the standings.

Cup Series driver Chase Elliott finished third in his first Xfinity race since 2021, while colleague Daniel Suárez managed a top ten.

Race results