Austin Hill takes another NASCAR Xfinity win at Atlanta

huh yeah I've had a few that's for Welcome All right we are now joined by the winner of this afternoon's NASCAR xinity series race here at Atlanta Motor Speedway that's Austin Hill driver the number 21 Richard chis racing Chevrolet Austin you just went back to back at your home track how's it feel and can you take us through those last um few laps out there I know we were all on the edge of our seat yeah I was on the edge of my seat too I was trying everything I could not direct wreck um yeah you know we we had the red flag my spotter Derek nean and I we were talking it over and we were like we got to go bottom here right and uh he's like yeah I mean I I agree I think you got to go bottom so we went bottom obviously um bottom had worked decent all day I wouldn't say it was the you know it's not where you wanted to be you wanted to be the top if you wanted if you could but uh I coming off of turn two I drugged back got a good push from the 11 and when I got into turn three I kind of shallowed up my entry a little bit into three to get away from the 81 and somehow I cleared him and when I cleared him he crossed me over I was surprised that um whoever's behind him stuck with me and then from then on up until the White Flag lap you know I was just kind of controlling the lanes controlling the runs that were coming and then for whatever reason the the runs were a lot different this weekend than what I've seen in the past here at Atlanta they were a lot stronger it was hard to kind of lift as you're leading and create almost a a bubble on the back of your car and get in that buffer zone where they can't really bust the bubble it seemed like at will they could just bust the bubble if they wanted to so uh I don't know if it was just the product of the racing that we had today but he had a huge run coming back to the white into three and had me jacked up pretty good he was doing everything that he needed to do to win try to win the race and I was sideways uh he got underneath me I was very surprised the 26 went with me and uh you know right at the start Finish Line I'm sideways as the 26 is pushing me 26 got to my right rear and I thought I screwed up there and I tried to like run him up the hill a little bit just to make him get a little tighter a little loose because it seemed like guys that would get underneath me that would run the bottom if they like ran up the hill and made me run up the hill I would either get loose or tight depending on on the situation and I'd have to lift and that would allow them to clear so I was trying to do that and he ended up hitting the fence uh I didn't want that to happen I don't need any enemies going into these playoffs but um I was doing everything in my power to win the race um as soon as I saw that happen I saw the 48 didn't have much momentum it was just flat out all the way until I got back to the line I I figured that nobody was going to get a run to get back to us and such a special win I mean it you know 50-year anniversary we had the gold car that's the only time we're running the gold car all year um for benett and to have over 500 employees family friends um truckers just all in attendance and to get the job done for Bennett Transportation Logistics uh it means the world to me just you know everyone at RCR ECR engines Chevrolet uh we had to work for that one the car didn't drive the best all day um but we were there when it mattered definitely a special win all right we'll open up to questions we'll start with Jerry then go to Jacob Jerry right here Jerry Jordan kicking the tires something that we thought y like yall were going to wre wreck too so don't feel bad I mean uh how did you guys in the you know how did you not wreck I mean you guys were all over each other and and you mentioned the the way the track was handling what what's it feel like out there because you know obviously we have the Cup race tomorrow can can those guys expect something a little different now well I mean I know the cup CS are totally different than xinity cards you know xinity cars you can kind of get loose with them and slide them around a lot you can um laterally Slide the tires across the race track the cup cars you know once you get loose like it's just instant you know it's kind of like a light switch when you have a ton of grip in the cup car until you don't um so I don't know how much of it's going to play a factor I do think that the drivability that you have in your car and handling is going to play a factor you still need a car that can be fast though so there's like a mixture um we were we were pretty trimmed out we kind of came here a little tighter balance-wise than what we' came in the past and that still wasn't enough we knew that it being in the 80s was probably going to cause a little bit of Havoc as far as um the track aging a little bit more it being a day race uh we thought the handling was going to be an issue and it and it sure was I mean we tightened up all day trying to get it the car tight enough for me it never got tight enough for me and um like I said it was just out of control all race long I I don't know how we didn't have more big Rex than what we had obviously we had that one big wreck getting into three that kind of propelled me into second that kind of opened the door up for me because when I was running fifth you know I still think we would had a shot at winning it was going to be a lot harder and then when I got to second I knew that the door opened and I had to pounce when it mattered most um but yeah I I think for tomorrow I think handling is going to be an issue uh I just don't know if it's going to be as much of an issue as it was today for the xinity cars okay let's go to Jacob next Jacob San Race Face digital Austin uh first in regards to the final lap did you feel Cory get to your Fender in in one and two there or was that a case of he got there so fast that it kind of all happened too quickly yeah I mean so when I was leading I wasn't ever running like the fence I was always running like that last hash mark that's that's in the