All the No. 21 Chevy Camaro of Austin Hill could do was chase the taillights of the No. 19 Toyota TRD Camry of Denny Hamlin across the line during the Xfinity Series race at Darlington Raceway on September 2nd, 2023.
Several times during the race, Hill was smart during pit stops and emerged with the lead, although he had difficulty holding the top spot on restarts. On one such restart, he lost the lead to Hamlin, and just couldn’t get it back, despite having a NASCAR Chevy that was fast enough to lead 29 laps.
“I just need to go back to the drawing board and figure out what I’m doing wrong on the restarts there, because that was really frustrating all day today,” Hill said. “It didn’t matter where I was restarting, I would buzz the tires really bad and just lose track position every time I’d do it.
He added, “So I got to do a better job of that if I’m going to win a championship. All in all, solid for us. That’s kind of something that we’ve been preaching the last six races that if you can’t be first, be second. If you can’t be second, be third. We were second today, but it still stings a little bit when you want to win.”
Meanwhile, two other NASCAR Chevy teams left Darlington with hard feelings toward each other. The No. 48 Camaro, driven by Parker Kligerman, found itself on the receiving end of a frustrating move by the No. 1 Camaro, driven by Sam Mayer. The cars made contact, forcing the latter to spin and lose valuable position in the fight to stay ahead of the Playoff cutoff.
“To come back from that and have to make a bunch of adjustments, then just get flat run over by the 1 car,” Kligerman said. “It’s so disappointing… He’s got to clean it up.”
For his part, Mayer simply said, “I effed up.”
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 19 | Denny Hamlin(i) | Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota | 148 | 14 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 2 | 9 | 21 | Austin Hill | Bennett Transportation Chevrolet | 148 | 29 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 3 | 1 | 20 | John Hunter Nemechek | Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota | 148 | 99 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 4 | 4 | 00 | Cole Custer | HAAS Automation Ford | 148 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 5 | 7 | 8 | Josh Berry | Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Chevrolet | 148 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 6 | 15 | 98 | Riley Herbst | Monster Energy Ford | 148 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 7 | 3 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | Hellmann's Chevrolet | 148 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 8 | 16 | 2 | Sheldon Creed | Whelen Chevrolet | 148 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 9 | 14 | 10 | Kyle Busch(i) | LA Golf Chevrolet | 148 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 10 | 6 | 11 | Daniel Hemric | Cirkul Chevrolet | 148 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 11 | 5 | 1 | Sam Mayer | Accelerate Pros Talent Chevrolet | 148 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 12 | 10 | 16 | Chandler Smith # | Quick Tie Products Inc. Chevrolet | 148 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 13 | 19 | 31 | Parker Retzlaff # | Capital City Towing Chevrolet | 148 | 5 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 14 | 8 | 9 | Brandon Jones | Menards/Klearvue Cabinetry Chevrolet | 148 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 15 | 17 | 24 | Corey Heim(i) | Toyota Outfitters Toyota | 148 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 16 | 22 | 45 | Rajah Caruth(i) | Circle Chevrolet | 148 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 17 | 11 | 18 | Sammy Smith # | TMC Toyota | 148 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 18 | 24 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Celsius Chevrolet | 148 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 19 | 27 | 7 | Stefan Parsons | Pops Mart Chevrolet | 148 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 20 | 31 | 6 | Brennan Poole | County Auto Auction of Central Florida Chevrolet | 148 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 21 | 26 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Booze Pops Chevrolet | 148 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 22 | 33 | 8 | Chad Finchum | Powerhouse Diesel Ford | 148 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 23 | 21 | 91 | Ross Chastain(i) | Use Your Melon Drive Sober Chevrolet | 148 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 24 | 13 | 48 | Parker Kligerman | Spiked Light Coolers Chevrolet | 148 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 25 | 18 | 25 | Brett Moffitt | AM Technical Solutions Ford | 148 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 26 | 34 | 38 | Joe Graf Jr. | FGR accel/Bucked Up Ford | 148 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 27 | 32 | 53 | Matt Mills(i) | J.F. Electric Toyota | 148 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 28 | 30 | 26 | Kaz Grala | CRUSH Lime Margarita Toyota | 148 | 0 | toyota TRD Supra |
| 29 | 36 | 43 | Ryan Ellis | Southern Elevator Chevrolet | 148 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 30 | 20 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | Sci Aps Ford | 148 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 31 | 28 | 4 | Kyle Weatherman | KSDT CPA Chevrolet | 148 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 32 | 29 | 66 | Timmy Hill(i) | CRC Brakleen Ford | 148 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 33 | 23 | 78 | Anthony Alfredo | Ticket Smarter Chevrolet | 147 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 34 | 35 | 02 | Blaine Perkins # | To The Point Chevrolet | 147 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 35 | 25 | 28 | Kyle Sieg | RSS Racing Ford | 147 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 36 | 38 | 35 | Patrick Emerling | Sci Aps Chevrolet | 145 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 37 | 37 | 92 | Josh Williams | StarTron/Alloy Chevrolet | 143 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 38 | 12 | 17 | Kyle Larson(i) | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 117 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
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