{"id":56038,"date":"2026-02-14T20:45:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T02:45:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=56038"},"modified":"2026-02-15T18:38:32","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T00:38:32","slug":"austin-hill-holds-the-line-in-wild-daytona-dash-to-the-finish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/14\/austin-hill-holds-the-line-in-wild-daytona-dash-to-the-finish\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin Hill holds the line in wild Daytona dash to the finish"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Austin Hill, driver of the #21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series United Rentals 300 at Daytona International Speedway on February 14, 2026 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

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By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. \u2013 Austin Hill continued his mastery of NASCAR\u2019s big tracks dominating Saturday\u2019s United Rentals 300 at Daytona International Speedway \u2013 the Georgia native\u2019s fourth win in this NASCAR O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series season-opener here in the last five years.<\/p>\n

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Austin Hill, driver of the #21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series United Rentals 300 at Daytona International Speedway on February 14, 2026 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

And so typically happens on Daytona\u2019s 2.5-mile superspeedway, the outcome came down to the dramatic last few laps and the race was decided by a split second.<\/p>\n

Although he started from pole position and led a race high 78 of the 120 laps, Hill was tested all night – ultimately having to prevail on three restarts in the final 12 laps. His No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet beat 2024 season champion, JR Motorsports driver Justin Allgaier in another Chevrolet to the finish line by a slight .081-seconds.<\/p>\n

It marked the famed Richard Childress Racing team\u2019s fifth consecutive win in this race, tying a mark set by Dale Earnhardt Inc. from 1990-94. It was Hill\u2019s 15th career victory and 11th on a drafting style track.<\/p>\n

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Austin Hill, driver of the #21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series United Rentals 300 at Daytona International Speedway on February 14, 2026 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Even after holding the lead for most of the event, Hill said he had some concerns following a mid-race green flag pit stop \u2013 saying post-race that at one point he was fairly certain he would end up on a wrecker unable to handle the tight draft and aggressive pushes the conclusion of this race so typically includes. He dropped back to 12th but the new tires he took and some choice maneuvering landed him right back into the mix up front.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust shows how good this team is,” Hill said of being able to pit late and out of sequence but still move forward when it mattered most. \u201cIt was a really tough decision to go from being 14th or wherever it was we re-started. But it just goes to show how good this team was. We had that re-start and no one was going middle, so I was like, \u2018sure I\u2019ll take it.\u2019 Drove right up through there.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Austin Hill, driver of the #21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet, leads the field during the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series United Rentals 300 at Daytona International Speedway on February 14, 2026 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

On the final restart with two laps remaining, Hill said he thought he may have misjudged one move but, \u201cluckily I was able to make the block on the [number] seven [Allgaier], almost missed the block, and had to save the car. After that it was just hammer down and hope they didn\u2019t get back to me.<\/p>\n

\u201cDaytona has just been so good to me,” said Hill, who swept both stage wins in addition to leading the most laps. \u201cI love this place and it\u2019s always fun to win.”<\/p>\n

RSS Racing owner-driver Ryan Sieg finished third despite being caught up in a mid-race incident. Another owner-driver Jordan Anderson Racing\u2019s namesake Jordan Anderson was fourth, followed by Allgaier\u2019s JR Motorsports teammate Sammy Smith.<\/p>\n

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Austin Hill, driver of the #21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet, leads the field to the green flag to start the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series United Rentals 300 at Daytona International Speedway on February 14, 2026 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Ryan Ellis, Carson Kvapil, Blaine Perkins, Hill\u2019s teammate Jesse Love and Rajah Caruth rounded out the top-10.<\/p>\n

Love led 27 laps, second only to Hill, but got caught up in the frantic final laps – his ninth place showing not truly indicative of his evening.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end I feel for my guys,” Love said. \u201cThey want to be where that 21 group [Hill] is. I’m still a step behind Austin. He’s so great at this craft. I feel like he’s a little more patient than I am right now, and I think that’s what my learning lesson is after tonight.<\/p>\n

“I think I just wasn’t patient enough when I really needed to be, you know, taking Sammy three wide probably wasn’t the right move there. Made some other moves along the way in waning laps that I could have done about. I’ll look back at it and learn from it, and next week is a similar style of flow of things. I’ll try to take this learning lesson and bring that to Georgia.”<\/p>\n

The NASCAR O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series moves to Atlanta\u2019s EchoPark Speedway for Saturday\u2019s Bennett Transportation & Logistics 250 (5 p.m. ET on\u00a0 The CW, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The 31-year-old Georgia native, Austin Hill, is the defending race winner and has won five of the last seven races at his home track.<\/p>\n

Interview: Austin Hill (No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet)<\/h3>\n