Austin Hill unstoppable in dominant Daytona NASCAR O’Reilly win

Austin Hill now has 15 wins in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, which includes an astonishing eleven on drafting tracks, with four of those coming at Daytona. He dominated the 2026 season-opener, delivering Richard Childress Racing the checkered flag once again.

“I love these guys, man,” said Hill in Victory Lane. “Everybody that’s been at Chevrolet, everybody at RCR, ECR, everyone that makes this possible. There’s a lot of other sponsors that I’m not talking about right now, but …  yeah, you know, for me, when we went back out after the fuel stop, I just kept getting really tight off of [turn] four and I’d get really loose, and 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. And that’s what I love about this team. They believe in me, I believe in them.

Advertisement

“My crew chief on the box, he was like, man, it’s a really tough decision to go from being in third to go back to 14th or whatever it was when we restarted. But it just goes to show how good this team is. We had that restart, nobody was going middle, and I’m like, sure, I’ll take it.”

Winner Austin Hill, No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

On the final lap, Brennan Poole was running second but got shuffled out of line just as he tried to make a pass for the lead. Hill then defended charges from Justin Allgaier and Jordan Anderson to secure the victory in his No. 21 Chevrolet.

Advertisement

Speaking on the finish, Hill added: “Drove right up through there, and then I wanted to work with my teammate there at the end, Jesse [Love], but I just knew that the bottom was going to surge, or I felt like it was. The top lane always gets discombobulated, and they move around a lot, and everyone’s trying to screw everybody over. So I just thought the bottom lane was probably the best thing for me.

“Thought I messed up on my white flag lap off of (Turn) 2. I got way out. And luckily I was able to make the block on the 7 [ Allgaier], and I almost missed the block on whoever the blue car was [Anderson]. I almost missed this block, and right when I got down, he gave me a shot. I had to save the car. And then after that, it was just hammer down and just hoping that they wouldn’t get back to me. Daytona’s been so good to me. I love this place, and it’s always fun to win and always fun to be here in Victory Line talking to you.”

At the checkered flag, Allgaier finished second, Ryan Sieg third, Anderson fourth, and Sammy Smith fifth. Ryan Ellis, Carson Kvapil, Blaine Perkins, Love, and Rajah Caruth filled out the remainder of the top ten.

Advertisement

Stages 1 and 2

It was a rocky start to the 2026 season-opener as a stack-up resulted in a multi-car crash before the field even fully took the green flag.

Several drivers sustained damage, including Brennan Poole, Patrick Emerling, Jeremy Clements, Mason Maggio, Luke Fenhaus and Anthony Alfredo, whose nightmarish week continued. After racing his way into the Daytona 500, he was removed from the field for failing post-race inspection. He then DNQed for the NOAPS race and had to cut a deal to drive another team’s car, only to suffer damage at the start as well.

Advertisement

As the race continued, there was a sketchy moment for Ryan Sieg, who cut a tire while in the middle of the field. He managed to get back to the pits, avoiding an incident.

Corey Day, who is competing full-time with Hendrick this year, went for a wild spin at the end of Stage 1, barely touching the wall.

The race stayed green, but not for long as a multi-car wreck broke out in the run to the green/white checkered flag. Sammy Smith spun, collecting the Haas duo of Sam Mayer and Sheldon Creed, Nick Sanchez, and ARCA Daytona winner Gio Ruggiero.

Advertisement

Read Also:

ARCA Daytona decided by controversial crash, one-lap shootout

Hill won Stage 1 behind the pace car, followed by Kvapil, Allgaier, Perkins, Sawalich, Clements, Jones, Caruth, and Tay. Gray.

During the break, there was an odd incident as Fenhaus’s hood flew completely off his damaged car.

In Stage 2, it was much of the same as Hill and RCR teammate Love dominated the pack. There was another moment as Allgaier aggressively side-drafting, actually touching doors with Hill.

Advertisement

In a repeat of Stage 1, Day almost spun again at the exit of Turn 4, but this time, the dirt racer managed to hang onto it.

Hill went on to sweep the stages, followed by Kvapil, Allgaier, Sawalich, Caruth, Retzlaff, S. Smith, Clements, J. Burton, and Perkins.

Stage 3

In the final stage, the race saw its first and only round of green-flag pit stops, which Hill and the RCR-aligned cars kicked off with 40 laps to go. After the pit cycle, the ECR-powered cars reclaimed control of the race with Love leading.

Advertisement

However, the major incident was about to unfold as Jeb Burton touched Ryan Sieg, sending him spinning mid-pack. Justin Allgaier, Taylor Gray, Sam Mayer, Jeremy Clements, and Natalie Decker were among those collected.

NASCAR red-flagged the race while cleaning up all the debris from that wreck, leaving 29 laps to go in the race.

When the race got back to yellow-flag conditions, Hill pitted from third for four fresh tires. He restarted 12th with 24 laps to go. Hill quickly charged through the pack, pulling up behind Love and putting RCR 1-2 again.

Advertisement

With 20 laps to go, Sawalich got turned entering Turn 3, and a lot of cars were torn up. Day, Tay Gray, H Burton, J. Burton, Hocevar, Staropoli, K. Sieg, Caruth, and Williams were among those involved in that crash.