The recently concluded NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series at Daytona was a power battle between Dale Earnhardt Jr’s JR Motorsports and Richard Childress’ Richard Childress Racing. Often regarded as powerhouses of the second tier of stock car racing, JRM and RCR have been the recent champions. As the two heavyweights clashed at Daytona on Saturday, one had to admit defeat.

Richard Childress humbled Dale Jr. after Daytona

Following the conclusion of the O’Reilly Auto Parts race at the Daytona International Speedway, Earnhardt Jr. appeared for an interview with Peter Stratta, where he shared a humbled admission after Austin Hill’s victory. When asked if JRM can stop RCR cars, Dale Jr. said:

“Doesn’t look like it. You’ve got a lot of great experience behind the wheel with Austin. He knows exactly how to handle that car and where he needs to put it. They give him one of the best cars in the field, if not the best car in the field. We caught up to him a little bit. We’ve got a little more power. We’re doing more, getting better. We’re closer. He’s absolutely talented, so you’ve got to give him a lot of credit.”

With the appraisal for his team, JRM, Dale Jr. also credited his drivers for putting up a decent show. Praising his drivers, Justin Allgaier, Sammy Smith, and Rajah Caruth, the co-owner said:

“I’m pretty happy. We come out of here with all our cars in the top ten. We got some stage points. I think if you can’t win the race, obviously, we’re trying to win the race, but if you can’t win the race the way the point system is, you’re going to be happy for days like today. We had some cars that got some damage, got some wrecks, and we’re able to come out of here in a good spot.”

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Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill showed absolute dominance as he secured the victory ahead of JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier. Hill led 78 out of 120 laps before taking the checkered flag. Jesse Love, another RCR star, finished the race in ninth place but secured 27 lead laps, signifying strong dominance.

Hill’s win comes directly from his RCR teammate, Love’s Xfinity Series win last year, where he beat JRM’s Connor Zilisch. As it stood, JRM, with the 2024 Championship (Justin Allgaier won it) under its belt were the only team that could give RCR a run for their money.

Coming into 2026, the RCR and JRM drivers locked horns once again. While Hill secured the victory, the JRM drivers, Sammy Smith, finished in fifth, and Rajah Caruth completed the Top 10. Allgaier, the 2024 winner of the series, finished in runner-up position, following which he praised Dale Jr.’s team.

Justin Allgaier’s praise for JR Motorsports

As Justin Allgaier came home in second place after surviving a series of wrecks at the United Rentals 300 at the Daytona International Speedway, he praised his team. He said after the race:

“If I was a cat, I think I burned all nine of my lives. Maybe this is your cue to go to your local humane society and adopt an animal. I think I lived all those nine lives tonight. Really proud of our team at JR Motorsports. Damage repair, all the things we did, we were able to get up there. These last few laps were wild.”

JRM was swift to repair and adjust his No. 7 Chevrolet after those incidents, keep the car competitive despite the chaos. Their new crew chief Andrew Overstreet’s strategic calls and adjustments were very helpful too.

“Everybody on the 7 team, Andrew Overstreet, new crew chief, you know, coming in here and really leading what was a great night for us.”

Notably, the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series on Saturday saw a series of wrecks, where Mason Maggio, Jeremy Clements, Anthony Alfredo, Brenna Poole, among others, triggered a pile-up. In Lap 30, Sam Mayer, Sammy Smith, and Gio Ruggiero were involved in contacts.

Lap 93 of 120 saw the biggest wreck as Brandon Jones, Sam Mayer, Natalie Decker, Taylor Gray, Jeb Burton, and Ryan Sieg got involved in Turn 2. In Lap 101, another 11-car incident broke out, including drivers like Corey Day, William Sawalich, Harrison Burton, Carson Hocevar, and Daniel Dye.

The race also saw late race chaos when Rajah Caruth suffered a flat tire and was hit by the cars coming from behind. With that said, a total of 14 cars suffered DNFs due to accidents and mechanical failures.