SAN DIEGO – Austin Hill’s thrilling last-lap pass earned the veteran his first career road course NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series victory Saturday on a dramatic and ultimately emotional afternoon for his Richard Childress Racing team – capping a long and competitive day of racing in the inaugural United Rentals Driven to Serve 250 on Naval Base Coronado.

It marked the first win for the legendary RCR team since unexpectedly losing its NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Busch four weeks ago after the two-time series champion passed away unexpectedly due to complications from pneumonia. The emotion in Victory Lane Saturday was palpable – the celebration both a nod to Hill’s achievement and an ode to Busch and what he meant to the team and to the sport.

“It’s extremely special, just to finally check that box of getting that road course win, we’ve been so close so many times,” said Hill, whose No. 21 RCR Chevrolet had to be towed to Victory Lane after the rear wheels of the car were flattened after he performed a long burnout around Busch’s No. 8 logo painted on the track.

Hill, who now also drives the car Busch once drove in the NASCAR Cup Series, claimed Saturday’s win may have included a little divine intervention from his former teammate.

“I’m not gonna lie, I started talking to this guy a little bit down the straightaways,” Hill said, pointing to his hat, which carries the number eight Busch carried for the team. “I was like ‘Man, Kyle, if you’re here, give me something, let me find another gear.’

“And for whatever reason, the car started coming to life and the two leaders got together and when there was blood in the water behind the 54 (runner-up Taylor Gray), I knew it was going to be tough to get around him, that it was going to be a battle. And when I got clear of him, I was very surprised to see how much of a gap I got on him.

“I can’t thank these guys enough, everyone on this 21-team, at RCR. We’ve been through a lot these last several weeks. … Man, this is awesome, so cool.”

His Hall of Famer owner Childress was openly emotional as he greeted Hill in Victory Lane.

“It’s great to win here, and we all have Kyle in our hearts,” said Childress, his voice cracking in the poignant scene.

“You may not show it on the outside, but you do here,” he added, pointing to his heart.

Hill consistently showed Saturday he had a strong car – winning the opening stage — throughout an eventful day that included two red flags totaling more than an hour of race stoppage, an enthusiastic fan who jumped a fence and greeted driver Sheldon Creed during that red flag break, and lots of daring passes on the 3.4-mile 16-turn circuit around the famous Naval Base.

With five laps remaining in the 60-lap event, JR Motorsports’ Carson Kvapil led Gray and looked to claim his first career win and extend an already record 11-race road course winning streak for the JRM team.

However, with three laps to go, Gray pulled his No. 54 Toyota alongside Kvapil’s No. 1 Chevy and the contact bounced Kvapil’s car off a tire barrier and out of the lead.

Two laps later, Hill was able to get around Gray as they took the white flag signaling the last lap of the race. The 32-year-old Georgia-native went on to win by a convincing 1.127 seconds over Gray, who led the most laps (16) on the day and won Stage 2.

Gray blamed “wheel hop” for his contact with Kvapil.

“Pretty disappointed in myself, really proud of everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Racing. … Obviously would love to be in victory lane right now, that’s where my guys deserve to be,” Gray said.

“Got really bad wheel hop, that’s what it boils down to,” he added. “He raced me tight like he should and I wheel-hopped underneath him.”

Kvapil and Gray spoke briefly after the race.

“It’s really hard to make peace with that, obviously I feel like that robbed me and everyone at this Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet,” Kvapil said. “They brought us a really fast car and gave us position to win a race and obviously we didn’t. That one really hurts.”

Haas Factory Team’s Creed finished third, followed by Kvapil and JR Motorsports’ Sammy Smith – who turned in an impressive rally forward after an eventful, full-contact day of his own.

Hill’s RCR teammate Jesse Love also rallied on the day, finishing sixth after starting from the last row of the 37-car field. Viking Motorsports’ Parker Retzlaff, who led five laps, finished seventh with Austin Green, Harrison Burton and Corey Day rounded out the top-10.

Two red flag periods – combining for more than an hour in time – slowed the action. The first coming out on the second lap and the later one coming out to properly repair the wall and fencing following a 23-car incident that eliminated many of the day’s strong cars.

While racing up front, Haas Factory Team’s Sam Mayer nicked the inside wall at Turn 1 and careened hard into the other wall collecting Anthony Alfredo’s No. 96 Chevrolet and starting a chain reaction among the mid-pack behind. The impact was enough to bring out a 43-minute red flag.

Almost immediately after the race start, there was an hour-long delay to repair a sewer vent cover in Turn 5 that came off in traffic and impaled into Day’s No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

The series championship leader, JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier had an eventful day, and retired 17 laps early after being collected in multiple incidents on the day. Despite the DNF, the series-best five-race winner continues to hold an amazing 224-point advantage over reigning series champion Love atop the championship standings.

The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series returns to action in next Saturday’s Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250 at the renowned Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway a couple hours North on the California coast. Connor Zilisch is the defending race winner.

NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Race – United Rentals Driven to Serve 250

San Diego Street Course

San Diego, California

Saturday, June 20, 2026

1. (4) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 60.

2. (11) Taylor Gray, Toyota, 60.

3. (7) Sheldon Creed, Chevrolet, 60.

