Austin Hill is going to compete for a championship for the first time in his NASCAR career after winning at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
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Hill, whose best points finish is fifth in any national series, had a dominant car Saturday evening at the 1.5-mile Florida track. He led a race-high 82 laps and swept the stages with the best car in the field.
Hill locked up his 10th career Xfinity win and ensured that he would contend for the series title. Reigning champion Cole Custer crossed the finish line in second place. Aric Almirola, Jesse Love, and Sheldon Creed rounded out the top five.
MORE: Hill wins, full results
The final battle was between Hill and Custer, the two drivers with the best cars. Custer was in the lead after green flag pit stops and in control of the race. He had an advantage of more than one second, but Hill erased it as the rest of the race ran without a caution.
The Richard Childress Racing driver took the lead with 12 laps to go and then he built up an advantage of more than three seconds over Custer. Hill never looked back.
You can hear the emotion in his voice.
Austin Hill is headed to the #Championship4! #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/sVgYNV7CRI
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) October 26, 2024
"A lot of people doubt me, but I wake up every day to prove that I deserve to be here and deserve to race for a championship," he told CW Sports after winning the race.
Stage 1: Austin Hill won stage 1. Aric Almirola, Sheldon Creed, Justin Allgaier, Cole Custer, Sam Mayer, AJ Allmendinger, Riley Herbst, Chandler Smith, and Ryan Sieg were top 10.
Stage 2: The caution flew with four laps remaining in the stage after Nick Leitz spun. This yellow ended the stage.
Hill was in the lead at the time of caution, so he locked up 10 more points with the stage win. Allmendinger, Custer, Sieg, Almirola, Creed, Allgaier, Smith, Jesse Love, and William Sawalich were top 10.
Sam Mayer in 14th and Sammy Smith in 26th missed out on stage points.
Playoff picture: Only two spots remain in the Championship 4 after Saturday's race. Allmendinger locked up his spot with a win last weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Hill then joined him at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Next: The Xfinity Series Round of 8 ends on Saturday, Nov. 2, with a race at Martinsville Speedway. This race will finalize the Championship 4 and eliminate four drivers from the playoffs.
