Austin Hill wins dramatic NASCAR O'Reilly San Diego race in last-lap pass

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It took almost five hours from start-to-finish, but in the end, it was the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet of Austin Hill who captured the checkered flag.

After Taylor Gray sent Carson Kvapil spinning from the lead with three laps to go, Hill muscled Gray out of the way on the white flag lap, claiming victory for RCR. 

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Gray finished second, Sheldon Creed third, Kvapil fourth, and Sammy Smith fifth. Jesse Love, Parker Retzlaff, Austin Green, Harrison Burton, and Corey Day filled out the remainder of the top ten.

Hill absolutely burned the tires off of it in his post-race celebration, and needed to get towed back to Victory Lane. He even did a burnout around the black No. 8 painted onto the track's surface in tribute to fallen NASCAR legend and RCR driver Kyle Busch. 

This is Hill's 16th career NASCAR O'Reilly win, but his first on a road course.

Stage 1

Saturday's race got off to a strange start as a metal cover came loose on the opening lap. Corey Day struck it, and the cover went straight through the nose of the car.

After 20 minuets of yellow, NASCAR finally red-flagged the race for a further 25 minutes while repairs were made and other covers were inspected. 

While Day's race was supposed to be over, NASCAR made some surprising rule changes to alter his fate. Due to the special circumstances, Hendrick Motorsports was allowed to work under the red flag, replace the destroyed radiator, and even get their laps back before the race finally resumed on Lap 10. Day also narrowly avoided a safety truck after returning to the race.

Read Also: Metal cover comes up and tears through the nose of NASCAR O'Reilly car, stopping race

Crews led the field, but decided to flip the stage after a large piece of debris blocked the grille and caused the water temperature to spike. Day and R. Sieg were among those who short-pitted as well, but both faced penalties that dropped them to the rear of the field.

Hill went on to win the stage over Retzlaff, Mayer, Alfredo, Kvapil, Smith, Creed, Green, Gray, and Sawalich.

Stage 2

During the early portion of Stage 2, Sammy Smith went for two separate spins, and Thompson made significant contact with the wall after contact from Day.

Allgaier also went for a spin, and reported being down a cylinder, but the next caution was for the stalled car of Lavar Scott. A handful of cars had already pitted, but many more took the opportunity to pit under yellow, including Hill and Crews.

Suddenly, it was Tay. Gray and Retzlaff out front for the restart. Allgaier went for another spin back in the pack, while Retzlaff and Gray engaged in a thrilling battle for the stage win.

They were side-by-side throughout much of the final lap, with Gray finally prevailing as Retzlaff made slight contact with the wall.

Gray won Stage 2, followed by Retzlaff, Anthony Alfredo, Day, Mayer, Crews, Kvapil, Hill, S. Smith, and Sawalich.

Stage 3

Read Also: Sam Mayer breaks wall in massive restart pileup, collecting over 20 cars Fan arrested after scaling fences onto NASCAR track, fist-bumping driver during stoppage

Retzlaff snatched the lead away from Gray on the ensuing restart, while Day's strange race got worse as Thompson appeared to retaliate from earlier contact, sending him into the wall. That triggered a full-course caution.

The restart that followed was race-altering in a very big way. Sam Mayer clipped the inside wall in Turn 1, shooting across Alfredo's nose and sending both cars careening into the outside wall. 

More than 20 cars were involved, and the race was halted for lengthy wall repairs. During the stoppage, a fan ran out onto the track and chatted with Sheldon Creed, before fleeing over fencing and ultimately getting arrested.

Retzlaff was leading the race, but Kvapil eventually took the lead. Cars began to pit under green with about 20 laps to go, Gray among them.

Soon after, Leland Honeyman went for a spin, moving a tire pack in the final chicane, which forced officials to throw a caution, interrupting the cycle.

Then it was heartbreak for Retzlaff, who ran out of fuel while running second behind the pace car. The rest of the field took the opportunity to pit during this caution, and Gray was now the driver out front due to pitting just before the yellow.

With ten to go, Jesse Iwuji brought out a yellow after pieces of his damaged fender fell onto the track.

