Austin Hill led 48 of the 100 laps and held on to win Saturday’s crash-filled NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Talladega Superspeedway. Hill was low on fuel after a late caution flag, but won in overtime in the United Rentals 250 in the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. The victory earns him a berth in the Championship 4.
This was Hill’s fourth win of the 2025 Xfinity Series season, the 14th of his career, and he also swept this season’s Talladega races.
“Honestly, I wasn’t that nervous, as soon as my crew chief said we should have at least 2.5 gallons,” Hill said. “I knew I was saving fuel while leading. We slowed the pace down a lot, leading the pack, and nobody was really making a move. I thought that we were gonna be close, but I thought we were gonna make it. I started having some fuel pressure issues, dropped to the apron, and it immediately came back up.”
“With how the last half of my season has went, with everything that’s went on, and getting knocked out of the Playoffs. I knew I was still in the owner’s championship. That’s one thing I want to do for that man right there, Richard Childress. If I can’t get the drivers (championship), we at least gotta get the owner’s. So special, always fun to be on these superspeedways,” Hill added.
Carson Kvapil was the highest-finishing rookie in second, followed by Justin Allgaier, Christian Eckes, and Caesar Bacarella to round out the top five. Blaine Perkins, Parker Retzlaff, Leland Honeyman, Sammy Smith and Jesse Love completed the top 10.
Kvapill was disappointed that he couldn’t capture the win, but pleased that he is currently above the cutline for the Playoffs.
“I’m excited,” Kvapil said. “Obviously, I’d rather be locked [in] on the screen over there, than +11, but from being -22 going into the weekend to +11, I’m a lot happier with it.”
Eckes was also hoping for a win, but was satisfied with his fourth-place finish.
“Our No. 16 Morris-Shea Chevy was really good all day,” Eckes said. “I thought we had a shot at it there at the end, but it just didn’t pan out for us. I hate it for our team, but we can’t be too mad at fourth place.”
Connor Zilisch’s streak of 18 consecutive top-five finishes came to an end at Talladega. He was involved in a crash that resulted in a flat tire during the final stage. He finished 23rd. It was the first time he has not finished in the top five since the Talladega spring race.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s William Sawalich was also caught up in the crash and was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.
The race featured five caution flags for 22 laps, and 17 lead changes among 10 drivers.
After Talladega, Connor Zilisch leads the Xfinity series standings by seven points over Justin Allgaier, 43 points over Jesse Love, 72 points over Carson Kvapil, 83 points over Sammy Smith, 92 points over Brandon Jones, 94 points over Sam Mayer, and 113 points over Sheldon Creed.
Next weekend, the Xfinity Series travels to Martinsville Speedway for the Round of 8 elimination race at 7:30 p.m. ET. It will be broadcast on The CW with radio coverage provided by MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Standings
| Pos | Driver | No | Points | Behind | Next | Race Wins | Stage Wins | Playoff Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Connor Zilisch # (P) | 88 | 3145 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 11 | 71 |
| 2 | Justin Allgaier (P) | 7 | 3138 | -7 | 7 | 3 | 13 | 38 |
| 3 | Jesse Love (P) | 2 | 3102 | -43 | 36 | 1 | 2 | 14 |
| 4 | Carson Kvapil # (P) | 1 | 3073 | -72 | 29 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 5 | Sammy Smith (P) | 8 | 3062 | -83 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| 6 | Brandon Jones (P) | 20 | 3053 | -92 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 18 |
| 7 | Sam Mayer (P) | 41 | 3051 | -94 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 16 |
| 8 | Sheldon Creed (P) | 0 | 3032 | -113 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
Race Results
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Number 31
Race Results for the United Rentals 250 – Saturday, October 18, 2025
Talladega Superspeedway – Talladega, AL – 2.66 – Mile Paved
| Pos | St | No | Driver | Team | Laps | S1 | S2 | S3 | Points | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 21 | Austin Hill (P) | Bennett Transportation Chevrolet | 100 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 60 | Running |
| 2 | 4 | 1 | Carson Kvapil (P) | Bass Pro Shops/Clarience Tech Chevrolet | 100 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 45 | Running |
