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As the NASCAR Xfinity Series geared up for the third superspeedway-style track of the year, all eyes fell on Richard Childress Racing. The team swept the front row at both Daytona and Atlanta earlier in the season and many fans were wondering if they would do just that here at ‘Dega. Spoiler Alert: They did. Jesse Love went on to win the first stage while polesitter Hill won the second. This means that RCR has swept every single superspeedway stage thus far in the 2024 Xfinity Series Season.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was the RCR drivers of Jesse Love and Austin Hill who seemed to have a stranglehold on their competition here today. They led a bulk of the laps, never really falling outside the top 10. Other drivers who were fast were the JRM drivers of Brandon Jones, Justin Allgaier, and Sam Mayer. Unfortunately, bad luck would strike all three teams as they crashed out relatively early.
One of the primary storylines heading into this race was the Dash 4 Cash drivers. Unfortunately for them, that purple highlight over their names on the scoring pylon seemed to be the kiss of death. Of the 4, two (Allgaier and Mayer) crashed out, Allmendinger was caught up in a crash, and Ryan Seig had to pit under green. The winner of the prize ultimately was Ryan Seig. He finished 17th, making him the worst-finishing Dash 4 Cash winner in history (previously, Allgaier held the record with a 15th-place finish).
As the laps clicked down to 3 to go, drivers started to make their moves. Austin Hill was leading the race with Parker Kligerman behind him. Jesse Love was in third. The 21 and the 48 made contact which ultimately turned Hill and up into the wall. Other drivers were collected. This resulted in the first overtime attempt.
There was a second overtime attempt which saw Shand van Gisbergen run out of gas, which stacked up the field. Another wreck ensued which saw Parker Kligerman suffer a brutal head-on collision in the outside wall.
The third and final overtime attempt proved successful. By blocking impossibly all lanes, ARCA Champion, Jesse Love won his first-ever NASCAR Xfinity Series race. He was upfront all day, leading a bunch of laps.
All eyes were on the dynamic RCR duo of Austin Hill and Jesse Love. The driver of the #2 car won the pole at Daytona while his teammate Austin Hill won the race the next week at Atlanta. It’s clear that RCR has the superior setup when it comes to the Xfinity Series on superspeedways. Jessee Love started second and won the opening stage. His teammate Austin Hill took the second stage. Hill looked to be superior but that was most likely due to his experience running and winning at these types of tracks. In the end, Hill crashed out and Jesse Love won his first NASCAR Xfinity Series race.
To end the first stage, Justin Allgaier, who was running up front, hit the inside wall HARD after being turned on the back straightaway. Thankfully, he was able to get out under his own power. He was checked and released from the infield care center. Unfortunately, this ended his hunt for the Xfinity Dash 4 Cash.
Lady Luck wasn’t smiling on Allgaier’s teammate Brandon Jones, either. Though he was upfront and fighting for the lead, he got out of shape and crashed, collecting the number 51 of Jeremy Clements.
Austin Hill appeared to have the best car today. Unfortunately for him, some aggressive bump draft between himself and Parker Kligerman ultimately ended his chances of winning.
As reported by Dustin Albino, Austin Hill predicted that Kligerman would wreck him.
MrPissant says that obviously, Hill was turned around because Parker Kligerman wrecked him. To put things in context, Kligerman said that he didn’t touch him. FOX said that they didn’t know how he got around. However, the replays clearly showed Kligerman aggressively bumping the 2.
Regardless of how Hill wrecked, many fans were just glad to see it. Robert Garcia asks if Hill is the Denny Hamlin of the Xfinity Series. If so, he’s cool with him wrecking. Ouch!
William Olive agrees, loving the Hill carnage.
omsportsburner says that this win is Love’s redemption for running out of fuel at Atlanta.
Michael Mara is ecstatic that Love won his first race!
Jonathan Kinsley posted his congratulations to the RCR team.
Travis H speculates that there were “shenanigans”. He says that there’s no way Jesse Love could have made it to the finish without pitting.
That was a wild one down in ‘Dega, Daily Downforce readers. Are you all happy with Hill crashing out? Are you happy with your winner, young Jesse Love? Let us know what you think! That does it for our Xfinity Series coverage. Be sure to tune right back here at DailyDownforce.com for our coverage of the Cup Race tomorrow! Who else is excited!?
