Austin Hill prevailed through a series of on-track chaos and bumped his way past Taylor Gray on the final lap to win the inaugural United Rentals Driven to Serve 250 at San Diego’s Naval Base Coronado on Saturday, June 20.
The 32-year-old Hill from Winston, Georgia, led twice for 13 of 60-scheduled laps in an event where he qualified in fourth place and took advantage of pole-sitter Brent Crews opting to strategically pit under green to capture the first stage victory. Despite barely scrubbing the first turn’s wall on the opening lap and getting shuffled within the pack by pitting before the second stage’s start, Hill rallied to finish in eighth place when the second stage period concluded.
Then in the early laps of the third and final stage period, Hill sustained damage to his entry after being one of 25 competitors involved in a huge multi-car wreck in the first turn. Despite the damage, Hill proceeded to race his way into the top-five mark, and he navigated through two additional late-race cautions while remaining in the top five. After Taylor Gray sent the leader, Carson Kvapil, for a spin with three laps remaining, Hill, who was in third place, spent the next two laps reeling in Gray before he made contact and overtook Gray on the final lap through the third turn. By building a reasonable gap from Gray through the remaining turns, Hill cycled back and emerged victorious for the first time on a road course venue.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, rookie Brent Crews notched his first O’Reilly career pole position with a pole-winning lap at 91.143 mph in 134.294 seconds. Parker Retzlaff qualified in second place with a lap of 91.033 mph in 134.456 seconds.
Before the event, Justin Allgaier and Andrew Patterson dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments that were made to their respective entries. Corey Day and Brandon Jones also dropped to the rear of the field in backup cars. Lastly, Jesse Love, who started at the rear of the field due to an inspection penalty involving two lugnuts not being within specific requirements, was also forced to serve a drive-through penalty through pit road after taking the green flag with the field.
When the green flag waved and the event commenced, pole-sitter Brent Crews launched his No. 19 Mobil 1 Toyota Supra entry ahead of the field entering the first turn before he continued to lead through a sharp left-hand turn into Turn 2. As the field smoothly navigated through the course’s 16 turns for a first time, including a chicane that was near the final straightaway to the start/finish line, Crews led the first lap just as the event’s first caution flew due to fluid coming out of Corey Day’s entry. Day’s incident occurred after a manhole cover went through his entry’s front grille and center punched his radiator.
Following Day’s incident, which resulted in Day’s entry being taken behind the wall for repairs and to have a new radiator installed, the field went through the next four laps under an extensive caution period before the event was red flagged for 18 minutes and 34 seconds to have the manhole cover area repaired. Once the red flag lifted and the field led by Crews proceeded under a cautious pace, select names like Justin Allgaier, Brandon Jones and Andrew Patterson pitted their respective entries. In addition, Day, who was able to return to the track but was pinned four laps behind the field, was allowed to pass the field four times to cycle back on the lead lap. During Day’s trial run to cycle back on the lead lap, he nearly collided head-on into a safety truck that was driving the opposite direction of Day in the second turn.
Following an extensive caution period, the event returned to green flag racing on the ninth lap. At the next restart, Crews barely fended off Retzlaff to motor ahead with the lead through the first turn. As the field behind fanned out and jostled for early spots, Crews led the next lap as he was eight-tenths of a second ahead of Retzlaff while Austin Hill, Sam Mayer, Anthony Alfredo, Carson Kvapil, Sammy Smith, Austin Green, Sheldon Creed and Taylor Gray were scored in the top 10, respectively. Meanwhile, Jesse Love served his drive-through penalty through pit road, and he joined Day in being mired at the rear of the field.
