Richard Childress Racing has swept the front row for Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series event at Daytona.
Austin Hill, driver of the No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet Camaro, posted the quickest lap time in the final round of qualifying on Saturday morning with a 49.390-second lap, equivalent to an average speed of 182.223mph.
That lap was just enough for Hill to narrowly edge out his teammate, defending NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series champion Jesse Love, whose lap time in the final round was just 0.001 seconds slower than that of his fellow Richard Childress Racing driver.
Sam Mayer, piloting the No. 41 Chevrolet for Haas Factory Team, used the team’s new Hendrick Engine power to lay down the third-fastest time in the final round, just 0.009 seconds slower than the polesitter.
William Sawalich was the biggest surprise of the session, qualifying fourth in the No. 18 Toyota GR Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing. However, perhaps the biggest surprise was his besting the two Richard Childress Racing drivers in the opening round, but it didn’t translate to a pole-winning run.
Corey Day rounded out the top-five in the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, as the team begins its first full-time NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series campaign in nearly a decade.
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Sheldon Creed and Rajah Caruth clocked in sixth and seventh, putting four Hendrick Engines inside the top-seven, and five inside the top-10. Patrick Staropoli, in his rookie campaign for Big Machine Racing, qualified eighth, with Taylor Gray and Ryan Sieg rounding out the top-10.
Carson Ware, driving the No. 30 Costa Oil Chevrolet for Barrett-Cope Racing, was the only driver to run into issues during his qualifying run on Saturday, when the engine on his Chevrolet grenaded before the part-time driver got back to start his lap. Luckily, the team purchased Owner Points from RCR, and will be in the field.
However, with 42 drivers on the entry list for the United Rentals 300 at Daytona International Speedway, four drivers had to pack up their stuff and head back to Charlotte, North Carolina, without taking the green flag. Joey Gase, David Starr, Anthony Alfredo, and Garrett Smithley all failed to qualify for the event.
Alfredo and Viking Motorsports, though, quickly got to work and have secured a deal with Viking Motorsports for the Ridgefield, Connecticut-native to compete in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season-opener, driving the No. 4 for Alpha Prime Racing.
The United Rentals 300 will take place Saturday, February 14 at 5:00 PM ET on The CW, Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
