Austin Hill wins third straight NASCAR Xfinity opener at Daytona
Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — While other NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers were competing, and crashing, in Monday night’s United Rentals 300 at Daytona International Speedway, Austin Hill was playing a different game — Monopoly.
At the 2.5-mile superspeedway roughly two miles away from Atlantic Avenue, Hill beat former teammate Sheldon Creed to the finish line by 0.591 seconds to earn his third straight victory in the Xfinity season opener at the World Center of Racing.
The third win came on Monday because of weekend-long rain that forced NASCAR to reschedule the race from Saturday afternoon. The event served as the second leg of a doubleheader with the DAYTONA 500, which was postponed from Sunday and won by William Byron.
Hill has now owned Victory Lane at Daytona long enough to build a house there.
“It tops it off—three-peat,” Hill exclaimed. “You know how hard it is to win at Daytona? God almighty!”
Not that the driver of the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet didn’t have his share of adversity. Hill overcame an early wreck on Lap 37 of 120, a flat tire and a self-destructive bent on pit road.
He crossed the finish line in a car that was heavily taped on the right front, but none of the obstacles could stop him from displaying his superiority on superspeedways once again.
“I don’t know what was going on with me on pit road today,” Hill said. “But my guys just kept telling me, ‘Look, man, dig deep; you’re really good at these superspeedways.’ I tried to screw it up on pit road—sped on pit road, slid through the box…
“I don’t even know what time it is. I know it’s past my bedtime, but we’re about to party tonight, I can tell you that.”
After pitting with a flat tire on Lap 97, Hill restarted 22nd but quickly worked his way forward. Two more cautions helped, and after lining up third for the final restart on Lap 118, he made quick work of Jordan Anderson and Chandler Smith ahead of him.
Hill was out front by more than a car-length when Ryan Sieg spun behind him off Turn 2 on the final lap. From that point, Hill simply had to steer his car to the finish line and won by a comfortable margin.
Parker Retzlaff ran third, one spot in front of his owner/driver Anderson.
“The little team that could is getting bigger,” Anderson said proudly.
Chandler Smith came home fifth, followed by Riley Herbst, John Hunter Nemechek, Justin Allgaier, Brandon Jones and AJ Allmendinger.
The race featured nine cautions for 44 of the 120 laps. There were 19 lead changes among 14 different drivers., with Sunoco rookie Jesse Love, the pole winner, leading a race-high 32 laps from the opening green flag.
Love, however, suffered more damage in the Lap 37 wreck than did his RCR teammate Hill. He finished 20th in an aerodynamically-challenged Chevrolet.
New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen, winner of last year’s NASCAR Cup Series Chicago Street Race, drove his battered Kaulig Racing Chevrolet to a 12th-place finish in his Xfinity debut.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Number 1
Race Results for the United Rentals 300 - Saturday, February 17, 2024
Daytona International Speedway - Daytona Beach, FL - 2.5 - Mile Paved
T
otal Race Length - 120 Laps - 300. Miles
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Tuesday, 2/20/2024 @ 12:16 AM Eastern
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 2 21 Austin Hill Bennett Transportation Chevrolet 120 2 1 59 Running 3 9 6
2 14 18 Sheldon Creed Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota 120 6 3 48 Running 2 2
3 9 31 Parker Retzlaff FUNKAWAY Chevrolet 120 34 Running
4 29 32 Jordan Anderson Capital City Towing/Bommarito Chevrolet 120 33 Running 1 6
5 19 81 Chandler Smith Mobil 1 Toyota 120 32 Running 1 1
6 11 98 Riley Herbst Monster Energy Ford 120 7 35 Running 2 8
