Livin’ La Vida Loca
The NASCAR Xfinity Series continued their playoffs in Miami. The Credit One NASCAR Amex Credit Card 300 saw teammates Chandler Smith, Sheldon Creed, and Aric Almirola starting in the top three. Cole Custer started in fourth with Justin Allgaier in fifth. The race was divided into three stages. The stage lengths were 45 laps for the first two stages and the final stage was 110 laps. This was the second to last race in the round that will set the stage for the championship.
Big Hill to Climb
Creed pulled out in front on the start but C. Smith took the lead out of turn four on the lead lap. Almirola drove underneath Creed to take the second spot. Cole Custer was also able to get by Creed. AJ Allmendinger added to Creed’s struggles as he made the pass. Creed continued to struggle as he complained of “a tire going down.”
Austin Hill, who started in sixteenth, passed his way into the top ten. He was steadily clicking off spots. He rode around the bottom of the turns as he admitted he was not the fastest around the top. The more the tire wore off, the faster Hill was compared to the other cars.
Hill, Climbed
Custer was able to find speed and caught up to C. Smith in the lead. He used the entire track to make up ground. He ran where C. Smith did not. As they caught up to traffic, the top two were able to get through unscathed and still stuck to each other. Custer was able to use a lapped car to get around Smith for the lead. All of their battling allowed Allmendinger to catch up a bit.
With the top three less than half a second apart, Hill was able to close his deficit to less than a second and a half. The top six got clogged up by more lapped traffic. With that, Hill moved into third as he passed Allmendinger. Almirola and Custer battled hard which allowed Hill to make it three wide and take second. Almirola got loose and had to let off the gas. Hill closed in and snagged the lead in the Credit One NASCAR Amex Credit Card 300. Austin Hill came from sixteenth and pulled away from Almirola to win stage one!
Hill Sweeps the Stages
Hill and Almirola started the second stage from the front row. Almirola had the initial jump but was unable to pull away. Hill took back the lead. Custer drafted behind Almirola down the front stretch and moved into the second spot. Most of the cars settled into running the top of the track. However, drivers using the bottom of the track are either making passes, or Austin Hill. He is the only one primarily using the bottom.
Riley Herbst made an unscheduled pit stop after he hit the fence pretty hard. They fueled it up and replaced all four tires. He was in tenth when he had his miscue. Herbst rejoined the race a lap down in the thirty-first position. Allgaier also made contact with the wall. It slowed him down for a bit but he was able to keep it straight and moving.
Austin Hill pulled away by over two seconds while Leland Honeyman, Jr. made contact with the wall. Honeyman brought his Camaro down pit road as he was also having engine issues. Allmendinger made his way into second place after passing Custer.
Then, Nick Leitz brought out a caution with four to go in the stage. Leitz got loose underneath another car in the turn. That caution ended the stage giving Hill another stage win on the day!
Hill Back on Top
Hill chose the inside line for the restart. Custer took the outside. Hill got a fantastic restart and retook his lead. But Custer did not give up. Hill dug deep and dove into turn three to seal the deal but it still was not enough. Custer got inside of Hill and snuck out in front. Meanwhile, Almirola fought Hill on the inside and was able to complete the pass for second place. Hill used the inside line to get by Almirola.
Hill, once again, used the bottom of the track to get side by side with Custer. He was able to get next to the leader but could not make the pass. Custer used the top of the track to keep his momentum off the turn and onto the straightaways. Hill got low in turn one and slid up the track in front of Custer to reclaim the lead.
Ryan Truex spun around from thirteenth place. That brought out the fourth caution of the day. Josh Williams had a tire go down which made him slide into Truex. That caution left 78 laps in the race. All of the cars used this opportunity to pit for tires and fuel. Hill, with a quick pit stop, maintained his lead out of the pits.
Strategy Calls
Hill and Love took the green flag to restart the race with 73 laps left. Love let his teammate in front of him for the lead. Custer screamed past Hill for the lead. Love used the RCR speed to pass his teammate for second. Ryan Sieg slid in front of Hill to move into third. Then, William Sawalich got a flat tire and rode the wall damaging the right side. He pitted for tires and fuel to finish the race.
Custer pitted with 42 laps to go, while Hill locked up his tires trying to get down to pit road speed. Sheldon Creed acquired the lead from Custer. Chandler Smith pitted but had a long pit stop after he accelerated out and dropped the car onto the jack. The crew struggled to get the car up and off of the jack.
Creed and Mayer pit with about thirty laps to go. Mayer got into the wall after the lettering on the right side tires was gone. Mayer self-diagnosed a tire going down and was absolutely right.
Finally, Custer began his chase of the leader, AJ Allmendinger. Allmendinger was on a different strategy and still had to pit so Custer was able to be conservative with his efforts. The only wrench in the General’s (Custer) plan, was Austin Hill. Allmendinger pitted with twenty to go.
The Winning Strategy
Hill sat behind Custer by almost a second and a half. Allmendinger rejoined the track and was able to get his lap back. Custer caught lapped traffic which made it tough to maintain the gap behind. Hill ran him down very quickly. With more traffic ahead, Custer stayed at the top of the track. As Custer caught the lapped cars, Hill closed in on the lead. Custer was forced to use the bottom due to a lapped car, and it allowed Hill to pass for the lead. With 11 to go, Hill regained the lead.
Hill led the final eleven laps to win the Credit One NASCAR Amex Credit Card 300! With that win, he advances to the final four in Phoenix and will race for a championship. Custer finished in second with Almirola in third.
Marvin’s Moment:
I am back on the “swap the RCR drivers” camp. Jesse Love continues to impress. He is always in the top ten contending for great finishes. Austin Hill has to be the favorite to win the championship.
Jesse Love and Austin Hill both finished in the top four in Phoenix earlier this season. Maybe you don’t move Kyle Busch, but Austin Hill could finish better than Austin Dillon does. Someone has to tell Pop Pop that Dillon has to go.
