Both the Craftsman Truckers and the ARCA youngsters had their chance. Now, it was time for the NASCAR Xfinity Series to take to the World Center of Race. Saturday night saw the annual running of the United Rentals 300 at Daytona International Speedway. Though there was a threat of rain most of the day, fortunately for us, it looked as though we were all clear for tonight’s Xfinity Series opener, and we certainly were. Clear skies and a beautiful night greeted fans for tonight’s race. Which begs the questions: Who was strong tonight? Was it same-old-same-old with Austin Hill continuing his dominance? Did some of the new faces in new places ride to the occasion? Or was it another one of the veterans? Let’s break it down. Here’s everything that happened in tonight’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Daytona!
As reported by Bob Pockrass, the format for the 2025 Xfinity Series opener at Daytona was as follows:
Having to start at the rear were Parker Retzlaff, Anthony Alfredo, and Ryan Truex, all for unapproved adjustments.
The race started with defending champion, Justin Allgaier, leading the field to the green in the outside line. Taylor Gray in the JGR/Ty Gibbs-owned number 54 started alongside him. Allgaier managed to pull out to the lead as the top line stabilized. But Gray battled back on the inside and briefly took the lead. However, Allgaier regained the lead quickly after a big push from super speedway ace, Austin Hill. They ran like that, swapping the lead like it was a hot potato until the first caution of the night flew on Lap-5.
It didn’t take long for the carnage to break out at Daytona. The first wreck of the night collected rookies Carson Kvapil and Daniel Dye after veteran Brandon Jones got turned. Jones was shoved from behind by Jesse Love which turned him into the outside wall, collecting the youngers. You can watch the crash in the clip below. Jones and Dye both subsequently retired from the race.
FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass caught up with a disappointed Brandon Jones after the incident. Check out what all he had to say in the clip below.
As the race restarted, Justin Allgaier remained a force out front. However, it didn’t take long for Austin Hill, aided by a shove from Sheldon Creed.
The next caution wasn’t due to an on-track incident but debris. Brennan Poole had troubles as his hood pins came undone and his hood flew up in the air after receiving damage in an earlier incident. This timely caution was a break for a few drivers. Taking advantage was Justina Allgaier with the hopes of cycling back to the lead after the conclusion of Stage 1.
The pack restarted with inside 10 laps to go. Unsurprisingly, the Xfinity youngsters raced cleanly to the finish of the stage as a single-file line formed on the inside. Austin Hill, the new Pied Piper of Daytona, led the field through to the end of the stage. He did this by holding off a hard-charging Sheldon Creed and Nich Sanchez. This stage win earned him a Playoff Point as well as 10 points toward the overall points standings.
The majority of the field came down pit road following the conclusion of the first stage. This cycled Justin Allgaier back up to the lead. When the green flag dropped, Allgaier restarted on the outside with Harrison Burton on his inside. Allgaier rocketed out from the gate and took the lead. Sammy Smith in his DEI font number 8 car for JRM shuffled Burton from the lead, taking control of the inside line and battling his teammate Justin Allgaier for the race lead. However Burton battled back with the middle line and also briefly took the lead.
Unfortunately for everyone else in the field, Austin Hill was in this race. He wasted little time drafting his way up through the pack. He took the lead, shuffling Allgaier to fifth and Burton to seventh. Now back out on point, the field filed behind Austin Hill and ran the stage to the finish. The second stage almost got by without incident. However, it officially ended under caution as Sheldon Creed made an aggressive move on Nick Sanchez, which turned him into the wall. This ended Sanchez’s day and ended the stage. Officially, the RCR #21 of Austin Hill swept the stages.
As the final stage kicked off, it was pointed out that Austin Hill was leaking fluid. The commentators on the CW pointed it out and there was chatter across team radios as well. Still, Hill stayed out as long as he could, banking for a caution. The good news was that he was leading while also panicking, racing hard and clean with Sheldon Cree, Ryan Seig, and Justin Allgaier who all wanted a piece of that lead.
