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.
MORE: Xfinity race results
MORE: Xfinity driver points
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.
Hill managed to save enough fuel earlier in the stage and he capitalized on the opportunity before him. 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.”
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.
Who had a good race: Hill gambled by staying out on the track for the overtime restart. He saved enough fuel to win his second race of the season. ... Retzlaff finished fifth one week after finishing third at Daytona. This was the first time in his career he posted back-to-back top fives. ... Shane van Gisbergen finished third at Atlanta in only his second Xfinity start after recovering from an extra pit stop on Lap 46. ... Chandler Smith finished second at Atlanta one week after finishing fifth at Daytona. He has top five finishes in both races since joining Joe Gibbs Racing.
Who had a bad race: John Hunter Nemechek hit the outside wall on Lap 67 after making slight contact with Jeremy Clements and Jeb Burton. He finished 32nd. ... Josh Williams had a flat tire on Lap 3. He suffered two more flat tires in the opening stage. He finished 37th and 10 laps behind the leaders. ... Cole Custer, Herbst, Sieg and Hailie Deegan all ran out of fuel with three laps to go. They all had to go down pit road and finished 15th or worse.
Next: The Xfinity season continues Saturday, March 2, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (5 p.m. ET on FS1).
