Meet the new boss, same as the old boss -- Austin Hill opened up the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series era with his fourth win in the February race at Daytona International Speedway.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Meet the new boss, same as the old boss -- Austin Hill opened up the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series era with his fourth win in the February race at Daytona International Speedway.
© Nadia Zomorodian/New | 2026 Feb 14 Hill led 78 of 120 laps and claimed the first two stages en route to batting .800 in the February NOAPS Daytona race after Saturday night's triumph in overtime.
"I just thought the bottom lane was best for me. Then, I almost missed the block on the blue car (Jordan Anderson) and then it was hammer down, hoping they wouldn't get back to me," Hill said. "I love Daytona, this place is always been awesome to me."
Although Hill dominated the race, he had to come from the back after pitting late in the race. The team felt a possible issue with the tires and handling and elected to pit to avoid any issues.
"If it comes down to the end and I get pushed hard, I might wreck but that's what I love about this team, we make a tough decision and come back," Hill explained.
It didn't take him long to get back to the front. After restarting 11th, it took him just a couple of laps to connect with teammate Jesse Love.
"No one was going middle and we went through and got back to the front," Hill said.
Hill ultimately took the lead from teammate Jesse Love and lined up as the leader for overtime.
On the final lap, Justin Allgaier pushed Brennan Poole to try and get around Hill -- but that caused Poole to snap loose on the backstretch. Poole didn't break Allgaier's momentum -- Jordan Anderson did as he went to the bottom while Allgaier went to the top to try and get around Hill.
Ultimately, Hill went to victory lane while Allgaier and Anderson settled for second and fourth, albeit with smiles on their faces after how the race went.
"If I was a cat, I would've burned all nine of my lives," Allgaier said. "I think the 7 car was in the middle of all of those crashes but damage repair got us back up there."
"What a great finish for our whole team in Banks (Anderson's child)' first race," Anderson said. "The race played into our strategy, kept working on the car, kept getting better. We came off of turn two and thought, 'Oh this is it and the seas parted' but the momentum ran out.
"Everyone saw the two second-place finishes and so I thought today was the day where we check the box and win instead but that's momentum just to keep coming back."
In between Allgaier and Anderson was Ryan Sieg, who finished third despite falling off the lead lap with a flat tire early on in the race.
"That was the most fun of my race. I hit the wall, cut a tire, ran out of gas, then could never get the free pass. Got the fast Hendrick power and came back," Ryan Sieg said. "It was wild out there, everyone was fighting out there but it was exciting for the first race for O'Reilly's."
Hill now has 15 wins in his NOAPS career, tied with
While Hill, Allgaier, Sieg and Anderson were happy after a wild race, Jesse Love was more aloof after losing out on a shot at the win.
"It was pretty tough to get the guys behind me hooked up. At the end, I feel for my guys because they want to be where the 21 is but I'm just a step behind. He's a little more patient than I am and that's my learning lesson for tonight. I shouldn't have taken Sammy (Smith) three wide... and I'll learn from that and take that to Atlanta," Love said.
TOP-10 FINISHERS (LAP 120): Austin Hill, Justin Allgaier, Ryan Sieg, Jordan Anderson, Sammy Smith, Ryan Ellis, Carson Kvapil, Blaine Perkins, Jesse Love, Rajah Caruth.
Austin Hill now has 15 career wins, tying him with Todd Bodine, Cole Custer, Randy LaJoie, Larry Pearson and Morgan Shepherd on the NOAPS all-time wins list.
"Everyone saw the two second-place finishes and so I thought today was the day where we check the box and win instead but that's momentum just to keep coming back."
TOP-10 FINISHERS (LAP 120): Austin Hill, Justin Allgaier, Ryan Sieg, Jordan Anderson, Sammy Smith, Ryan Ellis, Carson Kvapil, Blaine Perkins, Jesse Love, Rajah Caruth.
STAGE ONE TOP 10 (LAP 30): Austin Hill, Jesse Love, Carson Kvapil, Justin Allgaier, Blaine Perkins, William Sawalich, Jeremy Clements, Brandon Jones, Rajah Caruth, Taylor Gray.
STAGE TWO TOP 10 (LAP 60): Austin Hill, Carson Kvapil, Justin Allgaier, William Sawalich, Rajah Caruth, Parker Retzlaff, Sammy Smith, Jeremy Clements, Jeb Burton, Blaine Perkins.
The stage points earners: Austin Hill (20), Carson Kvapil (17), Justin Allgaier (15), William Sawalich (12), Jesse Love (9), Rajah Caruth (8), Jeremy Clements (7), Blaine Perkins (7), Parker Retzlaff (5), Sammy Smith (4), Brandon Jones (3), Jeb Burton (2).
NEXT: EchoPark Atlanta Motor Speedway, Feb. 21, CW, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90; 5 p.m. ET. Austin Hill won last year.
DAYTONA POINTS AND RESULTS