On Lap 12, Crews, who had a piece of debris on his grille that was causing the temperatures of his entry to increase, pitted from the lead along with Preston Pardus, Blaine Perkins and Ryan Sieg. Day also pitted, but was penalized for speeding on pit road. Amid the pit stops, Austin Hill, who cycled to the lead, retained the lead over the next three laps.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 15, Austin Hill claimed his fifth O’Reilly stage victory of the 2026 season. Retzlaff settled in second ahead of Mayer, Alfredo, Kvapil, Sammy Smith, Creed, Austin Green, Gray and Sawalich, respectively. By then, all 37 starters were scored on the lead lap while Crews, Love and Day were mired in 28th, 35th and 37th, respectively,
Under the event’s first stage break period, split pit strategies ensued as some led by the runner-up Retzlaff and including Mayer, Alfredo, Creed, Gray and William Sawalich pitted. Meanwhile, the rest, led by Hill and including Crews, Kvapil, Sammy Smith, Green, Harrison Burton, Jeb Burton, Rajah Caruth, Brandon Jones, Andrew Patterson, Blaine Perkins and Preston Pardus remained on the track.
The second stage period started on Lap 17 as Hill and Kvapil occupied the front row. At the start, Hill motored ahead of Kvapil, Sammy Smith and Austin Green while the rest of the competition behind fanned out and both bumped and jostled for spots. Amid the on-track action around the 16-turn course, including a bold save by Andrew Patterson after he got tagged by Taylor Gray in between Turns 14 and 15, Hill led the next lap.
Through the Lap 20 mark, Hill extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Kvapil while Crews, who restarted in ninth place, was up to third place ahead of Green and Mayer, the latter of whom had pitted during the first stage’s break period. Behind, Harrison Burton was in sixth ahead of Sammy Smith, who dropped from third after he got hit in the rear by Green and spun in Turn 9. Smith then pitted during the next lap after he spun for a second time, this time in Turn 12 after being bumped by Sheldon Creed.
Within the Lap 22 mark, the caution flew due to Lavar Scott stalling on the course. Scott’s incident occurred not long after both Justin Allgaier and Baltazar Leguizamon spun amid contact with one another in Turn 13. In addition, Rajah Caruth and Jeb Burton had pitted while Hill maintained the lead over Crews, Kvapil, Mayer and Green. During this caution period, a majority of the field led by Hill pitted while the rest led by Gray remained on the track.
As the event restarted on Lap 25, Gray and Retzlaff dueled for the lead through the first four turns before Gray received the upper advantage to motor the No. 54 Columbia Bank Toyota Supra entry ahead. With a variety of on-track actions ensuing within the field, Allgaier spun in Turn 9 as Gray led the next lap. Teammate Rajah Caruth then spun in Turn 6 on Lap 27 after he wheel-hopped and slipped sideways in his No. 88 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro entry. Amid the on-track incidents and actions that did not draw any cautions, Gray maintained a steady lead over Retzlaff.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 30, Gray outdueled Retzlaff amid Retzlaff’s overtake for the lead during the previous lap to capture his second O’Reilly stage victory of the 2026 season. Retzlaff settled in second ahead of Alfredo, Day and Mayer while Crews, Kvapil, Hill, Sammy Smith and Sawalich were scored in the top 10, respectively. By then, 34 of 37 starters were scored on the lead lap, with Allgaier mired in 34th, Caruth in 26th and Love in 11th ahead of Creed, Green, Clements and Jeb Burton.
With 28 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Gray and Retzlaff occupied the front row. At the start, Retzlaff dueled with Gray through the first four turns before he motored his No. 99 SA Recycling Chevrolet Camaro entry into the lead. Not long after, Day drew a caution after he spun due to contact from Dean Thompson in the fifth turn.
The next restart with 26 laps remaining did not last long as a heavy multi-car wreck erupted in the first turn. The carnage started when Mayer, who was racing in fourth place, hit the right-side inside wall, ricocheted across the track into the path of Alfredo, and slammed into the left-side wall, which damaged the wall he hit. Both Mayer and Alfredo then ricocheted to the right and ignited a 25-car wreck that involved front-runners Hill, Crews, Sammy Smith, Love and Creed. The carnage, which knocked Mayer, Anthony Alfredo and Sawalich out of contention, placed the event in a second red flag session for 43 minutes and 10 seconds to have the wall repaired and the carnage cleared.
During the recent red flag period, a fan was caught leaping beyond the guardrails and the catchfence to speak with Creed on the course. Despite the fan’s effort in leaping back behind the catchfence and the guardrails, he was charged for his actions.
