When it comes to dominance in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series at Daytona, there is no other alternative than Richard Childress Racing. The renowned team owned by Richard Childress once again established its supremacy when it won the 2026 United Rentals 300 on Saturday, as Hill won his fourth Daytona race in five years, adding to his iconic three-peat in 2024. However, the victory did not come easy, as Austin Hill unraveled the risky gamble behind it.

Austin Hill shared the intricate risks of Daytona racing

Speaking to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Hill opened up about racing at Daytona, a track that is notorious for having enormous wrecks. A little mistake can cause a major disruption, jeopardize the entire race, and force a driver to have a DNF.

“It didn’t come easy, I mean, the runs that were coming tonight were extremely strong,” Hill said, as he explained how he had to gamble his race on Saturday. “They were really big runs that were hard to block at times. And there were a few times that I didn’t even block the run because I’m like, if I do, I’m going to get wrecked.”

Following this, Hill unraveled how he was constantly on the radio with his crew chief, asking and analyzing the options to keep himself at the front, and save himself from the wrecks.

“And there at the end, myself and Chad Haney, we got to talking on the radio. And I just felt like after taking fuel only, I needed some tires. And I know that’s weird saying that at a place like Daytona, but I felt like I needed four tires to be able to maneuver, go bottom, middle, top, do whatever I needed to do to block runs to create runs,” Hill added.

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Notably, the United Rentals 300 on Saturday saw 14 cars suffer DNFs due to accidents and mechanical failures. It all started with the first lap incident, where Mason Maggio, Jeremy Clements, Anthony Alfredo, Brennan Poole, among others, were involved.

Then, in Lap 30, Sam Mayer, Sammy Smith, and Gio Ruggiero triggered another wreck, before Lap 93 of 120 brought out the biggest one involving Brandon Jones, Sam Mayer, Natalie Decker, Taylor Gray, Jeb Burton, and Ryan Sieg, among others.

In Lap 101, almost 11 drivers, such as Corey Day, William Sawalich, Harrison Burton, Carson Hocevar, and Daniel Dye, were involved, before ending with late race chaos of Rajah Caruth, who suffered a flat tire and was hit by the cars coming from behind.

Hill, who weathered all these storms, clinched the victory in the end as he finished ahead of JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier. While Hill can enjoy his time, Love, another RCR driver and the winner of the 2025 edition, wants to take a lesson from the race.

Jesse Love took lessons after wild finish at Daytona

Jesse Love, the former winner of the United Rentals 300 at Daytona International Speedway and the defending O’Reilly Auto Parts Series champion, finished the race in ninth place.

Even though he was the second most dominant driver on Saturday, he finished well behind his teammate after he fell prey to aggressive drafting and frantic maneuvers.

“At the end I feel for my guys,” Love said in an interview after the race. “They want to be where that 21 group [Hill] is. I’m still a step behind Austin. He’s so great at this craft. I feel like he’s a little more patient than I am right now, and I think that’s what my learning lesson is after tonight.”

While Love can concentrate on the future races, his team is unlikely to stop the party at the #21 garage. With that said, Richard Childress and his team would want to enjoy five straight wins now at this track, going back all the way to 2022.