HAMPTON, Ga. – Austin Hill took the lead for the first time on Lap 152 of 163 of the Focused Health 250 on Saturday and stayed in front for the rest of the race to win his fourth NASCAR Xfinity Series race at his home track, Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The 30-year-old driver from Winston, Georgia, won for the third time this season and took an overall victory in the two races in Atlanta. Seven of Hill’s nine career victories have come at tracks that utilize the superspeedway competition package.

“I’m speechless right now,” Hill said. “Our Bennett Chevrolet was fast all day, but the handling just wasn’t what I would have liked. When you come to these superspeedway events, you want a car that’s running at full throttle. You don’t worry about handling as much.”

“But I thought handling was going to be an issue and that definitely played a role today. My spotter Derek Kneeland and I made the right moves at the right time. We moved up to second and when we had the restart (on lap 150) I was thinking, ‘Do I go up or do I go down?’

“We both agreed that we had to go all the way down and try to get the lead. And if we can’t go down, then that’s just how it is.”

Hill got help from an unexpected source. He was surprised to get a crucial push on the final lap from Toyota driver Corey Heim, who was making his first superspeedway start in the Xfinity Series.

Toyota driver Chandler Smith was equally surprised – and frustrated. Smith dropped down to pass Hill on the final lap, briefly edging past the front bumper of Hill’s No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Heim stayed with Hill in the lead.

“I was expecting my Toyota teammate to come with me, but he didn’t,” said Smith, who ultimately finished fourth in the No. 82 Joe Gibbs Racing Supra. “I’m kind of speechless.”

Heim, who finished fifth behind Smith, believed his best chance of winning the race was to stay with Hill.

“He (Smith) had no run and no momentum, so why go so far down?” Heim said.

After pushing Hill off Smith, Heim attempted to pass at the top of the track, but clipped the outside wall and lost momentum. Parker Kligerman swept past Heim for second, followed by AJ Allmendinger.

Hill beat Kligerman by 0.340 seconds at the finish line, with Allmendinger finishing third, just 0.004 seconds behind Kligerman.

“Congratulations to Austin Hill – he is the master of this place,” said Kligerman, who achieved his career-best result in the series.

A multi-car accident on lap 145 dramatically changed the course of the race. Contact between the rival cars of Justin Allgaier and Cole Custer sparked a six-car accident that also involved the machines of Taylor Gray, Ryan Sieg, Riley Herbst and pole winner Jesse Love.

The accident was particularly damaging for Sieg, who is chasing Sammy Smith for the final spot in the 12-driver Xfinity Series playoffs.

Sieg was in the top 10 after recovering a two-lap deficit – the result of an electrical problem in the opening laps – when the accident occurred. He fell from 10 points to 44 behind Smith, who overcame a penalty for violating pit stop safety regulations to finish seventh.

The incident sidelined Allgaier and Custer, who are battling for the regular-season championship. Allgaier holds a 34-point lead over the reigning series champion, but both Smith (67 points behind) and Hill (71 points) now have outside chances to overtake the leader.

NASCAR Xfinity Series race – Focused Health 250

Atlanta Motor Speedway

Hampton, Georgia

1. (4) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 163.

2. (16) Parker Kligerman, Chevrolet, 163.

3. (6) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 163.

4. (8) Chandler Smith, Toyota, 163.

5. (21) Corey Heim(i), Toyota, 163.

6. (1) Jesse Love #, Chevrolet, 163.

7. (19) Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 163.

8. (13) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 163.

9. (18) Brandon Jones, Chevrolet, 163.

10. (7) Ryan Truex, Toyota, 163.

11. (37) Kyle Weatherman, Chevrolet, 163.

12. (17) Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, 163.

13. (22) Lawless Alan(i), Ford, 163.

14. (15) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 163.

15. (26) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 163.

16. (28) Kyle Victory, Ford, 163.

17. (35) Leland Honeyman #, Chevrolet, 163.

18. (27) Mason Maggio(i), Chevrolet, 163.

19. (24) Blaine Perkins, Ford, 163.

20. (25) Nick Leitz, Chevrolet, 163.

21. (34) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 163.

22. (33) David Starr, Chevrolet, 163.

23. (30) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 163.

24. (20) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 162.

25. (5) Sheldon Creed, Toyota, 160.

26. (9) Riley Herbst, Ford, 158.

27. (12) Shane Van Gisbergen #, Chevrolet, 157.

28. (2) Taylor Gray(i), Toyota, Suspension, 154.

29. (36) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, Suspension, 149.

30. (10) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, accident, 146.

31. (3) Cole Custer, Ford, accident, 144.

32. (14) Ryan Sieg, Ford, accident, 144.

33. (32) Morning Baird, Ford, 142.

34. (23) CJ McLaughlin, Chevrolet, engine, 112.

35. (29) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, Oil Line, 80.

36. (11) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, accident, 77.

37. (31) Dawson Cram(i), Chevrolet, engine, 18.

Average speed of the race winner: 118.514 mph.

Race time: 2 hours, 7 minutes, 5 seconds. Lead: 0.340 seconds.

Warning flags: 6 for 36 laps.

Lead change: 12 among 9 drivers.

Lap Leader: J. Love #1-15; S Creed 16; J.Love #17-24; J. Allgaier 25-43; A. Allmendinger 44-82; L. Honeyman #83; T. Gray(i) 84-95; C. Smith 96-107; C Custer 108-131; A. Allmendinger 132; C Custer 133-135; C. Smith 136-151; A. Hill 152-163.

Leaders summary (drivers, lead times, laps led): AJ Allmendinger 2 times for 40 laps; Chandler Smith 2 times for 28 laps; Cole Custer 2 times for 27 laps; Jesse Love # 2 times for 23 laps; Justin Allgaier 1 time for 19 laps; Austin Hill 1 time for 12 laps; Taylor Gray(i) 1 time for 12 laps; Sheldon Creed 1 time for 1 lap; Leland Honeyman # 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 7,21,98,18,2,1,9,00,81,19

Stage #2 Top Ten: 16.8,00,98,7,2,19,81,97,21

–By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media.