The new title sponsorship agreement between NASCAR and O’Reilly Auto Parts got off to a bang up start on Saturday, February 14 at Daytona International Speedway. With several multi-car wrecks bring outs seven cautions, O’Reilly should have no problem finding customers needing parts.
When the mechanized mayhem stopped, it was pole sitter Hill claiming his fourth season-opening victory in the No. 21 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. He led a race high 78 of 120 laps to win the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series opener at Daytona.
Rounding out the top-five finishers was Justin Allgaier, Ryan Sieg, Jordan Anderson and Sammy Smith.
Austin Hill Wins Inaugural O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Race at Daytona
Hill leading those 78 laps further solidifies his Daytona dominance by winning this race four of the last five times. A call by Crew Chief Chad Haney brought his driver to pit road under caution on Lap 93 to take on four tires and fuel before the Lap 96 restart. This was done to ensure Hill would make it to the checkered flags without running out of fuel with fresh Goodyear Tires on his Chevrolet.
Holding off all takers during the final laps, the 31-year-old native of Winston, GA placed his Chevrolet where he needed to claim the race trophy. The best part is his No. 21 Chevrolet looked pretty much like when the race started, unlike 80% of the 38-car field.
“Man, I love these guys everyone at RCR and ECR Engines,” Hill said in Victory Lane. “When I went back out after the green flag stop, I was just really tight off of Turn 4 on then really loose. Man, if it comes down to the end of this thing and I’m getting pushed I don’t know if I’ll be able to hang on to win.
“That’s what I love about this team. They believe in me and I believe in them. Chad Haney knew it was a really tough decision to go from third to 14th for that restart. It just goes to show how great this team is right here.
“When nobody was going middle on that restart, I said ‘sure, I’ll take it’ and we went up through there. Everything gets discombobulated here and everyone tries to screw everyone over, I just thought the low side was the way to go for me.
“Daytona has been so good to me and I just love this place.”
First Big One Brings Out Red Flag, Second One Collects 13
On lap 89, a multi-car wreck broke out as the field coursed its way through Turns 1 and 2. Ryan Sieg in the No. 39 Chevrolet was turned around and began spinning. As he did, the No. 20 of Brandon Jones, Jeb Burton in the No. 27, Jeremy Clements in the No. 51 and Sam Mayer in the No. 41 were also collected.
Mayer drifted towards the outside wall with heavy damage when the No. 35 of Natalie Decker plowed into him causing further carnage to his car and eliminating hers. Parts, pieces and fluids were strewn throughout the accident area forcing NASCAR to display a red flag and stop the race for 13:07 minutes.
It wasn’t long after the first multi-car wreck another broke out on Lap 100 involving 13 cars. Ranging from race-ending damage to cosmetic left a total of eight teams who had not been involved in a caution.
Pole Sitter Austin Hill Wins Both Stages
Hill, who started on the pole in his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, had the point position when Stage 1 ended on Lap 30. As the stage was ending, Hill was followed by his RCR teammate and outside pole sitter Jesse Love in the No. 2 Chevrolet.
They took the stage honors as a four-car wreck broke out behind them that collected Sammy Smith, Gio Ruggiero, Sheldon Creed and Nicholas Sanchez. Creed and Smith were able to continue as Ruggiero and Sanchez were eliminated from the race.
It was Hill once again when the second stage ended as his fellow competitors were dicing it up on the high banks and backstretch of Daytona jockeying for positions. This was Hill’s record-setting 18th stage win at the track.
Austin Hill Claims Crash Plagued NASCAR O’Reilly Series Victory at Daytona