Austin Hill passed Taylor Gray on the final lap at Naval Base Coronado, giving Richard Childress Racing an emotional O'Reilly Series victory and Hill his first road-course win.
CORONADO, Calif. - Austin Hill did not have the cleanest car at the end of Saturday's United Rentals Driven to Serve 250. He had the car close enough to make the last lap matter, and on a street course that had already gone sideways in nearly every possible way, that was enough.
Hill passed Taylor Gray entering Turn 2 on the final lap at Naval Base Coronado and drove away to win by 1.127 seconds, giving Richard Childress Racing an emotional O'Reilly Auto Parts Series victory four weeks after the organization lost Kyle Busch. Hill climbed from the No. 21 Chevrolet with the kind of relief that made the result feel larger than a box score. It was his first career road-course win in the series, his second victory of 2026 and RCR's first win since Busch's death.
The ending needed several layers to get there. Carson Kvapil looked positioned to win after taking control of the final run. Gray, who had already won Stage 2 and led a race-high 16 laps, got to Kvapil with three laps remaining and made contact in Turn 12. Kvapil spun from the lead, Gray kept going, and Hill suddenly had one more shot at a race that had refused to settle.
Hill made it count. Gray had the lead at the white flag, but Hill pressured him into the opening section and cleared him before the race could turn into one more restart argument. Gray still finished second. Sheldon Creed ran third, Kvapil recovered to fourth, and Sammy Smith completed the top five.
That top five only tells part of the story. Brent Crews started from the pole, led the first 11 laps and looked like the control car before an engine issue left him 31st. Corey Day hit a manhole cover early, lost four laps, then was allowed to cycle back onto the lead lap and salvaged 10th. A 25-car Turn 2 pileup, multiple track-repair delays and eight cautions for 17 laps made the inaugural O'Reilly race at Coronado feel less like a normal road-course event than a survival exam with a trophy at the end.
Final Results
| Pos | Driver | Start | Led | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | #21 Austin Hill | 4 | 13 | Running |
| 2 | #54 Taylor Gray | 11 | 16 | Running |
| 3 | #00 Sheldon Creed | 7 | 0 | Running |
| 4 | #1 Carson Kvapil | 5 | 15 | Running |
| 5 | #8 Sammy Smith | 10 | 0 | Running |
| 6 | #2 Jesse Love | 37 | 0 | Running |
| 7 | #99 Parker Retzlaff | 2 | 5 | Running |
| 8 | #87 Austin Green | 8 | 0 | Running |
| 9 | #24 Harrison Burton | 15 | 0 | Running |
| 10 | #17 Corey Day | 31 | 0 | Running |
Key Takeaways
Hill Finally Gets the Road-Course Box Checked
Hill has been close on road courses before, but this one required more than clean pace. He won Stage 1, led 13 laps, stayed attached through the late chaos and made the decisive move on the final lap. The win pushed him to 16 career O'Reilly Series victories and gave RCR the kind of finish the group clearly needed.
Gray Had the Race Until He Didn't
Gray's second place will sting because he did so much right. He led the most laps, won Stage 2 and took the lead from Kvapil with three laps left. But the last lap tilted the other way. The No. 54 still leaves San Diego with stage points, a runner-up finish and enough speed to make this feel like a missed win rather than a lucky podium.
Kvapil Lost the Cleanest Late Shot
Kvapil led 15 laps and had the race in his hands before the contact with Gray. Fourth is a good finish on paper, but it undersells the opportunity. He was the leader with three laps left in a race where track position had become everything.
Survival Paid More Than Projection
Crews, Sam Mayer, Anthony Alfredo, William Sawalich and Justin Allgaier all had pieces of strong days before the race broke against them. Crews was the pole winner and led early. Mayer and Alfredo scored in both stages. Allgaier never got the result his salary needed. San Diego turned those profiles into damage control.
Fantasy Recap
Big winners: Hill scored 59.3 FantasyJolt points on a $14 salary with the win, Stage 1 points and 13 laps led. Gray was right behind at 54.6 points, while Parker Retzlaff turned a $9 salary, seventh-place finish and double-stage score into 53.5 points. Kvapil's 50.5 points were strong despite losing the lead late, and Sammy Smith's 45 points gave lineups another stable top-five finisher.
Best salary values: Brad Perez was the cheap survival play, scoring 22 points from a $4 salary after starting 26th and finishing 19th. Dawson Cram and Jesse Iwuji also beat their $3 salaries by simply staying in the race. The more playable tournament swing was Retzlaff, who had enough front-end speed to score like a premium driver at a mid-tier price.
Disappointments: Crews was the expensive miss. The $15 pole sitter led 11 laps and scored Stage 2 points, but the engine issue left him 31st with 16.1 FantasyJolt points. Allgaier scored only 9 points from a $14 salary after an engine problem, while Mayer and Alfredo both had stage points wiped down by accident finishes outside the top 30.
Looking Ahead
The O'Reilly Auto Parts Series stays in California next Saturday for the Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250 at Sonoma Raceway. Coronado gave the field a street-course race defined by contact and recovery. Sonoma should still reward road-course craft, but it will ask a cleaner question: who can manage elevation, tire falloff and track position without needing the race to come apart first?
By the Numbers
- Race distance: 60 of 60 scheduled laps
- Cautions: 8 for 17 laps
- Lead changes: 10 among 5 drivers
- Average speed: 58.313 mph
- Margin of victory: 1.127 seconds
- Stage winners: Stage 1: Austin Hill | Stage 2: Taylor Gray