Austin Hill wasn’t going to be denied what ended up being an emotional victory in Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series event at Naval Base Coronado, as the Winston, Georgia-native secured the first victory for Richard Childress Racing since the unexpected passing of Kyle Busch on May 21.
With three laps remaining in the 60-lap contest, a win didn’t even look possible for Hill, who at the time sat in third place multiple seconds behind the leading duo of Carson Kvapil and Taylor Gray. Then, while battling for the lead, the two leaders made contact – sending Kvapil into a tire barrier and slowing the momentum of Gray. Suddenly, the 32-year-old driver found himself within striking distance.
Hill spent the next two laps stalking Gray before making a move into Turn 3 on the final lap of the race, nudging the left-rear quarter panel of the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54 and shoving him wide, scooting through to take the lead of the race and instantly stretching the gap, winning by over a second.
“I’m not going to lie, I started talking to [Kyle Busch] a little bit,” Hill said in Victory Lane, after his No. 21 1-800-PACK-RAT Chevrolet Camaro arrived with multiple flat tires. “Down the straightaways, I’m like, ‘Kyle, if you’re here, give me something, right? Let me find another gear.’ And for whatever reason, the car started to come to life, the two leaders got together, and when there was blood in the water behind [Gray], I knew it was going to be tough to get around him, but it was going to be a battle.”
The victory marks the 16th in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series for Hill, all of which have come with Richard Childress Racing, however, Saturday’s United Rentals Driven to Serve 250 marked the first road course win for the driver of the No. 21 Chevrolet after putting together 15 top-five results at road courses throughout his time in the series.
Taylor Gray was able to hold on to finish in second, but after leading late in the race, a runner-up result for the Joe Gibbs Racing team likely isn’t what he was looking for. Sheldon Creed finished just behind him, in third place. Carson Kvapil, after the spin with three laps to go, finished fourth. Sammy Smith had an up-and-down afternoon and rounded out the top five.
Defending NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series champion Jesse Love wasn’t permitted to post a qualifying lap and had to serve a pass-through penalty under green to start Saturday’s event after the lug nuts on the No. 2 didn’t meet NASCAR’s specifications. But, after 60 laps were complete at the 3.4-mile street course, the Richard Childress Racing driver managed to find a sixth-place finish.
The entire back-half of the top-10 was made up of drivers who rebounded from some kind of issue throughout the afternoon: Parker Retzlaff (seventh) ran out of gas in Stage 3, Austin Green (eighth) had a flat tire, Harrison Burton (ninth) had a shock issue that didn’t allow them to change tires at one point in the event, and Corey Day (tenth) had multiple issues, hitting a manhole cover, getting spun by Dean Thompson, crashing in practice and qualifying, all to somehow end up in the top-10.
Saturday’s 60-lap contest ended up lasting more than four hours (including time under the red flag), and the official race time was 3 hours, 33 minutes, and 43 seconds – the fifth-longest NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series event in history.
It started early with a manhole cover coming loose on Lap 1 and destroying the front-end of Corey Day’s No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet. NASCAR spent a significant amount of time checking the remaining 149 manhole covers and let the Hendrick Motorsports team work under the red flag, and when Day returned to the race, let him make up the four laps he lost for that reason.
That was one of two red flags on the afternoon; the second came from a major 23-car accident that saw Sam Mayer crash viciously into the outside barrier and displace it by several feet, blocking the track and collecting several other vehicles. Anthony Alfredo was loaded into the ambulance on a stretcher but was later checked and released from the infield care center.
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series points leader Justin Allgaier had a dismal afternoon in San Diego, with multiple on-track incidents, an apparent engine issue, and an early retirement, but with six races remaining in the regular-season continues to hold a 224-point lead over Jesse Love.
The series will head to Sonoma Raceway next weekend for the second of two straight weeks of road course racing in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. The Pit Boss / FoodMaxx 250 will take place on Saturday, June 27 at 5:30 PM ET on The CW.
