Xfinity Atlanta race results: Austin Hill wins in overtime

HAMPTON, Ga. – Jesse Love had the dominant car at Atlanta Saturday evening but it was his teammate Austin Hill who took the Xfinity Series win.

The race came down to an overtime restart after Ryan Sieg ran out of fuel on the apron of the track. The final stage had run under green flag conditions as the drivers wondered if they would have enough fuel to make it to the checkered flag.

The caution for Sieg forced the field to make difficult decisions. Do they stop for fuel or gamble and stay out on the track? Love, Hill, Parker Kligerman, Ryan Truex and Justin Allgaier all stayed out. Many others stopped for fuel.

This gamble didn’t pay off for the majority of drivers. Allgaier ran out of fuel as the field came to the green flag for the overtime restart. Love, who led 157 laps, ran out of fuel on the restart along with Kligerman and AJ Allmendinger.

Hill managed to save enough fuel earlier in the stage and he capitalized on his opportunity. He took the lead and led the final two laps. Hill won at Atlanta, his home track, for the third time in three seasons.

“We came to the restart, I’m like sloshing it around,” Hill said about his fuel to Fox Sports after the race. “We go through the gears and when I went to shift from – I think it was third to fourth – I actually stumbled.

“(Chandler Smith) hit me really hard and that like woke (the car) back up and I just had enough fuel to complete the lap.”

Chandler Smith crossed the line second. Shane van Gisbergen was third. Sheldon Creed and Parker Retzlaff rounded out the top five.

As the laps continued to click down, it appeared that Love or Riley Herbst would win at Atlanta. However, Herbst ran out of gas from second place with three laps remaining in the race. He had to stop for fuel and finished 15th.

Love missed out on his first career Xfinity win after a dominant race in which he started from the pole, scored 20 stage points and led the most laps.

“I gotta take this moment to congratulate Jesse Love, my teammate,” Hill said. “Man, he ran an awesome race. To be a rookie and to lead that many laps, he should be sitting here in victory lane right now.”

Love has only made two Xfinity starts since joining Richard Childress Racing but has started from the pole in both while winning three of four possible stages and leading a combined 191 laps. He just hasn’t won his first race.