The NASCAR Xfinity Series is regarded as the best racing series out of all three of the top divisions, by both drivers and fans alike. The CW even had the drivers hype the current season up to be the “best NASCAR Xfinity Series season ever”, as the field consist of eight rookies, various new tracks and the new television partner itself, CW. Saturday night’s race had everything, including a dominant being plagued with mechanical issues, drivers making bold, aggressive moves throughout the pack and a well-deserving winner taking the hardware home after being up front when it mattered the most. The United Rentals 300 can be regarded as a success, building momentum in the season with 32 races to go. This race had it all and that will not go overlooked.
The race began with Justin Allgaier on the pole, after qualifying was washed out and set by a metric. Allgaier would be hunting for another Daytona victory, after scoring a victory at the famed track, most recently in the 2023 summer race. Allgaier immediately went to the outside lane, jumping in front of Austin Hill, who was vying for his fourth win in the season-opening race in a row. In just five short laps, a bad push from Jesse Love sent Brandon Jones into Carson Kvapil and Daniel Dye, ending both Dye and Jones’ days. Kvapil’s team was able to repair his #1 Chevrolet and the rookie was able to continue on in the race. Also involved in the accident were Harrison Burton, Brennan Poole and Connor Zilisch, with them also being able to carry on in the race.
The race resumed on Lap 12, as Richard Childress Racing powerhouse, Austin Hill took the lead and didn’t look back, despite Justin Allgaier having a fast car. The yellow came back out before the Stage 1 concluded, due to Brennan Poole’s car littering debris on the track. When the Green Flag came back out with five-to-go, Autin Hill held off a hard-charging Sheldon Creed, who’s in his first season with the Haas Factory Team and still hunting for his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series win.
With the competition being tight, Hill restarted ahead of Ryan Sieg, driving for his family-owned entry. Just past the halfway point of Stage 2, rookie Nick Sanchez was sent into the Backstretch wall, after receiving a bad push from Sheldon Creed, which destroyed Sanchez’s car and ended his quest for Daytona glory.
Austin Hill claimed another Stage win, holding off Ryan Sieg to collect those valuable 10 points and one Playoff Point. Hill looked to go four-in-a-row in the season opener, but this would not be an easy feat as plenty of drivers had strong runs with help from cars behind in the draft. Despite Ford having few entries in the series, Creed and Sieg challenged Hill heavily in the final stage, before Hill had mechanical issues plague him on Lap 83, ending his day. Hill let it be known that he’s proud of his team and things like this are “out of their control”, knowing another Drafting Track is on the radar next weekend and he’ll likely be up front.
The rest of the race would see hard racing for the lead with Hill’s teammate, Jesse Love, Creed and Sieg, combined with chaos and calamity, as Kris Wright slammed into Josh Bilicki coming into the pits, blaming his spotter for the accident, rather than utilizing the brakes. This left Bilicki frustrated, but he was able to continue, unlike Wright.
The race resumed and went green for 18 laps, until Justin Bosignore came down on Justin Allgaier with 6 laps remaining, collecting Anthony Alfredo, Sammy Smith and Jordan Anderson in the process. Several drivers were able to continue after the dust of the melee settled.
During the first Green-White-Checkered attempt, Jesse Love attempted to hold off a hard-charging Taylor Gray, before the pack crashed behind them. This wreck ignited due to Justin Allgaier shoving his rookie teammate, Connor Zilisch, sending Zilisch into the backstretch wall and collecting a good portion of the pack with him, sending the race into overtime.
The final restart saw Love restart alongside Sam Mayer, with Love diving to the inside lane to block the run from Mayer. This ultimately was enough for Love to snag his second-career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory, while the field crashed behind him.
With his win, Jesse Love is locked into the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs, taking a lot of pressure off the California driver early in the season, also sealing the deal for Richard Childress Racing, since his teammate had issues earlier in the race. With the first race of the season completed, Sheldon Creed currently leads the championship standings, as Love trails behind him, only a mere nine points behind. Love looks to go back-to-back during this weekend’s Bennett Transportation and Logistics 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. You can catch this race at 5:00PM EST on CW, a track where RCR will likely be dominant at, but will be challenged by the rest of the field.
Jesse Love ‘at a loss for words’ after winning season-opening race at Daytona | NASCAR
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