As the field took 40 laps to go, Hill was overtaken by the tandem of Seig and Allgaier. A lap later, green flag pit stops commenced with Allgaier leading the Chevys down pit road. Allgaier locked up his tires, skidding his rubber, forcing him to change tires. Most other drivers took fuel only. Also spending extended time on pit road was Austin Hill as his team tried to diagnose the problem. NASCAR stated that they could not return to the race until the problem with the leaking fluid was fixed. He ultimately went several laps down.
The next lap, more Chevrolets came down pit road with the Toyotas and Fords staying out. The next group came down just a few laps later with Jesse Love leading them. Unfortunately, as they were getting onto pit road, Josh Bilicki was plowed from behind by the driver of the 5 Kris Wright for Our Motorsports. The incident ended his Wright’s night and triggered the 5th caution of the night. Under caution, Austin Hill took his 21 Chevy behind the wall. Justin Allgaier was awarded the free pass.
The CW Sports crew caught up with Hill after he retired from the race. He had the following to say:
The pack really started to get aggressive as the field approached twenty laps to go. With Austin Hill out of the race, it was a free-for-all as to who could win. That said, Hill’s teammate, Jesse Love, was still a favorite as he led the pack to the green flag. Meanwhile, Justin Allgaier, who had just regained his lap, was fighting his back up through the field with his eyes on the prize.
As the pack took 15 to go, Jesse Love led as all four JR Motorsports cars were lined up on the inside. As things started to get a little more racy with the JRM cars on the inside and the Fords on the outside, Love started to block more aggressively. Little by little, the momentum behind the JRM cars on the inside waned.
With 10-laps to go, Sheldon Creed jumped to the inside, and his teammate, Sam Mayer, went with him, building back up the inside line with the JRM cars. And though briefly took the lead, he lost it once more to Love, who controlled the pack. We made it with eight laps to go before another massive crash broke out.
The next caution for incident came with eight laps to go. This happened as Ryan Seig and Justin Allgaier got a run up the middle deep in the pack. Bonsignore, in the JGR number 19, made a late block on the hard-charging Allgaier, which then turned him down into the 8 of Sammy Smith. Both drivers received significant damage as Allgaier and Carson Kvapil snaked through the puffs of smoke with expertise.
When the race restarted, there were only 3 laps to go. With a big push from Taylor Gray, Jesse Love rocketed out front. As they took 2 to go, Sheldon Creed started to challenge for the lead but before they could make it back to take the white flag, another big crash broke out. This wreck was triggered when Connor Zilisch got turned Justin Allgaier as the 88 had to check up behind a slowing Sheldon Creed. This turned the 88 hard into the outside wall. As the field scattered, Ryan Ellis, Christian Eckes, William Sawallisch, and Parker Retzlaff got collected. What what triggered this incident below:
Because of this incident, we were forced into NASCAR Overtime.
When the green flag came out for the final time, Jesse Love rocketed out front and just barely squeezed down in front of Sam Mayer. But charging hard on the outside was Taylor Gray with Sheldon Creed behind him. Miraculously, they made it back to take the white flag but not before another crash broke out, triggering a caution. Officially, the race ended under caution and Jesse Love was the winner. This race win was the second of his career, putting further emphasis on RCR’s dominance at Xfinity superspeedway races.
Let’s take a look at the wreck that ended this race. It all started when Justin Allgaier issued a poorly-timed block which then collected Ryan Seig, Josh Williams, Jeb Burton, and many more. You can chalk it up to typical hard racing during crunch time at Daytona. It’s hard to point the finger at anyone. You can check out the wreck in the video above where Jesse Love takes the white flag and wins the race.
That does it for the Saturday doubleheader from Daytona. By comparison, this race was a lot tamer than the ARCA race earlier today but never boring. What do you make of Jesse Love winning this race, NASCAR fans? Are you just happy that Austin Hill finally wasn’t in the mix? Were you shocked at Love’s victory? Let us know! And be sure to tune in back here at DailyDownforce.com for tomorrow’s coverage of the 67th running of the Daytona 500.
