Austin Hill Times Last Lap Pass Perfectly for First Career Xfinity Win
Rookie Austin Hill timed his move perfectly, utilizing a last lap push to pass veteran A.J. Allmendinger and take the lead just before the caution flew for a vicious last lap wreck in Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. 300. at Daytona International Speedway.
Just as Hill took the lead, a wild wreck was triggered in the middle of the pack as Myatt Snider went airborne. Parts and pieces flew off Snider’s No. 31 Chevrolet -- including the motor, which was torn from the vehicle -- as it went into the catchfence, fire shooting from the car before it came to rest on the backstretch.
Thankfully, Snider was able to drop the window net quickly, exited his ride under his own power, walked to an arriving ambulance. He was treated and released from the infield care center.
Hill was the leader at the time of the caution, earning his first career Xfinity Series win in his 16th career start.
Moving up from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (where he earned eight wins in 120 starts) this season, the 27-year-old is running his first full season in the Xfinity Series behind the wheel of the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.
“Man, me and (spotter) Derek Kneeland worked really well," an elated Hill told Fox Sports 1's Regan Smith on the Daytona front stretch. "I was learning all night. I kept telling him I’m just putting that in the bank, I’m putting that in the bank I’m just putting that in the memory bank to remember for late in the race.”
“We timed it perfectly. Obviously, that caution came out but we had a heck of a run so who knows what would have happened there. The 98 (Riley Herbst) gave me a heck of a push and we were able to get by him (Allmendinger).
“This is so crazy. I won (Daytona) back in 2019 with a new team (in the Truck Series). Now we are with RCR, first race with them and we were able to get the job done. ... Man, I am, I’m speechless. It’s been a fun offseason and now we get to go race for a championship.”
Hill, who earned an automatic playoff berth with the win, becomes the fourth different driver to win both NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races at Daytona International Speedway, joining Kyle Busch, Tyler Reddick and Mike Wallace.
Austin Hill crosses the finish line under caution to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series Beef. It's What's For Dinner. 300 Saturday. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
While the Winston, Georgia native celebrated his first win and the playoff berth, Allmendinger was left wondering what might have been.
“I’d have to go see the replay, study it, I’m sure I will," Allmendinger old Fox Sports 1. "I kept trying to block both lanes. It looked like Austin moved up there and timed it perfect, where he just got a massive shove. I probably could have tried to really block, but I think I probably would have wrecked us if I would have done it.
“I’ve got to be better sometimes about not getting too far out in the lead. I’ll just keep working on it. Man, it’s disappointing.”
Noah Gragson, Riley Herbst, Justin Allgaier, Sheldon Creed, Anthony Alfredo, Ryan Sieg, Josh Bilicki and Brandon Brown rounded out the top 10.
It was a story of perseverance for Alfredo, as the right side window flew out of his No. 23 Chevrolet in the opening laps of the race. NASCAR issued the black flag and by the time Alfredo pitted to replace the window, he was two laps down. Alfredo would recover to finish 7th.
The 300-mile race was slowed by six cautions for 28 laps and featured 19 lead changes among nine drivers.
The fifth caution of the race came with 30 laps to go as the No. 38 of C.J. McLaughlin got incredibly loose and when he overcorrected, it triggered a melee near the back of the field that collected ten cars. Brett Moffitt, Hemric, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Jesse Iwuji, Shane Lee, McLaughlin, Tommy Joe Martins, Joey Gase, Josh Williams and Kyle Weatherman were all involved.
The first caution of the race came on Lap 14 when Drew Dollar checked up and lost control of his No. 18 Toyota on the bottom line, slamming into the No. 51 Chevrolet of Jeremy Clements. The contact resulted in heavy damage to both cars and ended both their days.
It was the second crash of the day for Dollar, who made heavy contact with the wall in the ARCA Racing Series event earlier in the afternoon.
On MRN Radio, Clements blamed the wreck on "inexperienced drivers who buy fast cars." Clements also made his frustrations known on social media afterwards, tweeting “That’s what happens when you have guys that buy rides that shouldn’t be out there.”
The Xfinity Series will head back to North Carolina to pack the haulers for the West Coast swing before making the long haul to Auto Club Speedway for next Saturday’s Production Alliance 300.
Follow Brian Eberly on Twitter @BEberly18
