Denny Hamlin Passes Austin Hill to Win the Darlington Xfinity Series Race at Darlington

DARLINGTON, SC – RIS – Denny Hamlin came on late, and won the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Darlington Raceway on Saturday.  He passed Austin Hill with only a lap left to go to win his 6th Xfinity race of his career at the “Track too tough to tame” on Saturday.  The margin of victory was 0.657 seconds,

“I really didn't want to show everything we had to the very end of the race,” Hamlin said. “It was a great win.”

In the early going, John Hunter Nemechek dominated the race in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Supra.  He won both stages and at one point had led all but two laps at one point. He faded to finish third place. 

Cole Custer and Josh Berry rounded out the top five.

Hill said he went low into turn one on the final restart that opened the way for Hamlin to take the checkered flag.

“I just need to go back to the drawing board to find out what I'm doing wrong on the restarts there,” Hill said. “It's been frustrating.”

Hamlin was among several Cup regulars racing Saturday. Kyle Larson got as high as second during the first 90 laps before engine problems drove him to the pits where he sat with his hood up and his team tried to diagnose his problem. Larson fell 31 laps behind and ended in 38th, last place.

All-time Xfinity Series winner Kyle Busch was also in the field and ran in the top 10 for some time. He finished ninth. Ross Chastain was the other Cup driver contending. He ended 23rd.

It’s time for the drivers to make hay with the pending playoffs coming.  Xfinity ends its regular season next week at Kansas with its 12-team playoffs starting a week later at Bristol.

Unofficial Results: Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200, September 2, 2023 - Darlington Raceway

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status

1) 2, Denny Hamlin(i), No. 19 Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota, 148, 2, 4, 3, 14, , 0, Running

2) 9, Austin Hill, No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet, 148, 6, 2, 7, 29, , 49, Running

3) 1, John Hunter Nemechek, No. 20 Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota, 148, 1, 1, 4, 99, 2, 54, Running

4) 4, Cole Custer, No. 00 HAAS Automation Ford, 148, 5, 6, , , , 44, Running

5) 7, Josh Berry, No. 8 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Chevrolet, 148, , , , , , 32, Running

6) 15, Riley Herbst, No. 98 Monster Energy Ford, 148, 10, 9, , , , 34, Running

7) 3, Justin Allgaier, No. 7 Hellmann's Chevrolet, 148, 4, 5, , , , 43, Running

8) 16, Sheldon Creed, No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet, 148, , , , , , 29, Running

9) 14, Kyle Busch(i), No. 10 LA Golf Chevrolet, 148, 8, , , , , 0, Running

10) 6, Daniel Hemric, No. 11 Cirkul Chevrolet, 148, 7, 10, , , , 32, Running

11) 5, Sam Mayer, No. 1 Accelerate Pros Talent Chevrolet, 148, , , , , , 26, Running

12) 10, Chandler Smith #, No. 16 Quick Tie Products Inc. Chevrolet, 148, 9, 7, , , , 31, Running

13) 19, Parker Retzlaff #, No. 31 Capital City Towing Chevrolet, 148, , 8, 1, 5, , 27, Running

14) 8, Brandon Jones, No. 9 Menards/Klearvue Cabinetry Chevrolet, 148, , , , , , 23, Running

15) 17, Corey Heim(i), No. 24 Toyota Outfitters Toyota, 148, , , , , , 0, Running

16) 22, Rajah Caruth(i), No. 45 Circle Chevrolet, 148, , , , , , 0, Running

17) 11, Sammy Smith #, No. 18 TMC Toyota, 148, , , , , , 20, Running

18) 24, Jeb Burton, No. 27 Celsius Chevrolet, 148, , , , , , 19, Running

19) 27, Stefan Parsons, No. 07 Pops Mart Chevrolet, 148, , , , , , 18, Running

20) 31, Brennan Poole, No. 6 County Auto Auction of Central Florida Chevrolet, 148, , , , , , 17, Running

21) 26, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 Booze Pops Chevrolet, 148, , , , , , 16, Running

22) 33, Chad Finchum, No. 08 Powerhouse Diesel Ford, 148, , , , , , 15, Running

23) 21, Ross Chastain(i), No. 91 Use Your Melon Drive Sober Chevrolet, 148, , , , , , 0, Running

24) 13, Parker Kligerman, No. 48 Spiked Light Coolers Chevrolet, 148, , , , , , 13, Running

25) 18, Brett Moffitt, No. 25 AM Technical Solutions Ford, 148, , , , , , 12, Running

26) 34, Joe Graf Jr., No. 38 FGR accel/Bucked Up Ford, 148, , , , , , 11, Running

27) 32, Matt Mills(i), No. 53 J.F. Electric Toyota, 148, , , , , , 0, Running

28) 30, Kaz Grala, No. 26 CRUSH Lime Margarita Toyota, 148, , , , , , 9, Running

29) 36, Ryan Ellis, No. 43 Southern Elevator Chevrolet, 148, , , , , , 8, Running

30) 20, Ryan Sieg, No. 39 Sci Aps Ford, 148, , , , , , 7, Running

31) 28, Kyle Weatherman, No. 4 KSDT CPA Chevrolet, 148, , , , , , 6, Running

32) 29, Timmy Hill(i), No. 66 CRC Brakleen Ford, 148, , , , , , 0, Running

33) 23, Anthony Alfredo, No. 78 Ticket Smarter Chevrolet, 147, , , , , , 4, Running

34) 35, Blaine Perkins #, No. 02 To The Point Chevrolet, 147, , , , , , 3, Running

35) 25, Kyle Sieg, No. 28 RSS Racing Ford, 147, , , , , , 2, Running

36) 38, Patrick Emerling, No. 35 Sci Aps Chevrolet, 145, , , , , , 1, Running

37) 37, Josh Williams, No. 92 StarTron/Alloy Chevrolet, 143, , , , , , 1, Running

38) 12, Kyle Larson(i), No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 117, 3, 3, 1, 1, , 0, Running

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Race Length: 148 Laps, 202.168 Miles

Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 53 Mins, 53 Secs.

Average Speed: 106.826 MPH

Margin of Victory: 0.657 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 20, 19, 17, 7, 00, 21, 11, 10, 16, 98

Stage 2 Top 10: 20, 21, 17, 19, 7, 00, 16, 31, 98, 11

Comments: Denny Hamlin won the Sports Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway, his 18th victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

Prior to the start, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: Nos. 1, 18, 35, 53 (unapproved adjustments).

Failed to Qualify: (1) No. 44 Dawson Cram.

Cautions: 7 for 34 laps;

Laps: 13-16 (18 Incident Turn 4  [None]);

44-50 (Debris Turn 1 [02]);

56-59 (Debris Frontstretch [18]);

92-96 (Stage 2 Conclusion [53]);

104-108 (51, 28 Incident Frontstretch [4]);

133-137 (39 Spin Turn 4 [51]);

143-146 (48 Spin Turn 4 [39]).

Lead Changes: 15 among 5 drivers;

J. Nemechek 1-46;

K. Larson(i) 47;

A. Hill 48-49;

J. Nemechek 50-92;

A. Hill 93-95;

J. Nemechek 96-104;

A. Hill 105;

P. Retzlaff # 106-110;

A. Hill 111-119;

D. Hamlin(i) 120;

A. Hill 121-123;

D. Hamlin(i) 124-133;

A. Hill 134-136;

J. Nemechek 137;

A. Hill 138-145;

D. Hamlin(i) 146-148.