Kvapil was in control of the race, and there was constant chaos throughout the pack. Brandon Jones, Brennan Poole, Jeb Burton, and Rajah Caruth all spun in separate incidents, but the race remained green as the battle for the lead got intense.

Gray sent it under Kvapil with three laps to go, but wheel-hopped into the side of him, sending the JRM driver spinning. That run-in brought Hill back into the fight, and he moved Gray out of the way on the final lap, securing an emotional win for RCR.

Read Also: Sam Mayer breaks wall in massive restart pileup, collecting over 20 cars Fan arrested after scaling fences onto NASCAR track, fist-bumping driver during stoppage Cla Driver #   Manufacturer Laps Time Interval Pits Points 121 Chevrolet60

3:29'53.767

 5682 Joe Gibbs Racing 54 Toyota60

+1.127

3:29'54.894

1.127547300 Chevrolet60

+1.546

3:29'55.313

0.4196384 JR Motorsports 1 Chevrolet60

+5.710

3:29'59.477

4.1645445 JR Motorsports 8 Chevrolet60

+7.275

3:30'01.042

1.5656396 Richard Childress Racing 2 Chevrolet60

+7.729

3:30'01.496

0.4547317 Viking Motorsports 99 Chevrolet60

+10.841

3:30'04.608

3.1125488 Peterson Racing Group 87 Chevrolet60

+11.231

3:30'04.998

0.390732924 Toyota60

+11.754

3:30'05.521

0.52392810 Hendrick Motorsports 17 Chevrolet60

+20.864

3:30'14.631

9.1109341139 Chevrolet60

+32.604

3:30'26.371

11.7406261220 Toyota60

+37.871

3:30'31.638

5.26762513 Jordan Anderson Racing 31 Chevrolet60

+39.171

3:30'32.938

1.30062414 Jordan Anderson Racing 32 Chevrolet60

+39.710

3:30'33.477

0.5397231551 Chevrolet60

+40.298

3:30'34.065

0.5885221607 Chevrolet60

+40.912

3:30'34.679

0.61410211727 Chevrolet60

+41.451

3:30'35.218

0.53942018 Pardus Racing Inc. 50 Chevrolet60

+53.853

3:30'47.620

12.40261919 Joey Gase Motorsports 55 Toyota60

+1'03.876

3:30'57.643

10.02371820 Big Machine Racing Team 48 Chevrolet60

+1'20.107

3:31'13.874

16.23171721 Joey Gase Motorsports 35 Chevrolet60

+1'21.269

3:31'15.036

1.16271622 JR Motorsports 88 Chevrolet60

+1'21.688

3:31'15.455

0.4196152353 Chevrolet60

+1'23.931

3:31'17.698

2.2437142444 Chevrolet60

+1'24.720

3:31'18.487

0.7897132591 Chevrolet60

+1'40.472

3:31'34.239

15.75271226 DGM Racing with Jesse Iwuji Motorsports 92 Chevrolet59

+1 Lap

3:32'24.404

1 Lap9 270 Chevrolet52

+8 Laps

3:11'34.823

7 Laps51028 Sam Hunt Racing 26 Toyota52

+8 Laps

3:30'45.438

19'10.6157929 Alpha Prime Racing 45 Chevrolet48

+12 Laps

3:31'32.968

4 Laps983002 Chevrolet47

+13 Laps

3:31'23.632

1 Lap5731 Joe Gibbs Racing 19 Toyota44

+16 Laps

2:48'16.878

3 Laps711327 Chevrolet43

+17 Laps

2:45'56.296

1 Lap9533 Young's Motorsports 42 Chevrolet41

+19 Laps

2:34'46.364

2 Laps7434 Haas Factory Team 41 Chevrolet34

+26 Laps

2:10'11.350

7 Laps71735 Viking Motorsports 96 Chevrolet34

+26 Laps

2:10'11.370

0.02061736 Joe Gibbs Racing 18 Toyota34

+26 Laps

2:10'11.777

0.4077337 RSS Racing 28 Chevrolet28

+32 Laps

1:45'54.464

6 Laps51

 

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