corner I was running kind of on it or maybe right below it and when I got clear of the 81 I was watching the 26 but he got to my right rear like as soon as I got in the corner so what was happening was when I was leading most of the time I would get these surges on Entry where I would drive away from the guys behind me well for that instance and even turn three coming to the white they had a big Surge and they got to me and they stayed connected well when he got to me and was pushing me down the straightway I figured when we got detached that I mean I'm wide open I figur I'm going to get a little bit of a gap on him because I think the 81 was underneath him at that point somehow it didn't drag him back and he still had Ford momentum and when he got to my right rear my spotter is like yelling at me like he he's there outside outside like he's on your right rear and so I'm looking in the mirror but I'm trying to like run him to where he's uncomfortable and then he got in the wall I don't know if we touched or not I haven't seen the replay but um I didn't want that to happen I I wanted us to race it out but um at that moment in the race and it's white flag you're doing everything it takes to win the race and and we got the job done when it mattered and he said as much um on Pit Road too that if the roles were reversed he probably would have done the same thing yeah no I mean I I it's good to hear that from him I hope he don't have any hard feelings it's just one of those things it's last lap everybody's going for it and um you know you're just doing all you can to win the race and he had a great race all day it just didn't work out for him have you petitioned Brandon Hutchinson yet to maybe give you the deed to this RAC trck I mean four four wins and six exfinity starts here I don't know if you know what makes you so good here or if it's just home field advantage but yeah I mean that's funny you say that he uh when I was walking down from intros he kind of gave me like a four sign and I kind of knew what that meant like you know we might get number four today and uh sure enough it happened I don't know what it is about Atlanta just something about this place ever since they changed the configuration um it's just fit rcr's drive you know the way that they build the race cars my driving style um and in saying that we had speed today but the car definitely wasn't to my liking so we had to dig deep for that one I mean we were elbows up I cinched the belts a little tighter on that restart because I knew it wasn't going to be easy I'm like I don't know if anybody if they showed the in car cam or anything like that but I have an in car that I ran all race I am swatting flies in there all race long just trying to control this race car um but I mean there again I mean it it it drove good enough for me to win the race so um we got the job done like I said when it mattered most thank you uh Austin I'm Ray Acres Sky View Sports you led the race one time today for the last six laps you kind of feel like with your experience you've had with your other victories you're kind of playing with house money because you've been very analytical on you're holding different people off you really think that that experience played a role in the victory today yeah I mean it could have played a little bit of a role I think that like I said Derek nean my Spotter and I we just do a really good job working together there's a lot of times that when he Keys up on the radio before he even does what he's going to say already know what he's saying um prime example coming off a turn two I could tell that I got detached from the 11 car and I'm already dragging the break like a split second before he comes over the radio and he's like hey drag break we need to keep the 11 we got to have a run down the back I was already dragging break probably a second before he said that so the communication between him and I just go a very long way I mean if you and your spotter don't work well together it makes it really tough on these super Speedways for it to work out I have a lot of trust in him he has a lot of trust in me and I think that was the Difference Maker today is I knew when to drag back I knew when to get the push I knew when to get the run to get the lead and then it was just a dog fight from then on like you just had to do everything you could not to lose the lead once you got it on that restart y thanks yeah um Anthony roads with the Henry Herold and clayt News Daily um I'm looking at an old stat book from here your first two bandelero races were in 2004 here in Thursday Thunder what are your thoughts about how your racing career has progressed in the last 20 years yeah I mean it's it's been a a wild ride there's been a lot of ups and downs there's been a um a lot of heartbreaks a lot of Victories and cheers and and everything in between um you know as I was growing up racing I ran thousands and thousands of laps around this little quarter mile racetrack in a road course that they used to run uh out in the infield where the fans are um you know running bandel and Legend cars it was kind of my dream all throughout running the quarter quarter mile to run the big track one day and to sit here and say that I've won four times here at my home racetrack on the big track is uh something that if you would have told me that a few years ago I would have you know told me told you you were crazy like that's just that's just really hard to do right I me it's hard to win that many times at a certain racetrack um but it it's just fit my driving style it's fit the way the configuration is the way that RCR goes about bringing race SC to the racetrack uh ECR engines and um we we've just figured it out I mean we really have there's still things that we're learning each and every race and like I said this one wasn't easy we had to get our elbows up on it but um for us to win as many times as we did and for me 20 years ago like you said to be here racing banders and and be here where I am today uh is truly special and also any thoughts on other Georgia drivers being in the mix today Corey and Chandler