When the red flag lifted and the event restarted with 24 laps remaining, Retzlaff assumed the lead from Gray. Retzlaff led the next two laps before Kvapil, who assumed second from Gray a lap prior, assumed the lead in Turn 4. Kvapil proceeded to lead by one-and-a-half seconds over Retzlaff with 20 laps remaining while Gray pitted under green from third place. Gray’s pit stop moved Creed, Sammy Smith and Hill up a spot each in the top-five mark while Labbe, Jeb Burton, Staropoli, Ryan Sieg and Caruth were in the top 10, respectively.
Then with 20 laps remaining, the caution returned due to a tire barrier at the chicane being moved on the track from its positioned stance. The barrier shifted due to being hit by Josh Williams as he was spinning. During the caution, the field pitted except for Retzlaff, as he ran out of fuel on the track while running in the runner-up position under a cautious pace.
During the next restart with 17 laps remaining, Gray motored ahead of Blaine Perkins to retain the lead through the first two turns. Gray led the next lap ahead of Hill and Kvapil while Perkins and Sammy Smith were racing in the top five ahead of Green, Creed, Harrison Burton, Caruth and Staropoli, respectively. As Gray led the next lap, Kvapil began to stalk and reel in Gray for the lead. He then seized an opportunity in Turn 9 with 14 laps remaining, and he capitalized on it as Kvapil moved his No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro entry back into the lead. As Kvapil maintained a steady lead over Gray, Hill trailed by more than a second in third while Sammy Smith and Creed were in the top five.
With 10 laps remaining, the caution flew due to debris on the course. The debris came off Jesse Iwuji’s entry, particularly the left-front fender area, just past the second turn area after Iwuji had gone off the course and stalled his damaged entry. At the time of caution, Kvapil had extended his lead to more than a second over Gray. Hill, Creed, Sammy Smith, Love, Day, Harrison Burton, Staropoli and Perkins followed, completing the top 10.
The next restart with eight laps remaining featured Kvapil gaining a strong launch to motor ahead of Gray and lead through the first two turns. Behind, Brandon Jones spun in the third turn after contact from Green. Alex Labbe also experienced issues, including getting stalled in the tire barriers. But the event remained under green as Kvapil stretched his late lead to more than a second over Gray during the next lap.
Down to the final five laps, Kvapil continued to lead by more than a second over Gray while Hill, Creed and Love trailed in the top five by two, three and four seconds, respectively. Behind, Retzlaff rallied his way up to sixth place in front of Day, Green, Sammy Smith and Staropoli. Amid Kvapil’s lead, Gray narrowed his deficit over the next two laps before he got alongside Kvapil in Turn 9. Both competitors remained dead even and made contact before Gray ran into the side of Kvapil and sent the latter spinning into the tire barriers. Despite Kvapil’s swift reaction to fire his entry away while pointed straight, he lost his momentum and dropped to fourth. Meanwhile, Gray assumed the lead, but he had Hill slowly reeling in.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Gray retained the lead with two laps remaining by four-tenths of a second over Hill. Behind, Creed trailed by more than a second in third while Kvapil trailed by more than three seconds in fourth. Then, after reeling in Gray, Hill made a move beneath Gray and made contact with Gray in Turn 3. This moved Hill into the lead over Gray. He proceeded to build a reasonable advantage over both Gray and Creed for the course’s remaining turns. With both Gray and Creed unable to reel him in, Hill was able to cycle his No. 21 1-800-PACK-RAT Chevrolet Camaro entry back to the finish line and claim the checkered flag by more than a second over the latter two.
With the victory, Hill notched his 16th career win in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series division, his first on a street course venue, his second of the 2026 season and his first since he won this year’s season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway. Hill’s San Diego victory was also the 16th of this season for the Chevrolet manufacturer and the second for Richard Childress Racing.
During Hill’s post-race celebrations on the track, he took a moment to perform a victorious burnout around a large No. 8 logo to salute the late two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, a competitor whom Hill is filling in over in the Cup division at Richard Childress Racing.
