Atlanta Motor Speedway proved once again why Austin Hill is the king of drafting tracks. Heading into the Bennett Transportation & Logistics 250, all eyes were on Hill, who had already built a reputation for success at superspeedways. With his sponsor also headlining the race, the signs pointed toward another dominant performance—and Hill did not disappoint.

Heading into the Bennett Transportation & Logistics 250, there was one name that you simply could not leave off of your NASCAR DFS team. And that name was Austin Hill. Hill is becoming “Mr. Automatic” when it comes to picking a potential winner at drafting tracks since he already had 7 wins at drafting tracks in his career. And just to throw a bone to those who aren’t “superstitious” but are “little-stitious,” the main sponsor of the race was also on Austin Hill’s car.

Once the green flag was waved to start the race, it was pretty much business as usual for Austin Hill. There was a caution early on in the middle of lap 8 when Ryan Sieg (39) would spin from third place. Simultaneously, the #26 of Dean Thompson would blow his rear left tire. Thompson would finish in 35th, Sieg would finish in 20th.

The end of stage one saw Austin Hill take the green checkered flag, followed by Jesse Love (2), Sam Mayer (41), Taylor Gray (54), and Carson Kvapil (1).

Second verse, same as the first! But the second stage went without a caution. Austin Hill would take the stage win again. This was the 4th time in his career he has swept the stages. Hill was followed by Sam Mayer (41), Sheldon Creed (00), Justin Allgaier (7), and Jesse Love (2).

With 53 laps remaining, the caution came out due to a flat right front tire on the #92 of CJ McLaughlin, sending him to the outside wall. Two more cautions flew with less than 40 laps left. The first came after the #20 of Brandon Jones spun with a flat rear left tire, which also forced the #53 of Mason Maggi to spin and get into the outside wall. The second caution came after the #48 of Nick Sanchez got into the rear left of the 41 of Sam Mayer, sending Mayer into the outside wall, and also collecting the #42 of Anthony Alfredo.

The final caution of the day came with 9 laps remaining when debris from the #88 of Connor Zilisch caused the yellow to fly. The race restarted with just three laps remaining.

Just after the green flag flew, Justin Allgaier (7) was able to get a push from behind by the #4 of Parker Retzlaff, shooting him to the front. But he failed to get in front of Austin Hill, and Hill came back to take the lead in the final lap, giving him the win.

This was Austin Hill’s 11th win of his career, and 8th at a drafting track. Hill was followed by Justin Allgaier (7), Aric Almirola (19), Sammy Smith (8), Nick Sanchez (48), Jeb Burton (27), Daniel Dye (10), Leland Honeyman (70), William Sawalich (18), and Harrison Burton (25).

Austin Hill continues to solidify his reputation as the go-to driver for drafting tracks, securing his 11th career win and 8th at a drafting track. Despite late-race challenges, he held off a strong push from Justin Allgaier to take the checkered flag. As the NASCAR Xfinity Series moves on to Circuit of the Americas on March 1st, the question remains—can anyone stop Hill at the drafting tracks?


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