Austin Hill Opens Season with Daytona Victory

Austin Hill celebrates his victory in Saturday night’s United Rentals 300 at Daytona International Speedway. (Photo: Matthew Thacker | Nigel Kinrade Photography)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — As the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series officially launched with a new title sponsor at Daytona International Speedway, it was a familiar face who returned to Victory Lane. Austin Hill dominated, winning the United Rentals 300.

Hill swept the stages, leading a race-high 78 laps and scoring a near-max points day with 75. Even after a dominating performance, it looked like Hill might have met his match on the final lap following the final restart with two laps to go.

On the back straightaway, Brennan Poole, who was running in second, backed up perfectly to Justin Allgaier, leaving Hill far out in front of the rest of the leaders. The only problem was that Allgaier’s push was too strong, moving Poole up the track and out of contention as Hill went on to hold off Allgaier for the victory.

“Daytona has just been so good to me,” said Hill. “I love this place, and it’s always fun to win.”

The Daytona domination continued for Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, as it won its fifth consecutive season opener. The victory was also Hill’s fourth in those five seasons and 11th career superspeedway-style victory.

When looking back at the final lap during the melee between Allgaier and Poole, Hill thought he lost the race when Jordan Anderson got a huge run in the bottom lane, nearly taking the lead.

Austin Hill was the pied piper in Saturday night’s United Rentals 300 at Daytona International Speedway. (Photo: Nigel Kinrade | Nigel Kinrade Photography)

“Luckily, I was able to make the block on the (No.) 7 (Allgaier),” he said. “Then, I almost missed the block on whoever the blue car was (Anderson). I almost missed that block, and right when I got down, he gave me a shot. I had to save the car. After that, it was just hammer down and just hope that they wouldn’t get back to me.”

Allgaier, who ultimately finished in second place, said he was disappointed not to bring home the trophy, but acknowledged the good run for his No. 7 team.

“I was disappointed,” said Allgaier. “I was working really well with Brennan (Poole) there at the end and trying to give him the shove to make a run. Those last few laps were wild, but really proud of the effort we gave.”

Arguably, the biggest story of the night was Anderson, who finished in fourth place, driving in a third entry for his own team. Anderson, who has been so close to winning at Daytona International Speedway in multiple series, thought this was going to be the night.

“We came off of Turn 2 on the backstretch, I’m like ‘oh, this is it,'” he said. “It’s like the ‘Days of Thunder moment.’ I thought the seas had parted and he had the steam. It just kind of ran out when I got the (No.) 21 (Hill).”

Also scoring top fives were Ryan Sieg in third and Sammy Smith in fifth place. Rounding out the top 10 were Ryan Ellis, Carson Kvapil, Blaine Perkins, Jesse Love and Rajah Caruth.

The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series returns next weekend on Saturday, Feb. 21, for the Bennett Transportation and Logistics 250 at EchoPark Speedway at 5 p.m. EST on The CW, PRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Stage 1 Top 10 Results

1. Austin Hill
2. Jesse Love
3. Justin Allgaier
4. Carson Kvapil
5. Blaine Perkins
6. Sheldon Creed
7. William Sawalich
8. Nick Sanchez
9. Jeremy Clements
10. Brandon Jones

Stage 2 Top 10 Results

1. Austin Hill
2. Carson Kvapil
3. Justin Allgaier
4. William Sawalich
5. Rajah Caruth
6. Parker Retzlaff
7. Sammy Smith
8. Jeremy Clements
9. Jeb Burton
10. Blaine Perkins

Austin Hill showcased his superspeedway speciality once more in Saturday night’s United Rentals 300 at Daytona International Speedway. (Photo: Nigel Kinrade | Nigel Kinrade Photography)

United Rentals 300 at Daytona International Speedway Finishing Results