4. (5) Carson Kvapil, Chevrolet, 60.

5. (10) Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 60.

6. (37) Jesse Love, Chevrolet, 60.

7. (2) Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, 60.

8. (8) Austin Green, Chevrolet, 60.

9. (15) Harrison Burton, Toyota, 60.

10. (31) Corey Day, Chevrolet, 60.

11. (24) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 60.

12. (33) Brandon Jones, Toyota, 60.

13. (20) Blaine Perkins, Chevrolet, 60.

14. (30) Andrew Patterson, Chevrolet, 60.

15. (27) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 60.

16. (17) Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 60.

17. (22) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 60.

18. (13) Preston Pardus, Chevrolet, 60.

19. (26) Brad Perez, Toyota, 60.

20. (28) Patrick Staropoli, Chevrolet, 60.

21. (34) Dawson Cram, Chevrolet, 60.

22. (21) Rajah Caruth, Chevrolet, 60.

23. (36) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 60.

24. (18) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 60.

25. (35) Jesse Iwuji, Chevrolet, 60.

26. (25) Leland Honeyman Jr(i), Chevrolet, 59.

27. (12) Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, Electrical, 52.

28. (23) Dean Thompson, Toyota, 52.

29. (14) Lavar Scott, Chevrolet, 48.

30. (19) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 47.

31. (1) Brent Crews, Toyota, Engine, 44.

32. (16) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, Engine, 43.

33. (32) Baltazar Leguizamon, Chevrolet, Engine, 41.

34. (6) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, Accident, 34.

35. (3) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, Accident, 34.

36. (9) William Sawalich, Toyota, Accident, 34.

37. (29) Kyle Sieg, Chevrolet, Engine, 28.

–Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service

Jake McCarthy hit an inside-the-park home run and also doubled, Tomoyuki Sugano tossed six strong innings to outduel Pittsburgh ace Paul Skenes and the Colorado Rockies survived a chaotic ninth inning to beat the Pirates 2-1 in Denver on Saturday night.

Sugano (8-4) scattered four hits over six innings and Jaden Hill got the final two outs for his second save.

Spencer Horwitz homered and singled for Pittsburgh, which started the game with back-to-back hits and had just four more the rest of the way for a grand total of six.

Skenes (6-7) was nearly untouchable against the Rockies in Pittsburgh on May 12, taking a no-hitter into the seventh and tossing eight scoreless innings. He wasn’t as dominant Saturday night but allowed just two runs on four hits and fanned eight over six innings.

He was nearly saved from a loss when his team loaded the bases with one out in the ninth. Tyler Callihan struck out and Jake Mangum hit a grounder to third baseman Kyle Karros, who couldn’t make a throw to any base.

However, the umpires ruled baserunner Billy Cook interfered with Karros and called him out to end the game.

Horwitz led off the game with a blast into the second deck in right field, his fifth career leadoff home run, but he was upstaged by McCarthy when he led off the bottom of the first.

McCarthy drove a tailing liner to center that got by the diving Mangum. It rolled to the wall where Callihan had trouble picking it up, giving McCarthy time to circle the bases and tie the game.

McCarthy doubled in the third and scored what would be the winning run on TJ Rumfield’s two-out single.

Sugano settled down after Horwitz’s home run and Brandon Lowe’s single that followed to hold down the Pirates. Sugano allowed a one-out double to Mangum in the second and Horwitz’s single in the third but Pittsburgh couldn’t cash in, finishing 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position.

–Field Level Media

Left-hander Trevor Rogers gave up one hit over seven scoreless innings and Blaze Alexander had a two-run double as the visiting Baltimore Orioles escaped with a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday.

Rogers took a no-hitter into the fifth inning and finished with two walks and six strikeouts.

The Orioles improved to 2-3 on a West Coast road trip that started in Seattle and concludes against the Los Angeles Angels next week.

Los Angeles right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto went six innings as he was unable to reprise his near no-hitter at Baltimore last season. He allowed three runs on six hits with two walks and six strikeouts.

After missing one game for the birth of his second child, the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani returned to the leadoff spot and hit a home run in the ninth inning. Edman had a pair of singles for Los Angeles, which saw its four-game winning streak come to an end.

The Orioles jumped in front 1-0 in the second when Leody Taveras and Colton Cowser led off the inning with consecutive singles to put runners on the corners. Coby Mayo’s groundout scored Taveras.

Baltimore increased the advantage in the fourth inning. Again they opened an inning with consecutive singles, this time from Samuel Basallo and Taveras. After Mayo walked with one out to load the bases, Alexander hit a two-out double down the third-base line to score a pair of runs for a 3-0 lead.

Rogers cruised into the fifth inning where he gave up his first hit of the game on a two-out single to center from Edman.

Rogers’ only scare came in the seventh inning when he walked Mookie Betts with two outs before Miguel Rojas hit a ball to the base of the center field wall that was caught by Cowser.

The Dodgers pulled within a run in the ninth when Ohtani hit a home run and Edman’s line drive was dropped by Taveras with two outs, allowing a second run to score. Yennier Cano finished off his first save by striking out Kyle Tucker to strand runners on the corners.

–Field Level Media