7 8 20 John Hunter Nemechek(i) Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota 120 7 0 Running
8 6 7 Justin Allgaier BRANDT Chevrolet 120 9 8 34 Running 1 7
9 22 9 Brandon Jones Menards/Swiffer Chevrolet 120 10 29 Running
10 3 16 AJ Allmendinger Celsius Chevrolet 120 8 9 32 Running 1 3
11 36 43 Ryan Ellis Heartbeat Hot Sauce Co Chevrolet 120 26 Running 1 11
12 5 97 Shane Van Gisbergen # WeatherTech Chevrolet 120 25 Running
13 17 00 Cole Custer Haas Automation Ford 120 4 31 Running 1 6
14 34 29 Blaine Perkins AutoParkit.com Ford 120 23 Running
15 38 78 BJ McLeod Kales Truck Heavy Equipment Chevrolet 120 22 Running
16 23 6 Garrett Smithley Z&M Harley Davidson Chevrolet 120 21 Running
17 13 07 Patrick Emerling Phillips Hunt Walker Chevrolet 120 20 Running
18 30 36 Natalie Decker Amped Fitness Chevrolet 120 19 Running 1 7
19 33 44 Brennan Poole Finance Pro Plus Chevrolet 120 18 Running
20 1 2 Jesse Love # Whelen Chevrolet 120 1 27 Running 2 34 1
21 20 19 Ryan Truex Toyota SmartPath Toyota 120 10 6 22 Running
22 31 39 Ryan Sieg Sci Aps/Scrap University Ford 120 5 21 Running 1 12
23 12 8 Sammy Smith Pilot Flying J Chevrolet 119 2 23 Running 2 6
24 10 5 Anthony Alfredo Dude Wipes Chevrolet 118 4 20 Running
25 4 48 Parker Kligerman Spiked Lite Coolers Chevrolet 118 3 20 Running
26 16 27 Jeb Burton Golden Corral Chevrolet 118 5 17 Running 1 8
27 26 10 Daniel Dye(i) Champion Containers Chevrolet 117 0 Running
28 32 26 Sage Karam CRC Brakleen Toyota 111 9 Accident
29 7 51 Jeremy Clements One Stop/All South Electric Chevrolet 109 8 DVP
30 24 42 Leland Honeyman # Ohio Logistics Chevrolet 102 7 Accident
31 35 4 Dawson Cram # FIRMAN Power Equipment Chevrolet 51 6 Accident
32 27 92 Josh Bilicki Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet 51 5 Accident
33 37 35 Frankie Muniz Ford Performance Ford 37 4 DVP
34 21 11 Josh Williams Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet 37 3 DVP
35 18 14 Daniel Suarez(i) Wendy's Chevrolet 23 0 Accident
36 15 1 Sam Mayer Carolina Carports Chevrolet 22 1 Accident
37 28 15 Hailie Deegan # Klutch Vodka Ford 22 1 Accident
38 25 91 Kyle Weatherman DriveSmartWarranty.com Chevrolet 22 1 Accident
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 46 Mins, 29 Secs. Average Speed: 108.119 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.591 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 2, 21, 48, 5, 27, 18, 20, 16, 7, 19
Stage 2 Top 10: 21, 8, 18, 00, 39, 19, 98, 7, 16, 9
Race Comments: Austin Hill has won the United Rentals 300 at Daytona International Speedway, his seventh career victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Prior to the start of the race, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reason(s) indicated: Nos. 4, 78 (Unapproved Adjustments), No. 26 (Engine Change).
Failed to Qualify: (6) 53 Joey Gase, 45 Caesar Bacarella, 38 CJ McLaughlin, 28 Kyle Sieg, 74 Stanton Barrett, 66 David Starr.
Caution Flags: 9 for 44 laps; Laps: 24-29 (#1, 14, 15, 91 Incident Turn 1 [None]); 32-35 (Stage 1 Conclusion [None]); 38-42 (#21, 16, 97, 48, 2, 20, 10, 5, 11, 35, 51 Incident Backstretch [None]); 46-48 (#00, 7 Incident Backstretch [20]); 52-56 (#20 Spin Frontstretch [97]); 62-66 (Stage 2 Conclusion [20]); 98-102 (#27 Spin Frontstretch [07]); 104-109 (#6, 27, 42, 51 Incident Backstretch [None]); 113-117 (#7, 00, 44, 10, 26 Incident Backstretch [97]).
Lead Changes: 19 among 14 drivers; J. Love # 1-32; A. Allmendinger 33-35; J. Allgaier 36-42; C. Custer 43-48; J. Burton 49-56; A. Hill 57-58; S. Creed 59; A. Hill 60-63; J. Love # 64-65; S. Smith 66-70; R. Herbst 71-73; S. Smith 74; R. Herbst 75-79; S. Creed 80; N. Decker 81-87; R. Ellis 88-98; R. Sieg 99-110; C. Smith 111; J. Anderson 112-117; A. Hill 118-120.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: February 24, 2024 - Atlanta Motor Speedway
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