Austin Hill capped off a race-long event mired with a series of on-track carnages and contacts by weaving his way through a final-lap carnage to score an upset NASCAR Xfinity Series victory in the US Marine Corps 250 at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, March 29.
The 30-year-old Hill from Winston, Georgia, led only the final lap of 256 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started in third place and kept his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro entry intact. Through 14 caution periods that spanned over 100 laps while a bevy of competitors were involved in carnages, Hill, who rallied from igniting a late-race incident that involved his teammate Jesse Love, restarted in seventh place during the event’s lone overtime shootout.
Then, after navigating his way up to sixth place at the start of the final lap, he capitalized on a final-lap run-in involving Taylor Gray and Sammy Smith to rub his way past Justin Allgaier and grab the lead on the final corner. With carnage ensuing behind, Hill would proceed to motor to his second Xfinity victory of the 2025 season and cash in on both his first Dash 4 Cash bonus and a centennial victory for Richard Childress Racing.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, March 28, rookie Connor Zilisch notched his second Xfinity pole position of the 2025 season and his first on a short-track venue with a pole-winning lap at 95.213 mph in 19.888 seconds. Joining Zilisch on the front row was teammate Carson Kvapil, the latter of whom posted his best qualifying lap at 95.089 mph in 19.914 seconds.
Prior to the event, the following names that included Jesse Love, Thomas Annunziata, Myatt Snider, Greg Van Alst, Carson Ware and Jeb Burton started at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.
When the green flag waved and the race started, Connor Zilisch muscled his No. 88 Carolina Carports Chevrolet Camaro entry ahead with a strong launch from the inside lane. Zilisch would proceed to lead through the first two turns and the backstretch while Austin Hill battled Carson Kvapil for the runner-up spot. As the field behind battled amid two-stacked lanes, Zilisch led the first lap.
Over the next four laps, Zilisch extended his lead to more than a second while teammate Kvapil fended off Hill to claim sole possession of the runner-up spot. Behind, Justin Allgaier and Brandon Jones trailed in the top five while Harrison Burton, Sammy Smith, rookie William Sawalich, newcomer Corey Day and Sam Mayer pursued in the top 10. Amid a series of battles that was ensuing within the mid-pack region, Zilisch retained the lead by more than one-and-a-half seconds at the Lap 10 mark.
Through the first 20 scheduled laps, Zilisch was leading by nearly two seconds over teammate Kvapil while Jones, Allgaier and Hill trailed in the top five. By then, Harrison Burton, Sawalich, Taylor Gray, Sammy Smith, and Aric Almirola were racing in the top 10. As Zilisch proceeded to lead by Lap 30, Almirola was up to eighth place ahead of Sawalich and Sammy Smith while Gray moved up to sixth place. Meanwhile, Corey Day, Sam Mayer, Ryan Sieg, rookie Christian Eckes and rookie Dean Thompson trailed in the top 15 ahead of rookie Daniel Dye, Sheldon Creed, Anthony Alfredo, Josh Williams and rookie Nick Sanchez.
Just past the Lap 30 mark, Zilisch stabilized his lead to more than a second over teammate Kvapil while Jones, Allgaier and Gray raced in the top five ahead of Austin Hill, Almirola, Harrison Burton, Sawalich and Sammy Smith. Another 15 laps later, Zilisch continued to lead by more than a second over teammate Kvapil and he retained the advantage at the Lap 50 mark.
On Lap 53, the event’s first caution flew when Corey Day, who was making a move beneath Harrison Burton for eighth place, got sideways entering the first turn and made contact with Burton. As a result, both went up the track and made contact with the wall. Despite sustaining damage to their respective entries, both Day and Burton managed to continue. The caution for the duo’s incident was enough for the first stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 60 to officially conclude under caution as Zilisch claimed his first Xfinity stage victory of the 2025 campaign. Kvapil settled in second ahead of Jones, Allgaier and Almirola while Gray, Hill, Sammy Smith, Christian Eckes and Dean Thompson followed suit in the top 10, respectively.
