Austin Hill wins crashfest Daytona Truck race

Austin Hill celebrates in victory lane after winning Friday night's NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Austin Hill held off a hard last lap charge from Grant Enfinger in double overtime to score his first career NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series win Friday night in a war of attrition at Daytona International Speedway.

With all but a record nine of the 32 starters eliminated after a record 11 cautions, Hill grabbed lead on the final restart with a push from Spencer Boyd. He then held off challenges from Matt Crafton and Enfinger over the final lap en route to the win.

Along with it being his first career series win, it also makes the Winston, Georgia speedster the distinction of becoming the first Peach State driver to win in the Truck Series race at Daytona International Speedway.

“I never would have thought in a million years I’d win at Daytona," Hill said. “We’ve had some success at Daytona before, but just didn’t have the finishes we were looking for there at the end. We’d have something happen and to be able to come on board with Hattori Racing and start off the season like this, I think there’s going to be a lot of good things to come for us."

It also gives Hattori Racing Enterprises their first victory after parting with Brett Moffitt after winning the 2018 series championship, and locks them into a shot to defend the title later this year.

While Hill ran at the front of the pack, leading several times, the race took a big turn with just a few laps left, when contact between Gus Dean and Sheldon Creed sent Dean into the leader, Ben Rhodes. That sent Rhodes spinning, gathering up several trucks in the process. Hill and Crafton avoided the trouble, and that set up the first overtime attempt.

Hill and Crafton raced side-by-side with no drafting help from behind on the start, with Hill getting the edge. He saw that edge go away when the trucks of Bobby Gerhart and Austin Wayne Self crashed off turn two, sending the race into a second overtime.

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]Hill again grabbed the lead on the start, aided from behind by Boyd. Behind them, teammates Crafton and Enfinger made a high line run to try to get to the leader. Hill threw a block on Crafton and held onto the point.

With the white flag in the air, Enfinger moved past Crafton and tried to make a run on the leader coming to the checkered flag.

Enfinger tagged Hill’s back bumper, but Hill was able to hang on to score the win.

“The 98 (Enfinger) got to me down in the center of (turns) three and four and kind of jacked me up pretty good," Hill said. “I didn’t think I was going to be able to hold onto that. We were saving fuel at the end. Coming off of four, I was pretty scared. I didn’t think we were going to make it to the finish."

Along with the heat from Crafton and Enfinger, Hill had to contend with trying to save fuel due to the double overtime periods. The 11 laps run under caution in overtime didn’t help either.

Hill said he didn’t have any confidence in his fuel saving strategy.

“I didn’t have any confidence to be honest with you," he said. “We pitted really early and we already knew it was going to be close and then when we went overtime, I was so scared. I just knew I was going to run out coming off of four and not make it to the line. So much stuff was going through my head, but hey, we’re here in victory lane."

Ross Chastain finished in third, with Boyd in fourth and Crafton in fifth.

The multitude of cautions whittled down the field. The first came on lap 55, when contact between Jordan Anderson and Creed triggered an 11 truck pile-up coming off the fourth turn. Among those involved were pole sitter Christian Eckes, defending race winner Johnny Sauter, Self, Enfinger, Gus Dean, Myatt Snider, Stewart Friesen, defending series champion Brett Moffitt and Brennan Poole.

Another costly caution came on lap 88, when the truck of Todd Gilliland was turned into the outside wall on the backstretch when his Kyle Busch Motorsports teammate, Harrison Burton, attempted to bump draft him. A third KBM truck, driven by Todd’s father, David Gilliland, was also involved.

The scariest moment came during a caution on the third lap. Bryan Dauzat had tagged the wall after contact from another truck. With the contact leaving his truck with no brakes, Dauzat came down pit road, where he struck his jack man, Billy Rock, sending him flying through the air.

NASCAR reported that Rock was awake and alert, and was transported to an area hospital for further evaluation.

Winner Quotes

Austin Hill

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

AUSTIN HILL, No. 16 CHIBA Toyopet Toyota Tundra, Hattori Racing

Finishing Position: 1st

What’d you have to do to hold off Matt Crafton and Grant Enfinger?

“We got a little separation from us and my spotter, Mike Harmon, he did an awesome job just telling me when the run was coming – what lines to choose. The 98 (Grant Enfinger) got to me down in the center of (turns) three and four and kind of jacked me up pretty good. I didn’t think I was going to be able to hold onto that. We were saving fuel at the end. Coming off of four, I was pretty scared. I didn’t think we were going to make it to the finish."

What else did you have to dodge to get to Victory Lane in tonight’s race?

“I had a really big run on the – I think it was the 99 (Ben Rhodes) – we were in second. I went to get under him and he came to block. When he did, we touched and we both got it back together, but we lost both of our momentum and the outside lane got a big run, got turned and it flipped the 99. Luckily, I don’t know how, but luckily we made it through. That was really the key moment for us getting that lead and just being able to take it. That whole last lap my heart was pounding. I thought they were going to get into my outside and it was going to be a drag race. The fuel situation, that was really big. I was just glad to make it across the start-finish line."

In your wildest dreams was your first win ever at Daytona?

“I never would have thought in a million years I’d win at Daytona. We’ve had some success at Dyatona before, but just didn’t have the finishes we were looking for there at the end. We’d have something happen and to be able to come on board with Hattori Racing and start off the season like this, I think there’s going to be a lot of good things to come for us."

What did you think tonight?

“This Tundra was fast. It really was. I knew we had a truck that could compete. It got a little scarce there at the end. I thought that the 98 (Grant Enfinger) was going to get me. He had a big run. We were able to protect it. I can’t believe that my first win came at Daytona. It’s so surreal and I can’t wait to party with these guys."

How confident were you in your fuel saving strategy?

“I didn’t have any confidence to be honest with you. We pitted really early and we already knew it was going to be close and then when we went overtime, I was so scared. I just knew I was going to run out coming off of four and not make it to the line. So much stuff was going through my head, but hey, we’re here in victory lane."

Preliminary Results

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