Austin Hill Holds on to Dominate Daytona for 5th Year in a Row

By: Derek Pierce 2/15/2026

DAYTONA BEACH, FL - For the fifth year in a row, Richard Childress Racing has shown their superspeedway prowess with Austin Hill at the helm. Despite going into overtime, it wasn't enough to stop Hill from earning his fourth season opening win.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Caution on the race start takes out Mason Maggio while also involving Jeremy Clements, Brennan Poole, Anthony Alfredo, Josh Williams, and Luke Fenhaus.

• As the field comes to the conclusion of stage one, the ramped up intensity sends Corey Day spinning but he saves it. Out of turn four for the last time in the stage, Sammy Smith went spinning while challenging for the lead which causes damage to Nick Sanchez and allowing Hill to win the stage.

• The RCR duo of Hill and Jesse Love control the entire second stage as it ends with another Hill stage victory.

• Hill and Love continue their control through pit stops in stage three.

• The big one breaks out with just under 30 to go after Ryan Seig spins off the nose of Jeb Burton and collects Justin Allgaier, Sam Mayer, Brandon Jones, Jeremy Clements, Taylor Gray, and Natalie Decker. Clements, Mayer, and Decker all take it back to the garage to end their races early.

• Austin Hill pits during the caution, falling back to 11th, which allows Sammy Smith to take the lead.

• Another huge wreck breaks out from William Sawalich getting loose due to a push from Day. The spin collects Gray, Day, Jeb Burton, Harrison Burton, Carson Hocevar, Lavar Scott, Daniel Dye, Kyle Sieg, and Raja Caruth. 

• As the field goes back green, the control is back to the RCR tandem.

• Jeb Burton brings out a debris caution for a tire coming apart

• To take the race into overtime, Hocevar and Caruth collect each other into the wall.

• On the final restart, Allgaier tries to mount a challenge against Hill but can't get enough of a run allowing Hill to find victory lane at Daytona once again.

NOTABLES

• RCR still unbeatable on superspeedways. Only nine of the 120 laps were led by someone other than Hill or Love. 

• We now know what a max points day can mean for a driver as Hill has one in the first race with this new points format and earns a 25 point advantage over Allgaier who was forth and third in each stage on top of finishing second.

• Smith shines in the new year. Though its just Daytona and not the best indicator for one's performance for the rest of the year, Smith was the only one who had anything for the RCR cars all race long.