Under the stage break, the lead lap field peeled off the track to pit road for a first round of pit service. Following the pit stops, Brandon Jones exited pit road first ahead of Allgaier and Zilisch while Kvapil, Gray, Almirola, Sammy Smith, Eckes, Hill and Sawalich followed suit, respectively.
The second stage period started on Lap 67 as Jones and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start, Jones used the inside lane to rocket ahead of Allgaier through the first two turns. Jones would proceed to lead through the backstretch and the final set of turns before he then led the following lap. Behind Jones, Zilisch battled teammate Allgaier for second and Gray followed suit while Almirola, Kvapil, Eckes and Sammy Smith battled in front of a stacked field for a top-five spot. With the field still stacked in two lanes, Jones led through the Lap 70 mark.
Through Lap 75 and with a series of on-track battles ensuing within the field, Jones was leading by two-tenths of a second over Zilisch while Gray, Allgaier and Almirola pursued in the top five. Amid Zilisch’s challenge to reclaim the top spot, Jones maintained the lead over the next five laps.
Then on Lap 80, the caution flew when Garrett Smithley, who was racing towards the tail end of the field, spun on the frontstretch as he was narrowly dodged by the leaders Jones and Zilisch, but the latter two would end up making contact. During the caution period, Jones surrendered the lead to pit his No. 20 Menards Toyota Supra entry for repairs to the left-rear entry, which was damaged after he was hit by Zilisch while both were trying to dodge Smithley spinning. Despite sustaining right-front damage, Zilisch remained on track and he re-inherited the lead.
As the event restarted under green on Lap 88, teammates Zilisch and Allgaier dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. Both continued to duel as Allgaier barely led the following lap from the outside lane. After dueling with Zilisch, Allgaier, who was racing from the outside lane, would then rocket his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro entry into the lead while exiting the backstretch on Lap 90. As Allgaier led, a flurry of two- and three-wide action ensued within the field.
On Lap 93, however, Zilisch reassumed the lead from Allgaier through Turns 3 and 4. Seconds later, the caution returned when rookie Dean Thompson, who was racing in the top-20 mark, spun in Turn 1. During the caution period, some led by Allgaier pitted their respective entries while the rest led by Zilisch remained on the track.
The start of the following restart on Lap 101 featured Zilisch rocketing away from Hill, Kvapil and the field through the first two turns and the backstretch. With Zilisch leading the following lap, Kvapil and Hill fiercely dueled for second until the former rocketed ahead with the spot. Behind, rookie Daniel Dye trailed in fourth ahead of Sawalich and Sanchez while Zilisch proceeded to lead at the Lap 105 mark.
By Lap 110, Zilisch was out in front by more than a second over teammate Kvapil while Dye, Sawalich and Sanchez pursued in the top five. Behind Hill, Josh Williams, Blaine Perkins, Brennan Poole and Almirola were in the top 10 ahead of Brad Perez, Kris Wright and Jeb Burton, while Allgaier was mired back in 14th.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 120, Zilisch claimed his second consecutive stage victory of the event. Kvapil followed suit in second ahead of Sawalich, Dye and Sanchez while Almirola, Josh Williams, Allgaier, Gray and Blaine Perkins were scored in the top 10, respectively.
During the stage break, some led by Zilisch pitted while the rest led by Almirola and Allgaier, who pitted during the previous caution period, remained on the track.
With 118 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Almirola and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start, Almirola launched his No. 19 Young Life Toyota Supra entry ahead from the inside lane while Allgaier briefly stumbled to launch from the outside lane. Amid Allgaier’s stumble that briefly caused the field to both stack and fan out, Almirola muscled ahead through the first two turns and the backstretch. In the process, Gray assumed second place while Allgaier was being pressured by Creed for third place.
Then, with 116 laps remaining, Gray made his move beneath teammate Almirola and overtook him for the lead entering the backstretch. As Gray led, Creed, Allgaier and Sammy Smith raced in the top five while Zilisch, who sustained front nose damage, was strapped in 12th place and mired in heavy traffic.
Five laps later, Harrison Burton spun in Turn 2 amid contact with Thomas Annunziata, then Burton got hit by Thomas Annunziata on the side while sideways. Despite both driver sustaining damage to their respective entries, both continued as the caution flew.