being in there as well yeah I wasn't really thinking about that until uh somebody mentioned it to me in Victory Lane that um you know Cory was up there Chandler was up there and I we were all battling we're all Georgia born that's that's really neat it's hard to do it's hard to you know have a HomeTown Racetrack and have three of us battling out for the win so that that was something special to to watch go to John Bob and then make our way to the back John new Beal drivers you partially addressed this already but after the race Josh Williams said he felt like you know some of the Chevy guys rout for themselves and then Parker said it was just a more of a product of one lane working better than the other can I get your perspective on what is more accurate description well I mean I had a Toyota push me to the Wi so I mean you know you you the 81 is a Toyota right he pushed me getting into three and I'm sideways he gets underneath me doing his job and then when he gets beside me I'm like oh I'm in trouble here because the 26 he's a Toyota he's going to go with the 81 and he stays with me I don't know if he was having some handling issues where he couldn't just turned down there and helped anyone he had to help me but when he stayed with me I was like all right that's that's fine by me so I do think a lot of that was going on where you know everyone was somewhat out for themselves I tried really hard to work with some of the Chevy guys you know if a Ford pull out of the line I would and there was a Chevy in front of me I would push the Chevy it's not like I'm just going to turn left push the forward um there were instances where the line on the top stacked up and I would have a big run and i' drop to the bottom and there might have been a forter or Chevy in front of me and at that point it's just one of those things where you get a run and you don't want to put yourself in a bad spot so you just turn left and hope it works um I know I turned left on my teammate a few times um didn't screw him over or nothing I I kind of got in front of him and I thought him and I worked well together for the most part today I there was times that and I weren't wasn't around each other so I do think Atlanta in general has more of a product that you're not really looking at does that guy have a bow tie or does that guy have a Toyota sticker does that guy have a Ford sticker it's what kind of run can you generate to get to the lead um and fill a hole because this type of racing is just so much different than Daytona and Talladega let's go to Bob Bob pck Fox Sports I want to say the Aly kuster deal happened pretty much right in front of you what did you see and were you surpr they both were surprised that that little contact actually flat actually caused a flat tire yeah um so the the seven was like really good all day he could be really tight to somebody he was behind me a good bit in stage one and had me like dead sideways a lot of the time because he could poke a headlight out and get to my left rear and get me really loose um and he was just he was being really aggressive all day um you know I'd have to look back at the replay I know I was right directly behind it it almost looked like right when he touched the double zero and went to get off of him it's like the 98 might have like got to his right rear and pulled him and it sucked him into the wall or into the 98 and the0 um but yeah I mean it for it to blow his you said it blew his tire for it to blow his tire like it did I didn't think I thought it was minimal contact for that to happen so um yeah I was surprised by that I wasn't surprised that the wreck happened I thought it was coming you could tell that like it was brewing each and every lap that something was going to happen whether it be behind me or in front of me and uh luckily enough we missed it let's go over here to the back uh yes Alo Southern r s radio I know it's a big deal to win your home track you've done that a lot but for you to have a sponsor that's right in the backyard here in Henry County how benef how important is for you not for your win but for the win for Bennett and having a sponsor that's also Georgia born just as you are as well yeah I think it goes a long way you know I I said it one of my interviews in Victory Lane that we over these last three years we've grown as a a sponsor to almost like a family you know I mean when we see uh everyone at Bennett um you know Lynette all of them um you just have that feeling of yes it's partnership yes it's sponsorship but you have that family atmosphere um and I think that goes a long way and that was weighing hard on me like when I had that last restart I'm like I if I get the lead here I got to do everything I which I'm going to do everything I can regardless but it kind of like amped up the pressure even more um for me to get the job done because when I got the lead I knew we had the gold paint Scheme we're not running it the rest of the year you know it's the only time we're running it 50-year anniversary uh there was over like I said 500 people here uh celebrating the weekend and for us to do what we did it's very hard to do um and they were they were so excited so ecstatic so um for that to happen the way it did uh is very very special to to myself and to everyone at benett okay let's come up here to the front uh not a true question Austin just wanted you to know that the dogs W 148 to three today love it I love it I was actually asking my PR that earlier when I was walking over here I'm like how' the dogs do 48 to3 tenness though I mean yeah uh Dame just lost to Northern Illinois though figured you'd be interested in that wow uh actual question what was it like uh having your son in the car as you came to Victory L yeah first first time doing something like that that was really cool uh I couldn't tell if he was like nervous or if he was uh excited about it it it seemed like he was excited about it but uh yeah I I don't know if he knew exactly what was going on but uh he had a fun time riding in the car with me all right Austin congratulations thank you I appreciate it guys thanks a lot