Austin Hill Makes a Last Lap Pass to Win at Las Vegas

The NASCAR Xfinity Series made its third stop of the 2023 Season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and it was Austin Hill walking home with the jackpot as he made a pass coming to the white flag on Chandler Smith to take the lead and score the win. Hill has now won the first two of three races this season, also leading 19 laps and winning Stage 2.

Hill was once three seconds back of rookie pole sitter Chandler Smith, as Smith’s car began to tighten up in the closing laps, allowing Austin Hill to chase down the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet. This is Hill’s fourth win of his career.

Kyle Busch, who won the truck race the night before, finished fourth in his first race in a Kaulig Racing machine. This is all part of a tripleheader he is running this weekend. Justin Allgaier also finished in third.

“When the 16 (Chandler Smith) got by me (after a restart on Lap 98), I got really, really loose off of (Turn) 3,” said Hill after the race. “Almost wrecked it, saved it. The 16 got really far out. I just knew I had to not abuse the tires and try to methodically just work my way through traffic. The track was really tough today. Had a really thin line between (Turns) 3 and 4. If you missed it by-it seemed like a half of an inch-you paid for it through the whole lap.”

The race ended on a 103-lap green flag run where Chandler Smith occupied the lead until the final lap, as he went on to lead a total of 118 laps. He passed Kyle Busch for the lead on lap 102 and led almost every lap except the one that mattered the most.

“I just got a little tight there at the very end,” said Smith. “It is what it is. That’s a tough pill to swallow. There are some things I could have done inside before we started building tight. Getting by lapped traffic-we needed to have a bigger bumper.”

Despite the disappointing ending, Smith said he couldn’t be too disappointed with this being his sixth start in the Xfinity Series and already showing the results.

“We’re going to win a few races this year, for sure.”

John Hunter Nemechek was picking up where he left off from his Fontana win as he went on to lead 45 laps and win stage one. However, he had to pit for a loose wheel on lap 74 and never could get back up to the front as he went on to finish sixth. A good finish to add to his fire-hot start to the season.

Josh Berry, who will substitute for Chase Elliott on Sunday, went on to finish fifth after he had a spin earlier on in the race. Sam Mayer, Riley Herbst, Sheldon Creed, and Daniel Hemric rounded out the top ten.

Who To Watch: Cole Custer

This isn’t because he’s been off to a great start, more so it’s the start that wasn’t expected so far out of Custer. Custer made the return to the Stewart Haas No. 00 Ford after struggling in the Cup Series for a few years, only scoring a last-lap pass win at Kentucky in 2020. So far, Custer has finished ninth at Daytona, 27th at Fontana (and that was with both stage wins and leading multiple laps), and 12th at Las Vegas. It is still too early in the season and Custer could easily come out next week and win. I still think he will win races this season and will compete for the championship. He’s just got to find that groove, that one win that can get him going. He almost did so at Fontana until hitting the wall and suffering a flat tire. He’s still a driver to keep an eye on in the coming weeks.

The Xfinity Series heads next to Phoenix International Raceway on Saturday, March 11th at 4:30 PM EST.