Hill wins in chaotic finish at Martinsville

Austin Hill took advantage of the last-lap chaos to secure a surprising victory in the US Marine Corps 250 of the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Martinsville, in a race marked by numerous yellow flags and decisive collisions in the final moments.

Saturday's competition, which gave Richard Childress's team their 100th series victory and a $100,000 bonus in the Dash 4 Cash program for Hill, concluded with an unexpected outcome when the driver of the #21 Chevrolet only led a few meters before crossing the finish line.

Last-lap strategy

"I chose the bottom line because of how aggressive everyone was on the restarts," Hill explained about his overtime strategy. "I had to do what I needed to do on the final lap. On that restart everything went wild. We were bumping each other and when we entered turn 3, I knew we were going to hit, so I went in as deep as I could."

The race finish resulted from a series of incidents that began when Matt DiBenedetto caused the fourteenth yellow flag with a spin in turn 2, sending the competition into overtime. On the restart, Taylor Gray, who was seeking his first series victory, used his defense to snatch the lead from Sammy Smith, returning the favor for a similar move that had occurred earlier.

Driver confrontation

Smith acknowledged after the race that his move against Gray was excessive, leading to a tense exchange of words between the two drivers.

"I'm not proud of that, but if the roles were reversed, he would have done the same," Smith stated. "He has no respect for me... He was flipping me off during the red flag, cussed me out. It was definitely inappropriate."

Gray's frustration

For his part, Gray, who finished in 29th position, expressed his frustration about what happened: "I feel like we had the best car all day. I can't thank everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing enough. We brought a really fast Toyota GR Supra Operation 300. It's unfortunate, it's the same story. I've lived this in the last two consecutive Martinsville races. It sucks, but it is what it is. The season is long."

Next race

The Xfinity Series will return to action next Saturday at Darlington Raceway for the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200.

US Marine Corps 250 Results