It’s becoming almost a certainty — Austin Hill recording big performances on the superspeedways for Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. After turning the fastest lap in the second round of qualifying Friday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway, Hill secured his fourth consecutive superspeedway pole position.
Hill’s lap time was 49.256 seconds, which equates to an 182.719 mph average speed around the 2.5-mile speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.
The driver of the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro was nearly three-tenths of a second faster than his teammate Sheldon Creed, who secured the outside pole for Friday night’s Wawa 250.
RELATED: NASCAR Xfinity Series Wawa 250 at Daytona Starting Lineup
The 29-year-old racer credited his team for the effort they put into the superspeedway program.
“I think everyone on our Realtree Chevrolet has been working really hard on these superspeedways — we work hard everywhere, but our superspeedway program has just been really good,” Hill stated. “Really solid. Last year and now this year. It’s awesome to have Sheldon up front with us. RCR front row is really nice. We have some Chevy alliances around us. That’s always great.”
Following the RCR duo of Hill and Creed will be Sammy Smith, in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Supra, and Chandler Smith in the No. 16 Kaulig Racing entry.
Parker Kligerman, who continues to rally toward the Playoffs cutline, will start Friday night’s race from the fifth position.
Daniel Hemric, John Hunter Nemechek, Trevor Bayne, Justin Haley, and Jeb Burton rounded out the top-10 qualifiers for the Wawa 250.
Joey Gase was a surprise qualifier, as the driver of the No. 35 Emerling-Gase Motorsports machine, knocked down the 15th-fastest time in qualifying. The effort marks Gase’s career-best qualifying effort in his NASCAR Xfinity Series career, besting a 17th-place starting position at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2018.
“It feels really good. That was really awesome to run that good. I definitely have to thank Wayne Carroll for working his butt off on that car, and ECR Engines. First time we’ve had an ECR Engine since the team was formed, at least one, and it definitely paid off for sure.”
After snagging his first career top-15 starting spot in @NASCAR_Xfinity competition, @JoeyGaseRacing says an ECR engine made all the difference. He also says that if he and @NatalieRacing are near the front at the end of tonight’s race, they’re going for the win. pic.twitter.com/G0NI6w3JFZ
— Toby Christie (@Toby_Christie) August 25, 2023
Gase says the difference from behind the wheel with the ECR engine was noticeable, and that if he finds himself in a position to win late in the race, he’s going for it. He won’t sit by and settle for a decent finish.
After issues in inspection, five drivers will start Friday night’s race from the rear of the field, and they’ll have to all perform pass-through penalties. The five drivers are Justin Allgaier, Jeb Burton, Jordan Anderson, Parker Retzlaff, and Ryan Sieg.
Qualifying Results: 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series Wawa 250 at Daytona
