Another NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Daytona, another Austin Hill victory.
Starting from the pole, Hill led a race-high 78 of 120 laps but had to survive three restarts in the final 12 laps to seal it. His No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet edged reigning champion Justin Allgaier by just 0.081 seconds in a classic Daytona photo finish.
The victory marked Richard Childress Racing’s fifth straight win in the season opener, tying a record set by Dale Earnhardt Inc. from 1990-1994. It was Hill’s 15th career win and 11th on a drafting track.
Despite controlling much of the race, Hill admitted he had doubts after a mid-race green-flag pit stop. At one point, he feared he’d end up on a wrecker amid the tight draft and aggressive pushes. Dropping to 12th, fresh tires and decisive moves brought him back to the front—right where he’s grown accustomed to being at Daytona.
“Just shows how good this team is,” Hill said on the front straightaway. “It was a really tough decision to go from being 14th or wherever it was we re-started. But it just goes to show how good this team was. We had that re-start and no one was going middle, so I was like, ‘sure I’ll take it.’ Drove right up through there.”
Daytona Speedweeks concludes with the 68th running of the Daytona 500 Sunday, with the start moved up one hour, to 11:30 a.m. MST. Glendale’s Michael McDowell will start 10th in search of his second 500 victory while Tucson’s Alex Bowman starts 21st.
NASCAR storms back to Arizona with a historic doubleheader with INDYCAR at Phoenix Raceway. Catch all the action from the ARCA Menards Series, O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, NTT INDYCAR Seres, and NASCAR Cup Series over four days March 5-8. Get your tickets now at phoenixraceway.com.
Devon Henry
