Hill and his team, No. 21 Richard Childress Racing, were one of the few teams taking a fuel-mileage risk in an attempt to reach the finish line without making another pit stop, all in hopes of improving their position on the track.
In the final stages of the race, a crash occurred, resulting in a two-lap extension. Berry, who had recently replaced tires and had consistently been the fastest car throughout the race, found himself in the front position.
At the start of Turn 1 after the restart, Berry lost control of the car, and Hill quickly took advantage by overtaking him on the inside and securing the lead for the first time during the race.
Berry came close to overtaking Hill on the last lap, but unfortunately crashed after colliding with Sam Mayer. This incident resulted in a caution and ensured Hill’s win.
Hill has achieved his fourth victory of the 2023 season, marking his sixth career win.
“I cannot reword”
During the restart in overtime, he entered Turn 1 and experienced a loss of control at the beginning. Meanwhile, I was focused on following my intended path and managed to surpass him. As we approached the final lap, I cautiously approached Turn 1, being careful not to repeat Berry’s mistake. However, he nearly overtook me, leading to a thrilling race down the backstretch.
“I believed (Mayer) was going to position us in a formation of three vehicles side by side, but we managed to maintain our positions closely together. After successfully overtaking him, I understood the importance of executing my strategies, and unfortunately, the caution was raised.”
Mayer secured the second position, with Chase Elliott coming in third, Riley Herbst in fourth, and Daniel Hemric in fifth.
Completing the top-10 were Sammy Smith, Brandon Jones, Brett Moffitt, Parker Kligerman and Daniel Suarez.
Stage 1
Berry, who started on the pole, led all 20 laps and cruised to the Stage 1 win over Hemric by 1.808 seconds. John Hunter Nemechek was third, Sammy Smith fourth and Sheldon Creed rounded out the top five.
Stage 2
Berry had to hold off a furious charge from Justin Allgaier on the final lap by 0.117 seconds to claim the Stage 2 win. Nemechek was third, Jones fourth and Cole Custer fifth.
Stage 3
After the pause between Stages 2 and 3, the majority of cars on the lead lap chose to make a pit stop. However, a few cars, including Allgaier, decided to remain on the track and he ended up in the lead position.
Suarez took the lead after the restart, but Nemechek and Custer collided on the frontstretch, causing the race to be put under caution.
Suarez took the lead as the race continued, with 40 laps still to go.
Allgaier surpassed Suarez to take the lead on lap 51, but Berry, who had made a pit stop for fresh tires during the stage break, overtook him and reclaimed the first position with 35 laps remaining.
Allgaier and Hemric were among the initial drivers to enter the pit road in order to begin a series of pit stops under green-flag conditions. Their purpose was to change their tires and refuel their vehicles, ensuring they had enough resources to complete the race.
With only 20 laps remaining, approximately twelve cars still needed to make their last pit stop. Among them was Jones, who had taken the lead. Herbst, Hill, and a few others contemplated the idea of finishing the race without making another pit stop.
Joey Gase experienced a collision with Allgaier, causing him to spin between Turns 2 and 3. This incident resulted in a caution flag being raised and disrupted the different strategic maneuvers.
That set up a restart with six laps remaining and Herbst in the lead trying to make his fuel-mileage gamble pay off with an upset win.
Berry, with significantly newer tires, skillfully passed Herbst during the restart to regain the top position. However, a crash towards the end of the race involving Connor Mosack resulted in a two-lap overtime.
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