“I wish that we could’ve lost this race on our own terms”: RCR ace Austin Hill gets real about his crushing Daytona setback

Despite sweeping stages, Austin Hill’s Daytona outing on Saturday ended early. The Richard Childress Racing driver just wished that his No. 21 Bennett Chevy team had lost the race on their own terms and not due to some mechanical issue.

Hill was looking forward to winning his fourth consecutive NASCAR Xfinity Series opener. His car had the speed, and he had the confidence. But as Hill led the field in Stage 3, oil started oozing out of his car, leaving his fellow racers complaining about the same.

“I knew something was weird...like, something just didn't seem right,” recalled Austin Hill during a post-race interview with Frontstretch.com. “I immediately said on the radio, 'Hey, something smells off'. It smelled like rear gear or something". (0:09)

Soon after that, Hill’s entire cockpit started smelling of oil and smoke. He chose to keep driving, but things went out of hand just as he entered the backstretch. There was a massive vibration and as he came down the pit road, the car started emitting smoke.

As a result, Hill was relegated to a disappointing P33 finish, 44 laps down at the "World Center of Racing." Nevertheless, he bagged 24 points; thanks to the stages he won.

“Car was fast obviously...We showed that we could lead when we wanted to, we won two stages so that's always good on the points perspective. I just wish that we could have lost this race on our own terms and it not be from a mechanical failure,” he added. (0:54)

Hill will now prepare for next week’s (February 22) race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Last year, he won both races at the 1.5-mile quad-oval intermediate speedway in Hampton, Georgia.

Named Bennett Transportation & Logistics 250, this year’s 163-lap showdown will begin 5 pm ET onwards. Fans can watch it live on CW or listen to radio updates on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Austin Hill snaps Dale Earnhardt’s Xfinity legacy at NASCAR’s drafting tracks

It has been decades since the sport lost arguably its biggest star, Dale Earnhardt, to a nerve-chilling crash at Daytona. But even to this day, he is regarded as one of the most competitive drivers to have ever raced in NASCAR.

So, surpassing the seven-time Cup Series champion is a big deal for any driver out there. This time around, Austin Hill did it.

As per a recent post by NASCAR Insights on X (formerly known as Twitter), Hill dethroned the “intimidator” for the second-most laps led on drafting tracks in Xfinity history.

“Austin Hill has now surpassed Dale Earnhardt for the 2nd most laps led on drafting tracks in Xfinity Series history.”

However, Dale Earnhardt’s son and NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. still remains at the top of the list with 691 laps led. But Dale Jr. not racing any NASCAR-sanctioned race in 2025, might just be the perfect window of opportunity for Austin Hill to surpass him.