Austin Hill won the Explore Pocono Mountains 225 on Saturday putting the No. 21 in victory lane at the 2.5-mile Pocono Raceway.
Josh Berry began the race on the pole which featured several Cup Series drivers. At the end of the first stage it was Berry out front with Daniel Hemric, Sammy Smith, John Hunter Nemechek and Sheldon Creed rounding out the top-five. Cole Custer would be the only driver to pit prior to the end of the stage.
Custer would lead the field to green to start the second stage but Berry would work his way back around. Sheldon Creed, Ryan Sieg and Daniel Suarez would all pit prior to the end of the second stage as Justin Allgaier would pressure Berry for the lead on the final lap of the stage. Berry would hold on with Allgaier, Nemechek, Brandon Jones and Custer rounding out the top-five.
Custer and Nemechek would wreck on the stage 3 start. With 33 to go Allgaier would pit from second as Berry was once again out front. Brandon Jones would assume the lead as Berry and others pitted. With 11 to go Joey Gase would go around after contact from Allgaier.
Riley Herbst, Sam Mayer, Austin Hill, Berry, Chase Elliott, Creed and Ryan Sieg would all stay out to move to the front of the field as others opted for fresh tires. Connor Mosack would bring out another caution when he got into the wall in the tunnel turn but not before Berry regained the lead. Berry would get high on the restart allowing Hill to make the pass for the lead.
Berry would pull up to Hill but could not make the pass as Mayer pulled back up to him. Hill would be scored the winner as the caution came out. Berry ended up in the wall as did Ryan Sieg on the final lap.
The win is the fourth of the season for Hill and the sixth in his career. Hill is now just 13 points behind Nemecheck for the regular season points championship.
Pocono Xfinity Series Results
July 22, 2023
|
POSITION
|
START
|
LED
|
BEHIND
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
A. Hill#21
|
11
|
2
|
Winner
|
|
2 |
S. Mayer#1
|
8
|
0
|
0.657
|
|
3 |
C. Elliott#17
|
13
|
9
|
1.156
|
|
4 |
R. Herbst#98
|
21
|
3
|
1.580
|
|
5 |
D. Hemric#11
|
2
|
0
|
2.029
|
|
6 |
S. Smith#18
|
6
|
0
|
2.292
|
|
7 |
B. Jones#9
|
7
|
12
|
2.523
|
|
8 |
B. Moffitt#25
|
18
|
0
|
2.685
|
|
9 |
P. Kligerman#48
|
22
|
0
|
2.797
|
|
10 |
D. Suárez#10
|
23
|
5
|
3.076
|
|
11 |
S. Creed#2
|
3
|
0
|
3.648
|
|
12 |
J. Burton#27
|
12
|
0
|
4.135
|
|
13 |
A. Alfredo#78
|
26
|
0
|
4.956
|
|
14 |
T. Dillon#3
|
25
|
0
|
6.170
|
|
15 |
J. Clements#51
|
14
|
0
|
7.813
|
|
16 |
K. Sieg#28
|
20
|
0
|
7.827
|
|
17 |
J. Graf Jr#38
|
30
|
0
|
7.847
|
|
18 |
R. Ellis#43
|
27
|
0
|
9.294
|
|
19 |
J. Earnhardt#45
|
35
|
0
|
10.369
|
|
20 |
C. Smith#16
|
16
|
0
|
11.411
|
|
21 |
G. Smithley#4
|
34
|
0
|
15.487
|
|
22 |
R. Sieg#39
|
17
|
0
|
24.441
|
|
23 |
J. Allgaier#7
|
9
|
8
|
44.173
|
|
24 |
J. Berry#8
|
1
|
52
|
0.266
|
|
25 |
K. Grala#26
|
24
|
0
|
1 Lap
|
|
26 |
P. Emerling#53
|
36
|
0
|
1 Lap
|
|
27 |
B. Perkins#02
|
38
|
0
|
1 Lap
|
|
28 |
C. Chastain#91
|
33
|
0
|
1 Lap
|
|
29 |
B. Poole#6
|
31
|
0
|
1 Lap
|
|
30 |
A. Labbe#08
|
32
|
0
|
1 Lap
|
|
31 |
J. Gase#35
|
37
|
0
|
2 Laps
|
|
32 |
J. Nemechek#20
|
5
|
0
|
3 Laps
|
|
33 |
C. Custer#00
|
10
|
2
|
5 Laps
|
|
34 |
C. Mosack#19
|
4
|
0
|
|
|
35 |
P. Retzlaff#31
|
19
|
0
|
8 Laps
|
|
36 |
J. Williams#92
|
28
|
0
|
10 Laps
|
|
37 |
C. Heim#24
|
15
|
0
|
|
|
38 |
S. Karam#44
|
29
|
0
|
|
