Xfinity teams closed out a NASCAR doubleheader Monday at Daytona International Speedway as Austin Hill won his fifth career superspeedway race.
The Richard Childress Racing driver recovered from several setbacks, won stage 2 and held off former teammate Sheldon Creed on the final lap to score his seventh career Xfinity win. Hill led nine laps as he won his third consecutive season opener.
MORE: Xfinity Daytona results
Creed, Parker Retzlaff, Jordan Anderson, Chandler Smith, Riley Herbst, John Hunter Nemechek, Justin Allgaier, Brandon Jones and AJ Allmendinger all scored top-10 finishes to start the season.
Fourteen drivers led Monday night at Daytona. Jesse Love, who started on the pole, led two times for 34 laps. He also won the first stage after a drag race with Hill.
The Xfinity race, which followed William Byron’s Daytona 500 victory, had nine cautions for 44 laps as only 22 of the 38 drivers finished on the lead lap.
The first incident occurred on Lap 23 and collected Sam Mayer, Daniel Suarez, Hailie Deegan and Kyle Weatherman.
The largest incident was on Lap 37. Nemechek bumped Love, who made contact with Allmendinger and started a 11-car crash. Frankie Muniz was unable to continue in his Xfinity debut after his No. 35 Ford sustained damage.
The Xfinity Series season continues Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway (5 p.m. ET on FS1).