Austin Hill Wins in San Diego After Gray, Kvapil Tangle Late

Austin Hill won the inaugural NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Naval Base Coronado on Saturday. The race was his 16th career victory and his second of the 2026 season. It was also Hill’s first ever win on a road course, despite his consistent road racing speed over several years in the O’Reilly Series. “It’s extremely special to finally check that box of getting a road course win,” Hill said.

Hill’s victory burnout fittingly took place where the late Kyle Busch’s No. 8 was painted onto the pavement. After Busch’s sudden death on May 21, Hill was thrust into full-time Cup Series competition in Busch’s car. For Richard Childress Racing, the first win since their team was rocked with incomprehensible tragedy stirred up a whole range of emotions.

Saturday’s nearly five-hour marathon was the first ever NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at an active military base. Prolonging the race’s length greatly was a pair of red flag incidents related to structural damage to the racing surface.

Gray and Kvapil Tangle, Hill Flies Past

THE LEADERS COLLIDE! 😬 pic.twitter.com/UGRCvsOIgh

— NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts (@NASCAROReillyAP) June 21, 2026

Carson Kvapil was defending the lead in a tense battle with Taylor Gray until three laps to go, when contact from Gray’s No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota sent Kvapil spinning. The two were trading contact for several corners in a row, and the battle was enough to allow Austin Hill to join the fight for the win. Kvapil settled into the fourth position, still with a good result but with his first career win now out of reach.

Hill caught up to Gray on the final lap, applying the bumper to move Gray just out of the groove. The No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet surged ahead to the lead. Gray slightly missed one of the subsequent corners, allowing Hill to open up a lead of several car lengths.

“We’ve had a little bit of a past this year, and it’s never been racing for wins,” Kvapil reflected. “It’s always just been racing for tenth. So I don’t know. It just sucks. I feel like when you’re racing for the win like that you gotta kind of put everything out on the racetrack and I’m sure that’s what he was doing and I was too.”

Kvapil spoke to Gray through the latter driver’s window after the race. “I essentially just wheel-hopped underneath him,” Gray said. “I got really bad wheel-hop at the end of my run. And I kinda fought that throughout all day. Just at the very end of my runs I would pick up pretty bad wheel-hop.”

Taylor Gray managed to bring it home home second after the fateful last-lap nudge from Hill. Sheldon Creed finished second for Haas Factory Team, followed by Kvapil in fourth and fellow JR Motorsports driver Sammy Smith in fifth.

Corey Day vs. Manhole Cover

The first incident of the race came just moments after the drop of the green flag. Corey Day’s No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet struck a manhole cover in Turn 5 which promptly lodged itself inside his car. The caution flew for fluids on-track, and Day’s team went behind the wall to attempt to salvage their car.

NASCAR officials elected to allow Day’s crew to work on the car under the ensuing red flag while repair crews worked to seal the damaged racing surface. They then awarded Day the five laps he lost under caution, allowing the No. 17 team to start fresh after an early disaster not of their own making.

As fate would have it, Day was penalized for speeding on pit road on Lap 13. His misfortunes continued when Dean Thompson spun him on Lap 33. Remarkably, Day rebounded to finish tenth.

Massive Wreck Causes Red Flag

More angles of the crash. https://t.co/KMsZWge1wz pic.twitter.com/WvQKR7124C

— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) June 20, 2026

The second red flag of the race was thrown on Lap 35, just after the field restarted. Sam Mayer caught the inside wall in Turn 1, ricocheting him across traffic into a massive impact with the outside wall. Mayer collected Anthony Alfredo, whose top-five run ended in a heavy impact.

Well a dozen drivers were involved in total. The outside wall in Turn 1 was moved several feet back from the impact of Mayer and Alfredo’s cars. For the third time in two races crews were forced to make lengthy repairs to track infrastructure while the field endured a long red flag.

“I have to be one of the worst race car drivers to ever touch this sport,” Mayer said on his radio after the wreck. “I’m so sorry. Embarrassing.”

During the red flag, a fan was spotted hopping over barriers onto the racing surface. He appeared to approach Sheldon Creed’s car and share a brief interaction with him. The fan was later arrested and may face federal trespassing charges.

Early Adversity for Jesse Love

Days after the announcement that he’d be graduating to the Cup Series next year, Jesse Love had an awful start to his weekend. The No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet was penalized for lug nuts that were too narrow. Love was not allowed to turn a qualifying lap and he was forced to serve a pass-through penalty at the start of the race.

Love entered the race second in points, 250 back from Justin Allgaier. He rebounded from his misfortune to finish sixth, while Allgaier placed a disappointing 32nd. Love eroded Allgaier’s points lead marginally to 224.

Race Results