Austin Hill captures emotional win at Naval Base Coronado

Austin Hill’s thrilling last-lap pass earned the veteran his first career road course NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series victory Saturday on a dramatic and ultimately emotional afternoon for his Richard Childress Racing team – capping a long and competitive day of racing in the inaugural United Rentals Driven to Serve 250 on Naval Base Coronado.

It marked the first win for the legendary RCR team since unexpectedly losing its NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Busch four weeks ago after the two-time series champion passed away unexpectedly due to complications from pneumonia. The emotion in Victory Lane Saturday ‌was palpable – the celebration both a nod to Hill’s achievement and an ode to Busch and what he meant to the team and to the sport.

“It’s extremely special, just to finally check that box of getting that road course win, we’ve been so close so ⁠many times,” said Hill, whose No. 21 RCR Chevrolet had to be towed to Victory Lane after the rear wheels of the car were flattened after he performed a long burnout ‌around Busch’s No. 8 logo painted on the track.

Hill, who now also ‌drives the car Busch once drove in the NASCAR Cup Series, claimed Saturday’s win may have included a little divine intervention from his former teammate.

Austin Hill captures emotional win at Naval Base Coronado

“I’m not gonna lie, I started talking to this guy a little bit down the straightaways,” Hill said, pointing to his hat, which carries the number eight Busch carried for the team. “I was like ‘Man, Kyle, if you’re here, give me something, let me find another gear.’

“And for whatever reason, the car started coming to life and the two leaders got together and when there was blood in ‌the water behind the 54 (runner-up Taylor Gray), I knew it was going to be tough to get around him, that it was going to be a battle. And when I got clear of him, I was very surprised to see how much of ⁠a gap I got on him.

“I can’t thank these guys enough, everyone on this 21-team, at RCR. We’ve been through a lot these last several weeks. … Man, this is awesome, so cool.”
His Hall of Famer owner Childress was openly emotional as he greeted Hill in Victory Lane.

“It’s great to win here, and we all have Kyle in our hearts,” said Childress, his voice cracking in the poignant scene.

“You may not show it on the outside, but you do here,” he added, pointing to his heart.
Hill consistently showed Saturday he had a strong car – winning the opening stage — throughout an eventful day that included two red flags totaling more than an hour of race stoppage, an enthusiastic fan who jumped a fence and greeted driver Sheldon Creed during that red flag break, and lots of daring passes on the 3.4-mile 16-turn circuit around the famous Naval Base.

With five laps remaining in the 60-lap event, JR Motorsports’ Carson Kvapil led Gray and looked to claim his first career win and extend an already record 11-race road course winning streak for the JRM team.

However, with three laps to go, Gray pulled his No. 54 Toyota alongside Kvapil’s No. 1 Chevy and the contact bounced Kvapil’s car off ‌a tire barrier and out of the lead.

Two laps later, Hill was able to get around Gray as they took the white flag signaling the last lap of the race. The 32-year-old Georgia-native went on to win by a convincing 1.127 seconds over Gray, who led the most laps (16) on the day and won Stage 2.

Gray blamed “wheel hop” for his contact with Kvapil.

“Pretty disappointed in myself, really proud of everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Racing. … Obviously would love to be in victory lane right now, that’s where my ⁠guys deserve to be,” Gray said.

“Got really bad wheel hop, that’s what it boils down to,” he added. “He raced me tight like he should and I wheel-hopped underneath him.”
Kvapil and Gray spoke briefly after the race.

“It’s really hard to make peace with that, obviously I feel like that robbed me and everyone at this Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet,” Kvapil said. “They brought us a really fast car and gave us position to win a race and obviously we didn’t. That one really hurts.”

Haas Factory Team’s Creed finished third, followed by Kvapil and JR Motorsports’ Sammy Smith – who turned ‌in an impressive rally forward after an eventful, full-contact day of his own.

Hill’s RCR teammate Jesse Love also rallied on the day, finishing sixth after starting from the last row of the 37-car field. Viking Motorsports’ Parker Retzlaff, who led five ‌laps, finished seventh with Austin Green, Harrison Burton and Corey Day rounded out the top-10.

Two red flag periods – combining for more than an hour in time – slowed the action. The first coming out on the second lap and the later one coming out to properly repair the wall and fencing following a 23-car incident that eliminated many of the day’s strong cars.

While racing up front, Haas Factory Team’s Sam Mayer nicked the inside wall at Turn 1 and careened hard into the other wall collecting Anthony Alfredo’s No. 96 Chevrolet and starting a ‌chain reaction among the mid-pack behind. ‌The impact was enough to bring out a 43-minute red flag.

Almost immediately after the race start, there was an hour-long delay ⁠to repair a sewer vent cover in Turn 5 that came off in traffic and impaled into Day’s No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

The series championship leader, JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier had an eventful day, and retired ‌17 laps early after being collected in multiple incidents on the day. Despite the DNF, the series-best five-race winner continues to hold an amazing 224-point advantage over reigning series champion Love atop the championship standings.

The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series returns to action in next Saturday’s Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250 at the renowned Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway a couple hours North on the California coast. Connor Zilisch is the defending race winner.

Reuters