Austin Hill is without a doubt the best superspeedway racer in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, ever. His numbers speak for themselves. However, the term “road course racer” doesn’t usually come to mind for most fans.

Austin Hill may not be a fan favorite. He may not even be tolerated by many fans. But he does win, A LOT. Austin is now a 16-time winner in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and, for good reason, most people think they have only come on a superspeedway. 11 of his 16 wins have come on superspeedways, 1 on a short track, 1 at the Tricky Triangle, and a pair of mile-and-a-halves. Now, one on an elusive road course.

Austin may not get a lot of credit for what he does on road courses, but he’s damn good on them. 21 Top-10s, 18 top-5s, including 3 runner-up finishes, and now, he’s finally gotten that win.

With a damaged race car, Austin Hill managed to not only win Stage 1 but score points in Stage 2 on his way to his win over Joe Gibbs Racing’s Brent Crews. He led 13 laps at San Diego and became the first Richard Childress Racing driver to win on a road course in the series since Michael McDowell did it in 2016 behind the wheel of the No. 2 at Road America. Hill also became the first overall to win since Tyler Reddick did so at Road America in 2022 in Cup.

Austin Hill’s win and 68-point day give him a bump in the standings, 19 points over Brandon Jones to 5th overall. During post-race interviews, Austin said he looked to one man for that little bit extra he needed to get ahead of Crews. Pointing to his Kyle Busch hat, “I’m not gonna lie, I started talking to this guy a little bit down the straightaways.” He added, “I’m like, ‘Man, Kyle, if you’re here, give me something. let me find another gear.”

Image via Austin Hill X