During the following restart with 104 laps remaining, Gray and Creed dueled for the lead in front of Almirola, Allgaier and the field for a full lap as Gray barely led the following lap. Both Gray and Creed would continue to duel for the top spot with 100 laps remaining before Gray cleared Creed from the inside lane two laps later. A lap later, however, the caution returned when Kvapil hit the frontstretch’s inside wall after making contact with Mayer while both were fiercely battling with Zilisch just outside the top-10 mark. During the caution period, some led by Gray pitted while the rest led by Eckes remained on track. After the pit stops, Gray beat Creed off of pit road first while Almirola, Sammy Smith, Allgaier, Jones, Hill, Clements, Zilisch and Thompson exited in the top 10, respectively.
The start of the ensuing restart, with 90 laps remaining, featured Eckes and Snider occupying the front row. At the start, Eckes muscled the No. 16 LeafFilter Chevrolet Camaro entry ahead from the inside lane while Snider retained second place in front of Sawalich, Poole and Dye. In front of a stacked field, Eckes led the following lap while Gray carved his way to ninth place on fresh tires. With more battles ensuing around the field between those who pitted versus those who did not, Gray moved up to eighth place, Creed was in 10th place and Allgaier pursued in 11th place while Eckes continued to lead with 85 laps remaining.
Then, with 75 laps remaining, the event’s seventh caution flew when Zilisch, who was racing in the top-20 mark, got sideways entering Turn 1 after he locked up the front tires. He then made slight contact with Thompson before he spun in Turns 1 and 2. Amid Zilisch’s spin, he was dodged by the oncoming field and continued. By then, Eckes retained the lead over Sawalich while Gray was up to third place. In addition, Allgaier was in sixth place behind Creed, while Hill was in ninth place. During the caution period, some led by Eckes pitted while the rest led by Sawalich and Gray remained on the track.
With the event restarting with 67 laps remaining, Sawalich and Gray dueled for the lead in front of two-stacked lanes through the first two turns and the backstretch. Then in Turns 3 and 4, Gray and Sawalich made slight contact that got Gray briefly loose. Amid the process, Creed then made contact with Sawalich while trying to get beneath him. Amid a brief three-wide action, Gray muscled his No. 54 Operation 300 Toyota Supra entry ahead from the outside lane and led the following lap. Behind, Creed and Sawalich battled for second place in front of Allgaier, Sammy Smith and Jones. Creed would then muscle ahead to claim second and Sammy Smith would follow suit over Sawalich while Gray leads with 64 laps remaining.
With 60 laps remaining, the caution returned for an eighth time when Carson Ware spun in Turn 2. By then, Gray was leading by more than a second over Sammy Smith while Creed, Sawalich and Jones were in the top five. During caution, Sawalich pitted from fourth place while the rest of the front-runners, led by Gray, remained on the track.
The start of the next restart with 53 laps remaining only lasted three laps before the caution returned as Harrison Burton, who was racing in the top 20, spun in Turn 4. During the caution period, Almirola and Snider pitted their respective entries while the rest, led by Gray, remained on the track.
Following an extensive caution period due to Greg Van Alst stalling on the frontstretch, the race restarted under green with 42 laps remaining. At the start, Gray muscled away from Sammy Smith, Allgaier and the field as he led the following lap. By then, however, the caution returned when Thompson spun in Turn 2 for a second time. Thompson’s latest incident occurred when he got sideways in front of Mayer entering the first turn, though he was dodged by the field.
The start of the next restart, with 35 laps remaining,g only lasted a lap when Hill, who was in ninth place, bumped Eckes into Love, which carried forth into Kvapil as Kvapil spun through the first two turns. As Kvapil slid backwards into the outside wall, he was then hit in the front nose by Love, which left both pinned against one another towards the wall and with damage to their entries. They then rammed into one another before they both proceeded, with Love parking his car in his pit lane after it was leaving a trail of fluid on the track and to the pit road.
