Austin Hill gets 4th win in February NASCAR O’Reilly race at Daytona
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Meet the new boss, same as the old boss — Austin Hill opened up the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series era with his fourth win in the February race at Daytona International Speedway.
Hill led 78 of 120 laps and claimed the first two stages en route to batting .800 in the February NOAPS Daytona race after Saturday night’s triumph in overtime.
“I just thought the bottom lane was best for me. Then, I almost missed the block on the blue car (Jordan Anderson) and then it was hammer down, hoping they wouldn’t get back to me,” Hill said. “I love Daytona, this place is always been awesome to me.”
Although Hill dominated the race, he had to come from the back after pitting late in the race. The team felt a possible issue with the tires and handling and elected to pit to avoid any issues.
“If it comes down to the end and I get pushed hard, I might wreck but that’s what I love about this team, we make a tough decision and come back,” Hill explained.
It didn’t take him long to get back to the front. After restarting 11th, it took him just a couple of laps to connect with teammate Jesse Love.
“No one was going middle and we went through and got back to the front,” Hill said.
Hill ultimately took the lead from teammate Jesse Love and lined up as the leader for overtime.
On the final lap, Justin Allgaier pushed Brennan Poole to try and get around Hill — but that caused Poole to snap loose on the backstretch. Poole didn’t break Allgaier’s momentum — Jordan Anderson did as he went to the bottom while Allgaier went to the top to try and get around Hill.
Ultimately, Hill went to victory lane while Allgaier and Anderson settled for second and fourth, albeit with smiles on their faces after how the race went.
“If I was a cat, I would’ve burned all nine of my lives,” Allgaier said. “I think the 7 car was in the middle of all of those crashes but damage repair got us back up there.”
“What a great finish for our whole team in Banks (Anderson’s child)’ first race,” Anderson said. “The race played into our strategy, kept working on the car, kept getting better. We came off of turn two and thought, ‘Oh this is it and the seas parted’ but the momentum ran out.
“Everyone saw the two second-place finishes and so I thought today was the day where we check the box and win instead but that’s momentum just to keep coming back.”
In between Allgaier and Anderson was Ryan Sieg, who finished third despite falling off the lead lap with a flat tire early on in the race.
“That was the most fun of my race. I hit the wall, cut a tire, ran out of gas, then could never get the free pass. Got the fast Hendrick power and came back,” Ryan Sieg said. “It was wild out there, everyone was fighting out there but it was exciting for the first race for O’Reilly’s.”
Hill now has 15 wins in his NOAPS career, tied with
While Hill, Allgaier, Sieg and Anderson were happy after a wild race, Jesse Love was more aloof after losing out on a shot at the win.
“It was pretty tough to get the guys behind me hooked up. At the end, I feel for my guys because they want to be where the 21 is but I’m just a step behind. He’s a little more patient than I am and that’s my learning lesson for tonight. I shouldn’t have taken Sammy (Smith) three wide… and I’ll learn from that and take that to Atlanta,” Love said.
TOP-10 FINISHERS (LAP 120): Austin Hill, Justin Allgaier, Ryan Sieg, Jordan Anderson, Sammy Smith, Ryan Ellis, Carson Kvapil, Blaine Perkins, Jesse Love, Rajah Caruth.
Austin Hill now has 15 career wins, tying him with Todd Bodine, Cole Custer, Randy LaJoie, Larry Pearson and Morgan Shepherd on the NOAPS all-time wins list.
“Everyone saw the two second-place finishes and so I thought today was the day where we check the box and win instead but that’s momentum just to keep coming back.”
TOP-10 FINISHERS (LAP 120): Austin Hill, Justin Allgaier, Ryan Sieg, Jordan Anderson, Sammy Smith, Ryan Ellis, Carson Kvapil, Blaine Perkins, Jesse Love, Rajah Caruth.
STAGE ONE TOP 10 (LAP 30): Austin Hill, Jesse Love, Carson Kvapil, Justin Allgaier, Blaine Perkins, William Sawalich, Jeremy Clements, Brandon Jones, Rajah Caruth, Taylor Gray.
