Hill Wins Third Straight Xfinity Opener at Daytona

(Photo: Cornnell Chu | The Podium Finish)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Luck or skill, Austin Hill has figured something out about Daytona International Speedway.

For the third year in a row, Hill has kicked off the NASCAR Xfinity Series season with a victory, scoring the win in the United Rentals 300. The win is his seventh since beginning full-time competition in 2022.

“I really don’t know what it is,” Hill said when asked about his three-peat in his post-race press conference. “The first race of the season has treated me well. Everyone in the off-season is bringing their best stuff to the first race at Daytona. To win here, the first race out, says a lot, and to do a three-peat like we did, I don’t think a lot of people understand how hard that is to do here at Daytona. It is hard to win one race at Daytona, much less three in a row like we did for the season opener.”

This year’s win arguably took a little extra effort, battling back multiple times.

On Lap 37, John Hunter Nemechek and Jesse Love triggered a major crash down the backstretch, claiming 10 cars. Hill suffered damage to his right-front.

“I knew that I had gotten pretty substantial right front damage. Even my steering wheel was a little off,” Hill said. “When I drove off into the turn and I realized that I wasn’t hitting the splitter really hard, I’m like, ‘oh, maybe it’s not too bad.’ I went to work from there. Didn’t think about it really after the first five laps after the wreck, and after the damage repair that we made.”

Hill drove back and won Stage 2 before making a crucial mistake on pit road. He entered in third gear, several miles per hour over the speed limit. Hill slid through his box and got penalized with a safety violation and a pit road speed violation.

“I left it in third gear, and we were running second gear,” he explained. “We ran two red lights on our dash, and I’m like looking for my two red and I look down and I’m like, man, I feel like I’m going really fast right now. I look in the mirror and I’ve like left everybody. Then I’m coming up really fast on my box so I’m trying to get it slowed down. Then the next thing you know I slide through my box which I was having an issue with sliding into my box all day. It was real slick. ‘Bout ran the guys over and everything else.

“Totally 100 percent on me, and right after that stop when we came back in we put four tires on it, that was like a full reset for me. I literally kind of like reset my brain. It was like a new race for me, and then we went back to work after that.”

(Photo: Cornnell Chu | The Podium Finish)

After a crash with nine to go, the door remained wide open. Restarting in the third row with three to go, Hill shoved Jordan Anderson down the backstretch and took the lead coming out of Turn 4. Several cars crashed behind on the final lap, leaving only former teammate Sheldon Creed to catch him. But the 29-year-old beat him back to the stripe for another impressive superspeedway victory.

Creed earned his eighth Xfinity Series runner-up and his third in a row dating back to Martinsville Speedway last fall. It was his first race under the Joe Gibbs Racing banner.

“Overall, a great start with Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota,” he said. “Everyone that’s been supporting us this offseason … a great start. Stage points and to start with a top-three finish, is a lot of momentum going for our team, so happy with that.”

Anderson finished third with teammate Parker Retlaff in fourth. Chandler Smith finished fifth in his return to Toyota.

Stage 1 Top 10 Results

1. Jesse Love
2. Austin Hill
3. Parker Kligerman
4. Anthony Alfredo
5. Jeb Burton
6. Sheldon Creed
7. John Hunter Nemechek
8. AJ Allmendinger
9. Justin Allgaier
10. Ryan Truex

Stage 2 Top 10 Finishers

1. Austin Hill
2. Sammy Smith
3. Sheldon Creed
4. Cole Custer
5. Ryan Sieg
6. Ryan Truex
7. Riley Herbst
8. Justin Allgaier
9. AJ Allmendinger
10. Brandon Jones

United Rentals 300 Results