When the race restarted under green with 22 laps, Gray fended off Allgaier through the first two turns to retain the lead. As Gray pulled away, teammates Allgaier and Sammy Smith battled for second in front of Creed, Jones, Hill and Eckes. With the field stacked in two lanes, Gray led with 20 laps remaining. By then, Sammy Smith muscled his No. 8 Pilot Chevrolet Camaro entry ahead of Allgaier to take sole possession of second while Jones and Creed followed suit ahead of Hill, Eckes, Dye, Mayer and Poole.
The caution would then return with 19 laps remaining when Mayer, who was racing in the top 10, got Eckes sideways and Eckes was then hit by teammate Daniel Dye entering the backstretch. The carnage for Eckes did not stop as he then spun and was hit on the right side by Nick Sanchez before both slid down the track and collided into the inside wall along with Josh Williams. As the field scattered to avoid the carnage, Kyle Sieg T-boned into the rear of Snider while Harrison Burton also sustained damage. The incident was enough for the event to be placed in a red flag period for more than 11 minutes.
When the red flag was lifted and the field led by Gray proceeded under a cautious pace, the race then restarted under green with 12 laps remaining. At the start, Gray launched ahead with a strong start from the inside lane. He would proceed to lead through the first two turns and the backstretch while Sammy Smith battled with teammate Allgaier for the runner-up spot. With Creed and Jones pursuing in the top five, Gray led the following lap. As both Almirola and Ryan Sieg ignited smoke on their entries due to tire rubs and on-track contact from within the field, Gray led with 10 laps remaining while Hill battled Creed for fifth place.
With nine laps remaining, the caution flew for a 13th time when Zilisch, who was racing in the top 15, got bumped by Sawalich, which sent Zilisch spinning in Turn 4, where he then made contact with Sawalich before he veered back up the track. In the process, Jeremy Clements hit the outside wall entering the frontstretch while slamming on the brakes to avoid hitting Zilisch.
Down to the final two laps of the event, Sammy Smith, who restarted behind Gray in the second row on the inside lane, shoved Gray ahead of Allgaier at the restart’s launch. Smith then kept pushing Gray into Turn 1. As a result, Gray got loose and slipped up the track. This allowed Smith to navigate his way into the lead from the inside lane. Then, as Smith led through the backstretch, he was starting to be intimidated by Gray and Jones through Turns 3 and 4 when the caution returned due to Matt DiBenedetto spinning in Turn 2. At the moment of caution, Sammy Smith was scored the leader and all four Dash 4 Cash competitors (Allgaier, Hill, Creed and Mayer) were racing fourth to seventh, respectively, as the event was sent into overtime.
At the start of overtime, Gray, who opted to restart behind Sammy Smith in the inside lane from the second row, returned the favor to Smith by shoving him up the track and getting beneath him entering the backstretch. With Jones, who restarted on the front row, getting shoved back to a duel with Allgaier for third place, Gray and Smith dueled for the top spot through the backstretch until Gray gained a slight advantage from the inside lane entering Turns 3 and 4.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Gray held a narrow lead over Smith across the start/finish line while Jones, Allgaier and the rest of the field pursued. After being drawn back into a brief duel with Smith entering the first two turns, Gray then used the turns to muscle ahead and clear Smith with the lead through the backstretch.
Then entering Turns 3 and 4, Smith rammed into the rear end of Gray at full speed. The contact got Gray sliding up the track and spinning backwards towards the outside wall. As Smith tried to proceed, he then made contact with teammate Allgaier, which allowed Austin Hill to sneak past both from the inside lane as he assumed the lead entering the frontstretch. With a multi-car wreck ensuing that involved Jones and Smith, Hill proceeded to claim the checkered flag and steal the victory in an upset fashion.
With the victory amid an unexpected turn of events, Hill notched his 12th career win in the Xfinity Series division, his first at Martinsville and his first since he won at Atlanta Motor Speedway in late February. As added bonuses, Hill claimed the second Dash 4 Cash bonus of $100,000, which was a first for himself, and he recorded the 100th Xfinity career victory for Richard Childress Racing.
