Almost like any other year, Austin Hill was close to winning yet another race at Atlanta. However, he was taken out by Ross Chastain before he could see the checkered flag. While drivers tend to refrain from going forth with fan sentiments, there’s something that caught Hill’s eye post-race. In his interview, Hill reveals the one hilarious jab that he felt drivers were using to defeat him.

Austin Hill reveals the best way to defeat him

Hill remarks that one of the fans joked about crashing him out of the race. In his defense, he considers it a hilarious jab at Ross Chastain. Since Hill is one of the most successful drivers at drafting tracks, he believes that wrecking him out of the race significantly increases his competitors’ chances.

“I got a good chuckle out of some of the stuff that I saw on social media. I had seen somebody saying, when he came in to run the race, someone was like, ‘Have you guys tried wrecking him yet?’ He was like, ‘In my mind, I am thinking that’s what Ross was thinking.’ I kind of got a good laugh about it.”

Considering how Ross Chastain doesn’t shy away from contact on track, that does seem like a viable option in his mind. But it’s not like Austin Hill has any hard feelings about his crash. He knew what he was getting into even before the weekend started. Hill already knew that no matter how successful he is at such tracks, it is always surprising on race day. He was careful about it in his pre-race interview, and he repeated the same words in his post-race interview.

“Yeah, we make it look easy, but it is not. They are anything but; we had to fight for that all day. Started 20th, didn’t have the fastest car out there. We somehow found ourselves in front; we worked on the car, got it driving better… the runs were just going crazy that night. I don’t know if that’s because the guys—their cars were handling badly; they’d have a moment; they check up.

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“Next thing you know, they come out of the corner, they find each other, they get connected, and they get big runs down the straightaway, or whatever the case was, but the runs were coming huge that night.”

As a seasoned winner on drafting tracks, Hill had an idea of what awaited him on the straightaways. He was trying his best to commit to his lines and block the better runs from the other drivers. However, it did not work out as he intended, as he finally collided with Chastain. Hill finds himself responsible for the crash, but he is happy that he did not end up crashing out of the race.

“I was like, kind of starting to block, looking in my mirror. But I didn’t want to fully block because I knew if I did, he’d get on my right side and get to my right rear, and then I’d be done. And so I kind of hesitated, and all of a sudden, when I saw him go full left, I was a little behind.

“And then I was like, the turn down, and because I didn’t want him to get down to my right side, and right when I was about to give a block, I looked in the mirror, and at that point we were both turning left when he got in my left rear bumper. Those cars are just so light with the left rear; it turned me around, and somehow, I saved it.”

A very graphic description of his race is something that Hill has achieved after watching the replay numerous times. He still doesn’t understand what went wrong with his race in the final moments. However, he is more than ready to move on from his past weekend’s disappointments. After celebrating with race winner Sheldon Creed, Hill is looking forward to a fresh start in Atlanta.

While Austin Hill has his priorities straight, what about the driver who won his first O’Reilly Series race?

Sheldon Creed looks at long-term success post-Atlanta

Sheldon Creed has been the runner-up multiple times in his career. But as he starts a new season with Stewart-Haas Racing, Creed is already ready to have a shot at the championship this year.

“Joe Custer and Gene Haas expect us to win and have a shot at winning the championship at the end of the year. That starts now. Tonight helps get some wind in the team’s sails by winning more races throughout the season. New points format, so that’s going to pay dividends, and stage points are really important now. It makes being consistent and running up front more important.”

Creed has raced for the championship only once since his O’Reilly debut. Back in 2023, he had a major fallout with Austin Hill due to last-lap shenanigans. Creed needed the win to advance to the final four. However, he miscalculated and crashed into his teammate in the process.

Stewart-Haas Racing would go on to win the championship that year with Cole Custer. But since then, the team has undergone major organizational changes. SHR is no longer resembling the championship-winning team and regular-victory contenders they used to be. Creed has set his bar high, and to perform up to that level, he will need to drag SHR along with multiple amazing, consistent finishes.