As race cars dropped like flies after running out of fuel around him, Austin Hill, driver of the No. 21 NASCAR Chevy Camaro SS, took advantage of his full tank to win for the second consecutive week at Atlanta on February 24th, 2024.
Running behind the leaders in a single-file line, Hill was able to save more fuel than the other racers, including the No. 2 Camaro of Jesse Love. Love lead for most of the race after starting from the pole, but he ran out of fuel during a late-race restart. Hill snagged the lead and didn’t look back, holding off Chandler Smith’s No. 81 Toyota TRD Supra for the win.
“I was really thinking we were down and out,” Hill said. “I was thinking the 2 [Love] was going to go get ‘em, and hey, if I can’t win, let my teammate win. We were riding there in fourth or fifth – whatever it was – was saving fuel. The 81 [Smith] hit me really hard, and that woke it back up, and I had enough fuel to complete the lap.”
He added, “But I’ve got to take this moment to congratulate Jesse Love, my teammate. He ran an awesome race. To be a rookie and to lead that many laps, he should be sitting in Victory Lane right now.”
Love was upset after the race, but took it all in stride.
“It’s almost comical,” he said. “Man, I’m just so damn proud of everybody on this Whelen car. It just wasn’t meant to be. Obviously, as a Christian, I’m not going to allow myself to question why we were under caution so long or what happened. I always try to take responsibility for everything, so I as a driver I should have saved more fuel. Man, I just didn’t want anybody to catch me off-guard. I thought I saved a ton.”
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 21 | Austin Hill | Bennett Transportation Chevrolet | 169 | 2 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 2 | 12 | 81 | Chandler Smith | QuickTie Toyota | 169 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 3 | 13 | 97 | Shane Van Gisbergen # | WeatherTech Chevrolet | 169 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 4 | 10 | 18 | Sheldon Creed | Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota | 169 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 5 | 24 | 31 | Parker Retzlaff | FVP/Bommarito.com Chevrolet | 169 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 6 | 23 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | One Stop/All South Electric Chevrolet | 169 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 7 | 15 | 5 | Anthony Alfredo | Chapman Fence Chevrolet | 169 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 8 | 22 | 26 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | ForeverLawn Toyota | 169 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 9 | 8 | 19 | Ryan Truex | Toyota Genuine Parts Toyota | 169 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 10 | 14 | 8 | Sammy Smith | Pilot Flying J Chevrolet | 169 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 11 | 6 | 1 | Sam Mayer | Raptor High Heat Chevrolet | 169 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 12 | 1 | 2 | Jesse Love # | Whelen Chevrolet | 169 | 157 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 13 | 7 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Campers Inn RV Chevrolet | 169 | 8 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 14 | 18 | 9 | Brandon Jones | Menards/Atlas Roofing Chevrolet | 169 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 15 | 4 | 98 | Riley Herbst | Monster Energy Ford | 168 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 16 | 11 | 00 | Cole Custer | Haas Automation Ford | 168 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 17 | 17 | 91 | Kyle Weatherman | DriveSmartWarranty.com Chevrolet | 168 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 18 | 21 | 78 | BJ McLeod | BJ McLeod Motorsports Chevrolet | 168 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 19 | 5 | 48 | Parker Kligerman | Spiked Lite Coolers Chevrolet | 168 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 20 | 30 | 44 | Brennan Poole | Finance Pros Plus Chevrolet | 167 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 21 | 35 | 42 | Leland Honeyman # | LH Waterfront Construction Chevrolet | 167 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 22 | 20 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | Sci Aps Ford | 167 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 23 | 25 | 27 | Jeb Burton | State Water Heaters Chevrolet | 167 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 24 | 36 | 14 | JJ Yeley | Chevrolet | 167 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 25 | 34 | 43 | Ryan Ellis | Classic Collision Chevrolet | 167 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 26 | 31 | 92 | Nick Leitz(i) | Precision Measurements Inc. Chevrolet | 167 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 27 | 19 | 15 | Hailie Deegan # | AirBox Ford | 167 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 28 | 9 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | Jarrett 25 Years Chevrolet | 167 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 29 | 33 | 35 | Joey Gase | NCPC Race Against Crime Chevrolet | 166 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 30 | 28 | 29 | Blaine Perkins | Pritchard Injury Firm Ford | 166 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 31 | 29 | 4 | Dawson Cram # | KSDT CPA Chevrolet | 166 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 32 | 3 | 20 | John Hunter Nemechek(i) | Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota | 165 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
| 33 | 37 | 07 | Patrick Emerling | SIMFORGE Chevrolet | 165 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 34 | 32 | 6 | Garrett Smithley | Chevrolet | 165 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 35 | 27 | 38 | CJ McLaughlin | Viking Motorsports Ford | 164 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 36 | 26 | 28 | Kyle Sieg | Night Owl Ford | 164 | 1 | Ford Mustang |
| 37 | 16 | 11 | Josh Williams | Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet | 159 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 38 | 38 | 32 | Jordan Anderson | EasyCare Chevrolet | 98 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
Subscribe to GM Authority for more Chevy news, NASCAR news, GM motorsports news and around-the-clock GM news coverage.
No Comments yet