By Neha Dwivedi, Staff Writer
Austin Hill may still be chasing a NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (formerly Xfinity Series) title but at Daytona International Speedway, he’s got the place figured out. In six starts for the United Rentals 500 at the track, he’s parked his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet in Victory Lane four times.
Starting from the pole, Hill led 78 of 120 laps, swept both stages and edged Justin Allgaier by 0.081 seconds. The win pushed Hill to 15 victories in NASCAR’s tier-two ranks, with 11 coming on drafting tracks and four at Daytona.
Although it looked like he dominated almost the whole race, he and his crew chief had to make some tough decisions toward the end of the race to finally bag the win. On Lap 93, Hill and No. 21 crew chief Chad Haney rolled the dice with a four-tire call, and it paid off. Speaking afterward, Hill said grabbing the stage wins banked points, but the last run brought doubt. After the green-flag stop, the car didn’t feel right, with tire wear creeping in and grip slipping away. He didn’t think the setup was enough to close the deal.
“I don’t know what it is about Daytona. First race of the year,” Hill said. “But, you know, we just always bring a really fast Bennett Chevrolet. Everybody at RCR, ECR, CT Springs just does a fabulous job on preparing these Chevys to be as fast as they are. For me, to win those first two stages was great to get some extra points, and then we got into that final stage. We had that green flag pit stop, and I was kind of like, after the green flag stop, I don’t know if it was because we packed fuel in it or just the tires — the front tires were kind of deteriorating, but I just didn’t feel comfortable about my car. I didn’t think it was where I needed it to be to be able to win the race.”
So he and Haney pulled the gamble on four tires and took the restart. Hill charged through the field in a couple of laps, climbed to second, and planted himself in the inside lane. To him, the bottom lane held firm all night, while the outside lane kept breaking apart, with drivers stepping on each other’s toes.
On the last lap, Brennan Poole took a swing from second but got shuffled out of line while trying to make a move. It was a strong run for Poole but as Allgaier tried to give him a push, Jordan Anderson hit Allgaier from behind at the same time and almost crashed the field. It wasn’t on purpose, just unlocky timing as all three drivers were in contention. Hill then held off a second run from Allgaier and Anderson to lock down the opener and stack 75 points. Poole gathered up his car and fell to 12th.
In his post-race chat, Hill tipped his cap to the crew, “I love these guys, man. Everybody that’s been at Chevrolet, everybody at RCR, ECR, CT Springs, everyone that makes this possible … When we went back out after the green flag stop, I just kept getting really tight off of 4, and I would get really loose. I’m, like, man, if it comes down to the end of this thing and I’m getting pushed hard, I don’t think I’m going to win the race. I think I’m going to end up wrecked.
“That’s what I love about this team. They believe in me. I believe in them. I know Chad Haney, my crew chief, on the box, he was, like, man, this is a really tough decision to go from being in third to go back to 14th or whatever it was when we restarted.”
Hill also shared what ran through his head late. He wanted to work with his teammate Jesse Love but he felt the bottom lane would surge. The top lane kept getting scrambled, with drivers darting around and deals falling apart, so he stuck to the inside and let it ride.
There was also a scare on the white-flag lap off Turn 2 when he drifted out, and for a split second, he thought he’d thrown it away. But then Hill managed to slam the door with the No. 7 and keep control.
He later spoke about how Daytona keeps paying him back and how much he enjoys winning there. Given his track record, Hill said he’d love another shot at the Daytona 500. His first try came in 2023, when he failed to make it to the main event as he couldn’t qualify. On why he hasn’t circled back yet, Hill noted the 500 is a tough nut to crack due to the cost and the sponsor math, which often doesn’t add up. Still, he hopes to take another swing in the next year or so.
“The 500 stuff is tough because it costs so much more to run the 500,” he said. “You know, sponsorship-wise and all, they just don’t see the value a lot of the times in trying to run the 500. I would love to run the 500, but just haven’t been able to do it. Hopefully we’ll be able to do it in the next year or so. But, yeah, you know, we’ve been able to run a few Cup races at Talladega and the second Daytona. It’s a lot cheaper to do those races, and I totally understand it. So we’ve been able to do that.
“I’ve been able to learn a lot running in those cup races in the 33 RCR car. I’m looking forward to hopefully being able to do that some this year. Who knows? I mean, Talladega last year I thought that I had a really good shot at winning that race, and I ended up making a bad decision when I was pushing one of the guys. I should have shucked him out, and I stayed committed to him. I kind of learned from it. No matter how many times that we’ve won on the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, there’s always things to learn, especially when you go to the Cup level. I’m constantly learning and evolving and trying to get better on these superspeedways.”