| 3 | 8 | 7 | Justin Allgaier (P) | BRANDT Chevrolet | 100 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 52 | Running |
| 4 | 3 | 16 | Christian Eckes | Morris-Shea Bridge Co Inc Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 40 | Running |
| 5 | 25 | 5 | Caesar Bacarella | Mongoose Power Solutions Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | Running |
| 6 | 14 | 31 | Blaine Perkins | WERNER Chevrolet | 100 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 35 | Running |
| 7 | 24 | 4 | Parker Retzlaff | Every Man Jack Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | Running |
| 8 | 29 | 70 | Leland Honeyman | Wawa Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | Running |
| 9 | 11 | 8 | Sammy Smith (P) | Pilot Chevrolet | 100 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 36 | Running |
| 10 | 1 | 2 | Jesse Love (P) | Whelen Chevrolet | 100 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 40 | Running |
| 11 | 28 | 7 | Nick Leitz | Firman Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | Running |
| 12 | 33 | 14 | Garrett Smithley | ThermoTech Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | Running |
| 13 | 30 | 25 | Harrison Burton | DEX Imaging Ford | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | Running |
| 14 | 31 | 45 | Josh Williams | Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | Running |
| 15 | 35 | 28 | Kyle Sieg | Big House Construction Ford | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | Running |
| 16 | 36 | 53 | Joey Gase | Donate Life Alabama Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | Running |
| 17 | 6 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Sportsman Channel Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 21 | Running |
| 18 | 32 | 35 | David Starr | To Rescue The American Spirit Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | Running |
| 19 | 34 | 44 | Brennan Poole | Clarks Directional Boring Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | Running |
| 20 | 20 | 48 | Nick Sanchez | Caroline Jones No Tellin Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 23 | Running |
| 21 | 37 | 74 | Carson Ware | Costa Oil Filters Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | Running |
| 22 | 19 | 91 | Mason Maggio | Denssi Energy Pouches Chevrolet | 99 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | Running |
| 23 | 7 | 88 | Connor Zilisch (P) | First Bank of Alabama Chevrolet | 97 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 21 | Running |
| 24 | 9 | 19 | Aric Almirola (P) | Young Life Toyota | 92 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 23 | Accident |
| 25 | 15 | 10 | Daniel Dye | Champion Container Chevrolet | 92 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 14 | Accident |
| 26 | 10 | 20 | Brandon Jones (P) | Menards/Little Hugs Toyota | 84 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | Running |
| 27 | 22 | 71 | Ryan Ellis | Tablo Chevrolet | 49 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | Radiator |
| 28 | 18 | 99 | Connor Mosack(i) | Apave Chevrolet | 44 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Accident |
| 29 | 17 | 26 | Dean Thompson | Assured Partners/TPG Toyota | 44 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 11 | Accident |
| 30 | 2 | 18 | William Sawalich | Soundgear Toyota | 44 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 8 | Accident |
| 31 | 38 | 54 | Taylor Gray | Operation 300 Toyota | 41 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | Rear Gear |
| 32 | 26 | 32 | Jordan Anderson | Bommarito Automotive Group Chevrolet | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | Accident |
| 33 | 27 | 42 | Anthony Alfredo | Botticelli Chevrolet | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | Accident |
| 34 | 16 | 0 | Sheldon Creed (P) | Road Ranger Ford | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Accident |
| 35 | 23 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | Sci Aps Ford | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | Accident |
| 36 | 12 | 11 | Brenden Queen | Action Industries Chevrolet | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Accident |
| 37 | 21 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | All South Electrical Chevrolet | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Accident |
| 38 | 13 | 41 | Sam Mayer (P) | Audibel Ford | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | DVP |
Up Next:
The NASCAR Xfinity series heads to Martinsville Speedway for the IAA and Ritchie Bros. 250 on Saturday, October 25th at 7:30 pm ET on the CW Network.
