Hill Tops Talladega Xfinity Thriller Amid Last-Lap Chaos

TALLADEGA, Ala. – As so many races in Talladega Superspeedway’s history have before, Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Ag-Pro 300 came down to the slimmest of margins on the final lap.

With the leaders three-wide in turn three as the caution waved for a crashing Connor Zilisch, a video review ultimately gave Austin Hill his third Xfinity Series win of the season in a dramatic finish that took several minutes after the leaders took the checkered flag to fully sort through.

Though Zilisch led at the white flag, coming off turn two it was his longtime friend Jesse Love who had all the momentum – taking a run to the middle lane just as Zilisch tried to come down and cover.

The ensuing contact sent Zilisch spinning down to the inside runoff and nose-first into the SAFER Barrier, forcing the race-ending caution flag to be called due to the severity of the impact.

In all the chaos, Hill found a lane on Love’s outside, at the same time as Jeb Burton was advancing forward against the double-yellow line to make it a three-car duel for the victory.

The caution stopped the fight short of the finish line, but not before Hill had just enough of a run to get his front bumper clear of Burton’s and Love’s Chevrolets.

It gave the Winston, Ga., native his 13th career Xfinity Series triumph and ninth on a drafting-style oval, setting a series record over a pair of NASCAR Hall of Famers in Dale Earnhardt and Tony Stewart.

“Man, we really had to work for that one,’’ said Hill. “It just seemed like our car was really good. Everyone at RCR and ECR Engines are bad to the bone, like always. We had to work, though. 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. At that point I thought we were done. But I just locked in and kept pushing the heck out of Jesse.

“I knew it was either me or the 27 [Burton],” he added, referencing the photo finish. “Man, to win them – any way you win one of these is always great – but finally to conquer Talladega is something I’ve really wanted to do for a long time.”

Saturday marked Hill’s first win at Talladega, where victory lane had previously been elusive for the 30-year-old.

“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 our (No.) 21 team can win at any of them and we’re really good at this style of racing,” Hill noted.

On the opposite end of the emotional pendulum was Burton, who ended up second instead of celebrating a third Talladega victory in five years.

Upon climbing out of his Jordan Anderson Racing No. 27, Burton caught a quick look at the photos that decided the outcome and threw his water bottle in disgust, believing without question that he should have been the winner.

Even with a few moments to collect his thoughts, Burton was still brimming with emotions.

“I felt like we did everything we could today, so I’m just just frustrated,’’ he said. “Every angle I see, we won the race. I appreciate my guys. We do a lot with a little team.

“We don’t have a lot of chances to win, so that’s what’s frustrating.”

The proverbial meat-in-the-sandwich at the end, Love was third after leading six times for a race-high 50 laps, including winning the first 25-lap stage in wire-to-wire fashion.

Love’s No. 2 Chevrolet was the dominant car and seemed to be able to make moves at will, but lacked a little bit of track position in the moments prior to the final lap, setting him back slightly.

In the moment, however, his immediate concern was for his best friend after the last-lap incident.

“I’m pretty sure I wrecked my best friend,” Love affirmed before going to the care center to check on and speak with Zilisch. “I’m going to owe him an apology.”

Defending series champion Justin Allgaier finished fourth and Viking Motorsports’ Matt DiBenedetto had a career day with his fifth-place run.

Anthony Alfredo, Blaine Perkins, Harrison Burton, Sheldon Creed, and rookie Daniel Dye closed the top 10.

Zilisch was credited with 27th after leading nine laps, including the penultimate one. He was evaluated and released from the infield medical center.

The first two stages ran without incident, and the only caution prior to 13 to go was for a four-car incident in turn one sparked when Jeb Burton tipped Sammy Smith into a spin, with Smith collecting Greg Van Alst, Ryan Sieg, and Parker Retzlaff in the aftermath.

At lap 100, however, Aric Almirola came up across the nose of Katherine Legge’s No. 32 on the backstretch, sparking an incident that also collected Brandon Jones and Jeffrey Earnhardt.

Cleanup from that crash meant that racing resumed with six laps left, with four different leaders and five lead changes in that dash to the finish that culminated with Hill taking home the iconic anvil trophy.

Allgaier leaves Talladega with a 79-point lead over Hill, who moved up into second in the regular season standings by virtue of his win.

The Xfinity Series field heads next to Texas Motor Speedway, where Haas Factory Team’s Sam Mayer won last year’s race in a photo finish over Ryan Sieg.

Broadcast coverage of the Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 is slated for Saturday, May 3 at 2 p.m. ET, live on The CW, the Performance Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.