STAGE TWO TOP 10 (LAP 60): Austin Hill, Carson Kvapil, Justin Allgaier, William Sawalich, Rajah Caruth, Parker Retzlaff, Sammy Smith, Jeremy Clements, Jeb Burton, Blaine Perkins.
The stage points earners: Austin Hill (20), Carson Kvapil (17), Justin Allgaier (15), William Sawalich (12), Jesse Love (9), Rajah Caruth (8), Jeremy Clements (7), Blaine Perkins (7), Parker Retzlaff (5), Sammy Smith (4), Brandon Jones (3), Jeb Burton (2).
NEXT: EchoPark Atlanta Motor Speedway, Feb. 21, CW, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90; 5 p.m. ET. Austin Hill won last year.
DAYTONA POINTS AND RESULTS
Here is an archive of the live updates on the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series’ United Rentals 300 race.
FINAL STAGE
TOP 10 (2 TO GO): Austin Hill, Sammy Smith, Brennan Poole, Jesse Love, Justin Allgaier, Blaine Perkins, Jordan Anderson, Parker Retzlaff, Ryan Sieg, Carson Kvapil.
6 TO GO: Jesse Love and Austin Hill are racing side by side to see who will win for Richard Childress Racing — right as Rajah Caruth and Carson Hocevar spin in the back. Jesse Love has dropped back to fourth.
TOP 10 (8 TO GO): Austin Hill, Jesse Love, Blaine Perkins, Sammy Smith, Parker Retzlaff, Carson Kvapil, Jordan Anderson, Ryan Ellis, Anthony Alfredo, Brennan Poole.
LAP 108 (12 TO GO): Jeb Burton shredded a right-front tire and laid debris. Caution flies. Austin Hill leads.
LAP 106 TOP 10: Austin Hill, Jesse Love, Blaine Perkins, Sammy Smith, Parker Retzlaff, Carson Kvapil, Ryan Ellis, Jordan Anderson, Brennan Poole, Anthony Alfredo.
Alfredo has had a remarkable recovery from getting in the first lap wreck.
LAP 99: Jesse Love and Austin Hill are 1-2 again after Sammy Smith failed to block their run in turns three and four. Now, Harrison Burton, Jeb Burton, Taylor Gray, Rajah Caruth, Corey Day, William Sawalich and others wreck. Carson Hocevar and Kyle Sieg got in it.
LAP 94 TOP 10: Jesse Love, Sammy Smith, Carson Kvapil, Blaine Perkins, Rajah Caruth, Parker Retzlaff, Jeb Burton, William Sawalich, Kyle Sieg, Corey Day. Austin Hill is 11th.
Austin Hill pits with a possible vibration. He will restart around 12th behind Corey Day who also pitted.
LAP 91: Sam Mayer, Brandon Jones, Jeremy Clements, Natalie Decker crash in turn two! Ryan Sieg got turned to start that and Taylor Gray got into him. Justin Allgaier also got a piece of that. Red flag.
LAP 87: Jesse Love, Blaine Perkins, Austin Hill, Parker Retzlaff, Jeb Burton and Taylor Gray roar by the drivers who pitted last, including Justin Allgaier. Sam Mayer had a great stop and was ahead of that group but couldn’t maintain.
LAP 86: Everyone else gets to pit road okay.
LAP 83: William Sawalich pits alone after his teammate accidentally ditched him. The main pack is single file to try and run more efficient lap times.
LAP 82: Taylor Gray and Daniel Dye pit.
LAP 80: Austin Hill, Jesse Love, Blaine Perkins, Parker Retzlaff and Jeb Burton pit for their final scheduled stops for fuel. Love and Perkins passed Hill.
LAP 76: 45 to go. Everyone is now within their window to make it to the end of the race on fuel.
Analysis: The racing at Daytona has a different flavor to it this year. Drivers talked about the track being slicker and it shows with how cars are getting looser a little more easily and don’t look as stable in the pack.
LAP 73: Austin Green spins but the race stays green. Sam Mayer has rallied to third on the inside lane with damage not hurting him at all.