“I chose [the] bottom [lane] just because of how rough everybody was on restarts,” Hill said on the frontstretch on the CW Network. “I had to do what I had to do there on the last lap. [I] Cant’ thank everybody on this Bennett Chevrolet. We didn’t have the fastest car. It wasn’t as fast as Xfinity Mobile, but that restart, it just got wild. [The leaders]’re leaning on each other and I knew that getting into [Turn] 3, they were all going to get beating and banging. I just drove it as deep as I could. They all got to hitting each other and I hit [Allgaier] a little bit, shoved him up and then, got on the apron a little bit right there and came on with the win.”
“Man, I’m in disbelief that we’re in Victory Lane right now,” Hill added. “It is unbelievable. I actually said during the race that I hated this place because of all the beating and banging that was going on. To top [the win], off, we won [$100,000]! This is awesome! I got a perfect place for the grandfather clock.”
As Hill celebrated on the frontstretch, both Gray and Sammy Smith were left dejected and livid towards one another amid their last-lap carnage and late run-ins. Both would be seen exchanging words in the infield care center while separated by NASCAR security. While Gray minced his perspective of the incident, Smith did not.
“I mean, it sucks, right?” Gray, who ended up 29th, said. “I felt like we had the best car all day. It’s unfortunate, man. That’s the same story I’ve lived here for two Martinsvilles in a row. Sucks, but it is what it is. Long year.”
“Absolutely, [my move] was egregious,” Smith, who finished 10th, said. “I’m not proud of that, but I mean if roles reversed, [Gray] would have done the same thing. He’s got no respect for me. I didn’t move him those first prior restarts. He was flipping me off on the red flag [period], swerving at me. It’s definitely uncalled for and I’m not proud of it, but he would have done the exact same thing. That’s what I told him. We’ll see what happens after that. If you’re not the one doing it, someone’s going to do it to you. Everyone’s going to dog on me. I’m not proud of that, but at the end of the day, it’s what you got to do.”
Amid the carnage, Sheldon Creed crossed the finish line in the runner-up spot behind Hill while Justin Allgaier, Brennan Poole and Sam Mayer managed to finish in the top five.
Overall, Hill, Creed, Allgaier and Poole will contend for the third Dash 4 Cash bonus of the 2025 campaign at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 12.
Rookie Dean Thompson finished in sixth place while rookie Daniel Dye, Ryan Sieg, Kris Wright and Sammy Smith completed the top 10 in the final running order.
There were 14 lead changes for 10 different leaders. The race featured 14 cautions for 104 laps. In addition, 29 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the seventh event of the 2025 Xfinity Series season, Justin Allgaier leads the regular-season standings by 41 points over Sam Mayer, 47 over Austin Hill, 71 over Sheldon Creed, 74 over Jesse Love and 78 over Sammy Smith.
Race Results:
1. Austin Hill, one lap led
2. Sheldon Creed, two laps led
3. Justin Allgaier, five laps led
4. Brennan Poole
5. Sam Mayer
6. Dean Thompson
7. Daniel Dye
8. Ryan Sieg
9. Kris Wright
10. Sammy Smith, six laps led
11. Jeb Burton
12. Parker Retzlaff
13. Aric Almirola, seven laps led
14. Jeremy Clements
15. Garrett Smithley
16. Patrick Staropoli
17. Josh Williams
18. Ryan Ellis
19. Blaine Perkins
20. Carson Kvapil
21. Corey Day
22. Brandon Jones, 22 laps led
23. Brad Perez
24. Harrison Burton
25. Mason Maggio
26. Matt DiBenedetto
27. William Sawalich, four laps led
28. Connor Zilisch, 100 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner
29. Taylor Gray, 87 laps led
30. Carson Ware, two laps down
31. Thomas Annunziata, four laps down
32. Nick Sanchez – OUT, Accident
33. Myatt Snider – OUT, Accident
34. Christian Eckes – OUT, Accident, 22 laps led
35. Kyle Sieg – OUT, Accident
36. Greg Van Alst, 27 laps down
37. Jesse Love – OUT, Accident
38. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Engine
Next on the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series season is Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, for the Sports Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, April 5, and air at 3:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
