Austin Hill was seconds away from claiming a back-to-back O’Reilly Auto Parts Series win in NASCAR, and then Ross Chastain’s bumper drafted him and pushed him out of the race lead. Even though Hill returned to the race, he could not finish where he wanted, leading Chastain to actively work on Denny Hamlin’s strategy.

Ross Chastain landed Denny Hamlin blow on Austin Hill

In the final lap of the Bennett Transportation & Logistics 250 at the EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta, Hill took the lead of the race. However, Chastain, who was driving just behind, bumper-drafted Hill as the latter was trying to cover the former off. As a result, they collided, and Hill took the fall.

In the end, Hill finished the race in 12th place, behind Dean Thompson and ahead of Patrick Staropoli. Speaking to CW Sports after the race, here’s what the RCR star said about his outing:

“Yeah, I mean we had a really fast Chevrolet all day. Those are a few things I could have done differently, going back. When I got to the lead off of two, I might have gotten a little too far out.”

When asked to talk about how he saved the car from crashing and returned to the race, which earned him important points, the #21 driver stated:

“The save was insane. I thought that I was gonna be head-on into the fence there, but in the race, you have to throw the ball, and 32 drove through me. He has nothing to lose. He’s not racing for points or anything, and I don’t know if I’m gonna race him again later on, but that’s Ross for you.”

In the interview, the interviewer also asked Hill if he wanted to have a go at the Trackhouse Racing driver in the future. Hill, showing no grudge at Chastain, said:

“No, I mean we’re both going for the win. I was dead sideways there, and I don’t know how I saved it. So that was a lot of fun. I had a blast tonight. Just wasn’t meant to be. Atlanta’s been so good to us, and it just wasn’t meant to be this time.”

Notably, days after the United Rentals 300 at Daytona, Denny Hamlin shared a strategy in which he asked drivers to gang up and take Hill head-on. Chastain, who is primarily a Cup Series driver, seemed to have acted on it.

Sheldon Creed of Haas Factory Team won the race after finishing 15 times in second place. Parker Retzlaff and Nick Sanchez finished the race in second and third places, respectively.

While Hamlin’s strategy perfectly worked for the full-time O’Reilly Auto Parts Series drivers, as they were able to stop Hill from taking another victory,  but Chastain was apologetic.

Ross Chastain shared apology after Atlanta chaos

Following the conclusion of the race, Ross Chastain cleared his stance and revealed that he would do ‘things’ differently if given another chance. Saying this, he meant that he had no intention to deliberately take Hill out, and did not want to do the same to Creed, the winner of the race.

“I don’t want to spin another Chevy and cost him the win,” Creed said as per PRN Live on X. “But the way Sheldon and I worked together, congrats to him. I hate I had a hand in it. If i could do it again, I’d do it different, but I don’t, so I have to live with it.”

Corey Day and Jesse Love completed the Top five. While Ross Chastain, Sam Mayer, Rajah Caruth, Taylor Gray and Brandon Jones wrapped up the Top 10.