By David Morgan, Associate Editor
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – It’s Austin Hill’s world and we’re just living in it.
As has been commonplace, the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series has kicked off its season in Daytona and the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet ends the night in victory lane with Hill at the helm.
For the fourth time in the last five years, the 31-year-old native of Winston, Georgia asserted his dominance on the 2.5-mile superspeedway, leading 78 of 120 laps, sweeping both stages and holding off a late charge in overtime to bring home the trophy.
“Daytona has been so good to me. I love this place,” said Hill. “I used to hate superspeedway racing, but it’s a lot of fun right now, especially when you have RCR, ECR, just everyone involved that allows me to do this, to hold the steering wheel on the 21 car.
“Derek Kneeland, my spotter, he’s the man. I mean, without him, I don’t win maybe any of these races that I’ve won. Him and I work really well together.
“It was a tough one out there today. The runs were coming weird. They were really big runs, so this one is special, just because of how hard it was.”
“It’s amazing how talented he is, especially on the superspeedways,” added crew chief Chad Haney. “Him and Derek, they’re just on the same page. I’m just so proud to be able to work on this car. That was a lot of fun right there.”
WHAT A FINISH!!!!@_AustinHill holds off the late push for his fourth victory at @DAYTONA in five years! pic.twitter.com/vJaepL5tQA
— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) February 15, 2026
Despite having the strongest car of the night, Hill’s team elected to bring him to pit road with 27 laps to go for fresh tires, moving him back to 12th place, but with a fresh set of Goodyears at his disposal, he would make quick work of those in front of him and was right back in contention behind teammate Jesse Love a handful of laps later.
After a restart following the fifth caution of the night, Hill jumped back to the lead and would remain there for 11 of the final 12 laps.
Overtime would see challenges from a trio of drivers working to unseat Hill from the win, including Brennan Poole, who started the final charge to the finish tucked right up under Hill’s rear bumper only to get bumped out of the way on the backstretch on the final lap, falling to an eventual 12th place finish.
The next challengers up to try and make a run at Hill were 2024 series champion Justin Allgaier, driving a car that looked as if it had been in a boxing match with Mike Tyson instead of being a sleek machine for superspeedway racing and Jordan Anderson, the energetic journeyman looking to sneak through and steal a win from the superspeedway master.
Anderson made his charge to the back of Hill’s Chevrolet, giving him a shot into Turn 3, but Hill would not be budged and Anderson was unable to regain the momentum he needed, fading to fourth.
“I thought we were going to get all the way through there, but you know, what a crazy race. I know things got crazy there on the backstretch, but when you’re coming to the checker, you just don’t lift and you try to make it all the way through,” said Anderson.
“Our guys built a really fast hot rod. All three cars were good all weekend. And what a great example of what our team’s capable of. We’re committed to being in this a long time, our first race with the RCR Alliance…
“We work so hard to build this team up. I don’t get to race a whole lot, so when I do get to race, I try to make the most of it. And nights like tonight remind me why. I love what I do. I love the sport. I love NASCAR, I love the O’Reilly Series. Just grateful to be here.”
With a shove from Ryan Sieg off Turn 4, it was too little too late for Allgaier, who would have to settle for a runner-up finish instead.
“Every lap was chaotic,” Allgaier said with a laugh afterwards. “I mean, we dropped the green flag and at one point we were four wide and sideways. It was probably one of the wildest O’Reilly Auto Parts Series races that I feel like I’ve ever been a part of.
“We had our ups; we were able to get up there and get some track position. We had our downs getting caught up in a couple of those wrecks. Oh man, I can’t be more thankful that the good Lord kept us safe because man, two of them I should have been on a wrecker and somehow, we weren’t. It really was impressive.
“And this team, the crash repair, doing all the things we did. We had a beautiful race car. It’s maybe a little not as beautiful now, but I’m just impressed with what we were able to accomplish.”
Sieg would finish third, with Sammy Smith rounding out the top-five finishers. The remainder of the top-10 went to Ryan Ellis, Carson Kvapil, Blaine Perkins, Jesse Love, and Rajah Caruth.
The race would be slowed by six cautions for cause, including a red flag stretching 13 minutes and seven seconds. Five of the six were the result of multi-car crashes, with the other for debris.
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