Austin Hill Takes Second-Straight Daytona Win

Photo Credit to Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR

NASCAR

Austin Hill Wins Xfinity Season Opener at Daytona Again

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Austin Hill was a man on a mission Saturday at Daytona, ending with the No. 21 Chevrolet in victory lane once again. Coming into the Beef It’s What’s For Dinner 300 as the defending winner, Hill was a prerace favorite and left few doubters. The 21 would lead the most laps and take a second consecutive win thanks to some lucky timing on a last lap caution.

Hill sent a message across the garage before the race even began, by taking the pole with a blistering qualifying lap. Having to replace a faulty radio however led to the 21 having to come down pit road before the green flag, and likewise start in the rear.

Lacking any track position to start proved to be of little issue for Hill, as he took command late in Stage 1 and didn’t budge. Hill swapped the lead back and forth for much of the night with Justin Allgaier, who took Stage 2. Allgaier showed incredible resiliency in Stage 2, coming back from a lap 42 spin to remain a contender.

As laps wound towards the finish, Hill was leading a quartet of JR Motorsports cars. When trying to make their move late, Brandon Jones spun off the nose of Josh Berry. This would set up an overtime finish, with everyone’s targets pinned on the 21.

With many driver’s fuel in question for an overtime finish, the race would be decided out of turn two. At the white flag, Allgaier had a lead that proved to be too big. The pack quickly caught the 7, forcing Allgaier to throw a big block on teammate Sam Mayer. Being squeezed between Allgaier and Hill sent Mayer into the wall and upside down. This crash triggered an immediate race-ending yellow. At the time of caution, Austin Hill was deemed to be ahead, giving the 21 the win.

“I have no idea, I don’t know,” Hill said on how he held off four teammates behind him. “When I chose the outside line, I I didn’t feel like the inside line was that great all day for most of the day. I just wanted to choose the top. I knew the 78 would stay with me. He was pretty committed. When I saw the 1 and the 7 get together, I just went to go squeeze them, and the 1 came down, he started getting loose, and then you can’t lift. It’s last lap.

“I hope Sam is okay, man. That was a heck of a flip there.”

“As soon as the caution lights came on, I thought I had it, but it was so close. To get back-to-back here at Daytona, it’s really special. That’s three wins for me now, two in the Xfinity, one in the truck here, and I can’t thank everyone at RCR, our Bennett Chevrolet was so good, and it was as fast as Xfinity 10G tonight for sure. We came from the back two different times.

“I hope everyone enjoyed it. It was such a blast. I had so much fun. We won at Daytona! Let’s go!”

After flipping multiple times down the backstretch, Mayer was able to get out of the car and was no worse for wear. Mayer did blame the accident on a bad block by himself, as he still yearns for his first Xfinity Series win.

Behind Hill, the top-10 were John Hunter Nemechek, Justin Allgaier, Parker Retzlaff, Myatt Snider, Riley Herbst, Joe Graf Jr., Ryan Sieg, Cole Custer, and Justin Haley. Hear from some of these top finishers below.

While Hill may have failed to make Sunday’s Daytona 500, the Georgia native still leaves Florida very happy as a winner once again. Hill will aim for two-straight wins next Saturday at Auto Club Speedway, in the Production Alliance Group 300. The final Xfinity race at the two-mile California track will go green February 25 at 5:00 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

Written by Peter Stratta

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Photo Credit to Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR