Austin Hill Swoops in To Steal Martinsville Victory

Austin Hill celebrating in Victory Lane after winning at Martinsville Speedway. (Photo: Chloe Gunn | The Podium Finish)

RIDGEWAY, Va. — After a chaotic NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Martinsville Speedway, Austin Hill stole the victory, winning the US Marine Corps 250.

The stage was set after the Lap 249 restart with Taylor Gray leading the field. Contact from Sammy Smith shoved him out of the groove and put the No. 8 car in the lead when a caution came out shortly after. This set up an overtime restart with the roles reversed, Smith in the lead and Gray right behind on the bottom.

When the green flag waved for the overtime restart, Gray made contact with Smith, forcing him wide and getting position on the inside. The two raced side-by-side for the remainder of the lap and took the white flag. Gray was able to clear Smith for the lead in Turns 1 and 2, allowing Justin Allgaier to get underneath Smith for the second position heading onto the back straightaway for the final time.

Going into Turn 3, Smith drove it in deep, getting into and spinning out Gray, while destroying the nose of his car in the process. This opened up the door on the bottom for someone else’s shot at the win. Seeing this, Hill got into the back of Allgaier, forcing him up the track into Smith and sneaking through to win the race.

Austin Hill and his No. 21 team celebrating Richard Childress Racing’s 100th NASCAR Xfinity Series win. (Photo: Chloe Gunn | The Podium Finish)

“I’m in disbelief that we’re in Victory Lane right now,” Hill said post-race. “It is unbelievable.”

Hill, who only led one lap in the entire race, was able to avoid having his car destroyed in any of the many wrecks throughout the race and found himself with the win, his second of the 2025 season.

“We restarted seventh there and I chose bottom (lane) there just because of how rough everyone was on restarts, and I had to do what I had to do there on the last lap,” he said. “They were leading on each other, and I knew that getting into (Turn) 3, they were all going to get beating and banging and I just drove it in as deep as I could. I hit the (No.) 7 (Allgaier) a little bit, shoved him up, got on the apron a little bit and came home with the win.”

The win was the Richard Childress Racing’s 100th in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Hill also won the Dash 4 Cash event, earning a bonus of $100,000.

Finishing behind Hill inside the top five were Sheldon Creed, who scored his 14th career runner-up finish in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Allgaier, Brennan Poole and Sam Mayer. Rounding out the top 10 were Dean Thompson, Daniel Dye, Ryan Sieg, Kris Wright and Smith.

Austin Hill’s car after winning the US Marine Corps 250 at Martinsville Speedway. (Photo: Sydney Redden | The Podium Finish)

Even though Hill won both the race and the Dash 4 Cash, the main talking point following the checkered flag was the battle between Gray and Smith in the closing laps, which even saw a heated discussion between the two drivers at the infield care center.

Despite leading 87 laps and being two turns away from his first career win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Gray finished in the 29th position. When asked about the incident after the race, Gray did not go into much detail, mostly citing the frustration with the final lap.

“I mean it sucks, I feel like we had the best all day,” Gray said. “It’s unfortunate, it’s the same story I’ve lived here for two Martinsville (races) in a row. So, it sucks, but it is what it is, long season.”

Smith, who finished in 10th place, went into much more detail than Gray and owned up to the move he made on the final lap, but believed if the roles were reversed, Gray would have done the same thing to him.

“I mean, absolutely, it was egregious,” Smith said during his CW Network interview. “I’m not proud of that, but roles-reversed, he (Gray) would’ve done the same thing. He’s got no respect for me.”

Sammy Smith on the front straightaway after climbing out of his wrecked No. 8 Chevrolet at Martinsville Speedway. (Photo: Chloe Gunn | The Podium Finish)

He also mentioned antics with Gray during the red flag that was displayed on Lap 233 playing a role in the end of the race.

“I didn’t move him (Gray) those prior restarts, and he was flipping me off under the red flag, swerving at me,” he said. “It’s definitely uncalled for and I’m not proud of it, but he would’ve done the exact same thing to me and that’s what I told him. We’ll see what happens after that.”

What happened under the red flag, combined with how Smith raced Gray under the prior two restarts, ultimately affected the outcome of the race. Though Smith was not proud of the move, he felt that Gray had it coming.

“We have a little bit of a past, and I know he has no respect for me,” said Smith. “Then with flipping me off under the red flag, that was the line for me. So, maybe he’ll find some more respect and I’m sure we’ll go at it a couple more times, but I’m not afraid to.”

Stage 1 Top 10 Results

1. Connor Zilisch
2. Carson Kvapil
3. Brandon Jones
4. Justin Allgaier
5. Aric Almirola
6. Taylor Gray
7. Austin Hill
8. Sammy Smith
9. Christian Eckes
10. Dean Thompson

Stage 2 Top 10 Results

1. Connor Zilisch
2. Carson Kvapil
3. William Sawalich
4. Daniel Dye
5. Nick Sanchez
6. Aric Almirola
7. Josh Williams
8. Justin Allgaier
9. Taylor Gray
10. Blaine Perkins

US Marine Corps 250 at Martinsville Speedway Finishing Results