LAP 71: Rajah Caruth has an amazing save and avoids yet another wreck. These cars are all out of control.
LAP 70: William Sawalich dives inside of Austin Hill with a nice move but teammate Brandon Jones didn’t go with him and now they’re side-by-side.
LAP 67: Austin Hill jumps out to the lead with teammates William Sawalich and Brandon Jones lined up on top and teammates Justin Allgaier and Rajah Caruth lined up on the bottom.
Off pit road: Austin Hill, William Sawalich, Justin Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Carson Kvapil, Caruth, Taylor Gray, Daniel Dye.
The final stage is 60 laps and ends on lap 120.
STAGE TWO Winner: Austin Hill
Austin Hill has now won seven of the last 14 stages in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series at Daytona (not including the final stage of each race).
STAGE TWO TOP 10 (LAP 60): Austin Hill, Carson Kvapil, Justin Allgaier, William Sawalich, Rajah Caruth, Parker Retzlaff, Sammy Smith, Jeremy Clements, Jeb Burton, Blaine Perkins.
LAP 58: Corey Day saves it off of four. He almost caused a huge wreck.
LAP 57: Rajah Caruth for the lead! He gets loose off of four but keeps his foot in it.
LAP 56: Jeremy Clements is in the mix, third on the inside lane behind Brandon Jones and ahead of Jesse Love.
LAP 54: Rajah Caruth finally got alongside Jesse Love and broke up the RCR stranglehold. Austin Hill is still strong up front.
LAP 49: Sammy Smith spun earlier but is still very fast. He pulled out of line and kept a couple spots even without help.
LAP 47: No surprise, Austin Hill got the lead back after he got reconnected to Jesse Love. They now pull ahead as Sheldon Creed gets lapped with damage.
LAP 45: William Sawalich goes to the lead over Austin Hill. He now dives low and is connected with teammate Jesse Love again.
LAP 44: Justin Allgaier gets into Austin Hill going down the backstretch.
LAP 42: William Sawalich gets in between Jesse Love and Austin Hill. That’s big.
LAP 40: Jesse Love commands the lead as he works both lanes with Rajah Caruth challenging on the outside.
TOP 10 (LAP 38): Austin Hill, Jesse Love, Rajah Caruth, Carson Kvapil, William Sawalich, Brandon Jones, Justin Allgaier, Daniel Dye, Blaine Perkins, Jeremy Clements.
Luke Fenhaus’ hood flew off under caution.
The second stage is 30 laps and ends on lap 60.
STAGE ONE Winner: Austin Hill
LAP 29: Sammy Smith gets spun by Sam Mayer! Sheldon Creed, Gio Ruggiero is destroyed and Nick Sanchez had nowhere to go.
LAP 28: Corey Day spins and clips the inside wall but keeps it going. That was a wild ride. No caution. 2 to go in the stage.
LAP 24: Corey Day tried to jump down in front of Sammy Smith to move to the front but it didn’t work. Thankfully he got back in line. Now, here comes Smith for the lead. Six to go in the stage.
LAP 19: Sam Mayer got dropped back after a block by Austin Hill. Now Sammy Smith leads the inside lane.
LAP 17: The pack is disorganized as Sam Mayer has rallied to the front to race with Jesse Love for second with Austin Hill out in front.
LAP 15: What a rally back to the front for Jeremy Clements. He sits fifth after getting involved in the wreck on the initial start.
LAP 12: Ryan Sieg has hit the wall and has a flat right-front tire. He frantically waved out the window and got to the bottom of the track and now pits.
LAP 10: Austin Hill goes to the lead over William Sawalich who snagged the lead from Hill and Jesse Love on the initial start. Love is behind Hill, then there’s Ryan Sieg.
LAP 1: The race didn’t even start and Mason Maggio and a few others, including Anthony Alfredo, have crashed. Maggio is done for the day. Jeremy Clements and Brennan Poole were also in the wreck.
Luke Fenhaus, Natalie Decker, Patrick Emerling, Lavar Scott and Josh Williams were also in the wreck.
The first stage is 30 laps and ends on lap 30. Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill and Jesse Love will start on the pole.
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com