HAMPTON, Ga. — Austin Hill took the lead for the first time on lap 152 of 163 of the Focused Health 250 on Saturday and led the race for the rest of the way, winning his fourth NASCAR Xfinity Series race at his home track, Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The 30-year-old driver from Winston, Ga., won for the third time this season and completed a sweep of the two races in Atlanta. Seven of Hill’s nine career victories have come at racetracks using the superspeedway competition package.

“I’m speechless right now,” Hill said. “Our Bennett Chevrolet had speed all day, but the handling just wasn’t where I wanted it to be. You come to these superspeedway-type events and you want a car that’s dialed in. You don’t worry too much about the handling.

“But I thought the handling was going to be an issue, and that definitely played a role today. We made some good moves at the right time between my spotter, Derek Kneeland, and I. We got into second place and when we had that restart (on lap 150), I was thinking, ‘Am I going to go up or down?’

“We agreed that we had to finish at the bottom and try to get to the top. And if we didn’t succeed, then so be it.”

Hill got help from an unexpected source. He was surprised to get a decisive push on the final lap from Toyota driver Corey Heim, who was making his first superspeedway start in the Xfinity Series.

Toyota driver Chandler Smith was equally surprised — and frustrated. Smith dropped down to pass Hill on the final lap, briefly brushing the front bumper of Hill’s No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Heim stayed with Hill on top.

“I expected my Toyota teammate to come with me, but he didn’t,” said Smith, who ultimately finished fourth in the No. 82 Joe Gibbs Racing Supra. “I’m a little speechless.”

Heim, who finished fifth behind Smith, thought his best way to win the race was to stay with Hill.

“He (Smith) had no run and no momentum, so why would he go to the bottom?” Heim said.

After pushing Hill off Smith, Heim attempted a pass at the top of the lane, but hit the outside wall and lost momentum. Parker Kligerman swept past Heim for second, with AJ Allmendinger behind him.

Hill beat Kligerman by 0.340 of a second at the finish line, with Allmendinger finishing in third place, just 0.004 of a second behind Kligerman.

“Congratulations to Austin Hill, he’s the boss here,” said Kligerman, who equaled his career-best performance in the series.

A multi-car crash on lap 145 dramatically changed the face of the race. Contact between the competing cars of Justin Allgaier and Cole Custer led to a six-car incident involving the machines of Taylor Gray, Ryan Sieg, Riley Herbst and pole winner Jesse Love.

The accident was especially unfortunate for Sieg, who is chasing Sammy Smith for the final spot in the 12-driver Xfinity Series Playoffs.

Sieg was running in the top 10 after recovering from a two-lap deficit — the result of an electrical problem in the opening laps — when the accident occurred. He dropped from 10 to 44 points behind Smith, who overcame a pit road safety penalty violation to finish seventh.

The incident sidelined Allgaier and Custer, who are battling for the regular-season championship. Allgaier retains a 34-point lead over the reigning series champion, but both Smith (67 points behind) and Hill (71 points) now have outside chances to catch the leader.

NASCAR Xfinity Series Race — Targeted Health 250

Atlanta Motor Speedway

Hampton, Georgia

1. (4) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 163.

2. (16) Parker Kligerman, Chevrolet, 163.

3. (6) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 163.

4. (8) Chandler Smith, Toyota, 163.

5. (21) Corey Heim(i), Toyota, 163.

6. (1) Jesse Love #, Chevrolet, 163.

7. (19) Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 163.

8. (13) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 163.

9. (18) Brandon Jones, Chevrolet, 163.

10. (7) Ryan Truex, Toyota, 163.

11. (37) Kyle Weatherman, Chevrolet, 163.

12. (17) Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, 163.

13. (22) Lawless Alan(i), Ford, 163.

14. (15) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 163.

15. (26) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 163.

16. (28) Kyle Sieg, Ford, 163.

17. (35) Leland Honeyman #, Chevrolet, 163.

18. (27) Mason Maggio(i), Chevrolet, 163.

19. (24) Blaine Perkins, Ford, 163.

20. (25) Nick Leitz, Chevrolet, 163.

21. (34) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 163.

22. (33) David Starr, Chevrolet, 163.

23. (30) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 163.

24. (20) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 162.

25. (5) Sheldon Creed, Toyota, 160.

26. (9) Riley Herbst, Ford, 158.

27. (12) Shane Van Gisbergen #, Chevrolet, 157.

28. (2) Taylor Gray(i), Toyota, Suspension, 154.

29. (36) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, Suspension, 149.

30. (10) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, Accident, 146.

31. (3) Cole Custer, Ford, Accident, 144.

32. (14) Ryan Sieg, Ford, Accident, 144.

33. (32) Morgen Baird, Ford, 142.

34. (23) CJ McLaughlin, Chevrolet, Motor, 112.

35. (29) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, Oil Line, 80.

36. (11) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, Accident, 77.

37. (31) Dawson Cram(i), Chevrolet, Motor, 18.

Average speed of the race winner: 118.514 mph.

Race time: 2 hours, 7 minutes, 5 seconds. Margin of victory: 0.340 seconds.

Caution flags: 6 for 36 laps.

Lead changes: 12 of the 9 drivers.

Round Leaders: J. Love #1-15; S. Creed 16; J. Love #17-24; J. Allgaier 25-43; A. Allmendinger 44-82; L. Honeyman #83; T. Gray(i) 84-95; C. Smith 96-107; C. Custer 108-131; A. Allmendinger 132; C. Custer 133-135; C. Smith 136-151; A. Hill 152-163.

Leaders summary (driver, times led, laps led): AJ Allmendinger 2 times for 40 laps; Chandler Smith 2 times for 28 laps; Cole Custer 2 times for 27 laps; Jesse Love # 2 times for 23 laps; Justin Allgaier 1 time for 19 laps; Austin Hill 1 time for 12 laps; Taylor Gray(i) 1 time for 12 laps; Sheldon Creed 1 time for 1 lap; Leland Honeyman # 1 time for 1 lap.

Phase #1 Top Ten: 7,21,98,18,2,1,9,00,81,19

Phase #2 Top Ten: 16,8,00,98,7,2,19,81,97,21

–By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media.