While fellow NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers were busy racing and experiencing collisions during the United Rentals 300 at Daytona International Speedway on Monday night, Austin Hill chose a different activity – engaging in a game of Monopoly. The 29-year-old driver of the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet drove his way to victory in the Xfinity season opener at the World Center of Racing for the third straight year.
Despite a slew of misfortunes, Hill still managed to pull away from his former teammate Sheldon Creed and hold off a late charge from Jordan Anderson Racing teammate Parker Retzlaff to win by 0.591 seconds. It was the seventh career win for Hill, with five of those coming on superspeedways. It also capped a Chevrolet sweep this week at Daytona, with Zack Greer winning Thursday’s Truck Series race in his first start for Front Row Motorsports and Brad Keselowski winning the Xfinity qualifier on Friday night for RFK Racing, the rebranded version of Jack Roush F/A-Motorsports team.
With a little over five laps to go, the night’s final caution flew as Sage Karam pushed Cole Custer off the track and turned him into the outside wall on the backstretch. The contract also tagged the No. 22 of Ryan Sieg and caused a multi-car accident that sent Sam Mayer’s Chevrolet spinning upside-down for nearly a quarter-mile down the backstretch, trailing sparks. The car eventually came to a stop, with Mayer being directed to the infield care center.
After a long delay, the race went back to green with eight laps remaining. On the restart, Anderson jumped on Retzlaff to take the lead on the backstretch. But as the pair started to battle for the checkered flag, Retzlaff made contact with the No. 21 and lost the lead. Hill tapped the No. 21 on the final lap, pulling alongside leader AJ Allmendinger and taking the lead. The finish was reviewed by NASCAR, which ruled that Hill won the race with a nose ahead of Allgaier and John Hunter Nemechek.
The result means that Hill clinched the top spot in the Xfinity standings with one race to spare and became the first driver to win three consecutive Xfinity season openers since Denny Hamlin did so in 2002. It also capped a good week for RCR, with Hill’s win in his first race with the team following wins by his teammate Keselowski and fellow Xfinity rookie Love in Sunday’s Xfinity series opener at Bristol and Friday night’s Truck Series race at Daytona, won by Front Row Motorsports driver Zane Smith in his first series start for the new RFK Racing outfit. Adding to the list of Hill’s accomplishments, his victory marked his fifth in a row at the 2.5-mile superspeedway. He leads all Xfinity Series drivers with four wins, including two in the playoffs, and he’s second in the championship standings behind Chase Elliott.