“[The win]’s extremely special,” Hill said on the CW Network. “Just to finally check that box of getting a road course win. We’ve been so close so many times. Our 1-800-PACK-RAT Chevrolet was extremely fast. I was just looking for something those last few laps. I’m not gonna lie. I started talking to this guy [points to the No. 8 Kyle Busch hat] a little bit down the straightaways. I’m like, ‘Man, Kyle, if you’re here, give me something, right?’ Let me find another gear. For whatever reason, the car started to come to life. [Gray and Kvapil] got together and when there was blood in the water behind [Gray], I knew it was gonna be tough to get around him, but it was gonna be a battle. When I got clear of him, I was very surprised to see how much of a gap I got on him.”
Like Hill, both he and team owner Richard Childress fought tears of joy as they celebrated the team’s first NASCAR victory following the loss of Busch.
“It’s great to win here,” Childress said. “We all got Kyle in our hearts. You may not show it on the outside, but you do here [in the heart].”
Taylor Gray, who led 16 laps compared to Hill’s 13, settled in second place for his second top-two result of this season. Carson Kvapil, who was in position of achieving his first O’Reilly career victory before his spin amid contact from Gray, settled in fourth place for his fifth top-five result this season. After the event, both competitors had a post-race conversation on pit road following their late-race contact.
“That’s what it boils down to,” Gray said. “[Kvapil] was racing me tight like he should. I wheel-hopped underneath him. I hate it for [JR Motorsports], but unfortunately, it’s kind of just the way it is.”
“It’s really hard to make peace with that,” Kvapil said. “That one really hurts, but [Gray] was probably better than me right at the end there. Honestly, it is hard racing, right? I know it’s tight through [Turn 12] and it’s easy to wheel-hop. That’s what [Gray] said is what happened, but we’ve had a little bit of a past this year. Yeah, it sucks. When you are racing for the win like that, you got to put everything out on the racetrack. I’m sure that’s what he was doing and I was too. It’s just, [I] hate being on the wrong end of it, for sure.”
Sheldon Creed notched his ninth top-five result with a third-place finish. Sammy Smith rallied to finish in fifth place for his sixth top-five result of this season. Jesse Love, Parker Retzlaff, Austin Green, Harrison Burton and Corey Day completed the top 10 in the final running order. Notably, Jeremy Clements, who became the new all-time O’Reilly Auto Parts Series starts competitor with 548 starts, settled in 15th place.
There were 10 lead changes for five different leaders. The event featured eight cautions for 17 laps. In addition, 25 of 37 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the 18th event of the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season, Justin Allgaier, despite finishing in 32nd place at San Diego due to an engine issue, continues to lead the standings. He has 224 points over Jesse Love, 238 over Corey Day, 240 over Sheldon Creed and 256 over Austin Hill.
Results:
- Austin Hill, 13 laps led, Stage 1 winner
- Taylor Gray, 16 laps led, Stage 2 winner
- Sheldon Creed
- Carson Kvapil, 15 laps led
- Sammy Smith
- Jesse Love
- Parker Retzlaff, five laps led
- Austin Green
- Harrison Burton
- Corey Day
- Ryan Sieg
- Brandon Jones
- Blaine Perkins
- Andrew Patterson
- Jeremy Clements
- Josh Bilicki
- Jeb Burton
- Preston Pardus
- Brad Perez
- Patrick Staropoli
- Dawson Cram
- Rajah Caruth
- Joey Gase
- Brennan Poole
- Jesse Iwuji
- Leland Honeyman Jr., one lap down
- Alex Labbe – OUT, Electrical
- Dean Thompson, eight laps down
- Lavar Scott, 12 laps down
- Ryan Ellis, 13 laps down
- Brent Crews – OUT, Engine, 11 laps led
- Justin Allgaier – OUT, Engine
- Baltazar Leguizamon – OUT, Engine
- Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident
- Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Accident
- William Sawalich – OUT, Accident
- Kyle Sieg – OUT, Engine
Next on the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series schedule is the series’ return to Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California, for the Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250. The event will occur on Saturday, June 27, and will air at 5:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network, PRN Radio and SiriusXM.
