mobile-menu-icon
GM Authority

No. 21 NASCAR Chevy Wins 2023 Daytona Xfinity In Photo Finish: Video

Austin Hill, driver of the No. 21 NASCAR Chevy Camaro in the Xfinity Series, won a three-way shootout at the end of the 2023 season-opening race at Daytona in a thrilling photo finish on February 18th, 2023.

On the last lap of a NASCAR Overtime finish, two NASCAR Chevy teammates tangled on the back stretch, sending the No. 1 Camaro of Sam Mayer end-over-end. Mayer’s No. 1 Camaro ended up skidding on its roof for a long stretch, prompting NASCAR to throw a caution flag to prevent the field from piling into him. Because the incident occurred on the white flag lap of an Overtime finish, that caution flag ended the race. However, at the time of the caution, three Xfinity racers were neck-and-neck – and nobody was sure which car was ahead of the two others when the yellow flag flew.

As such, the No. 7 Camaro of Justin Allgaier, the No. 20 Toyota Supra of John Hunter Nemechek and the No. 21 Camaro of Hill all pulled their race cars onto the racetrack at the entrance to the trioval, awaiting the call from NASCAR to find out which driver had been ahead at the time that the caution was thrown. Ultimately, the victory was granted to Hill’s No. 21 NASCAR Chevy, which had been just inches ahead of the other two potential winners as the caution lights were illuminated.

“As soon as the caution lights came on, I thought I had it, but it was so close,” Hill, who also won the season-opening Xfinity Series event at Daytona in 2022, said after the race. “To get back-to-back here at Daytona, it’s really special. That’s three wins for me now, two in the Xfinity, one in the truck here. We came from the back two different times. I hope everyone enjoyed it. It was such a blast. I had so much fun. We won at Daytona! Let’s go!”

Allgaier’s No. 7 Camaro, meanwhile, was involved in an early race incident that severely damaged his race car. However, his team was able to make proper repairs and put him back in contention for the lead. At the end of the night, though, it seemed he just didn’t have enough to pull it off.

Mayer was able to exit the heavily damaged No. 1 Camaro under his own power once he was attended to by safety crews.

NASCAR Xfinity Series Results, Daytona International Speedway, February 18, 2023
Finish Start Car Number Driver Team Laps Run Laps Led Car
1 1 21 Austin Hill Bennett Transportation Chevrolet 125 39 Chevrolet Camaro
2 7 20 John Hunter Nemechek Mobil 1 Toyota 125 8 Toyota Supra
3 5 7 Justin Allgaier BRANDT Chevrolet 125 36 Chevrolet Camaro
4 16 31 Parker Retzlaff # FUNKAWAY Chevrolet 125 0 Chevrolet Camaro
5 13 19 Myatt Snider Tree Top Toyota 125 0 Toyota Supra
6 9 98 Riley Herbst Monster Energy Ford 125 0 Ford Mustang
7 29 39 Joe Graf Jr Getcoverseal.com Ford 125 0 Ford Mustang
8 22 38 Ryan Sieg CMRroofing.com Ford 125 0 Ford Mustang
9 3 0 Cole Custer Haas Automation Ford 125 1 Ford Mustang
10 19 10 Justin Haley(i) DaaBIN Store Chevrolet 125 1 Chevrolet Camaro
11 20 27 Jeb Burton State Water Heaters Chevrolet 125 0 Chevrolet Camaro
12 8 16 Chandler Smith # Quick Tie Products Inc. Chevrolet 125 0 Chevrolet Camaro
13 17 45 Stefan Parsons Clear Cryptos Chevrolet 125 0 Chevrolet Camaro
14 11 9 Brandon Jones Menards/Swiffer Chevrolet 125 0 Chevrolet Camaro
15 25 92 Josh Williams Alloy Employer/Call 811 Chevrolet 125 0 Chevrolet Camaro
16 34 24 Parker Chase Ontivity Toyota 125 0 Toyota Supra
17 38 51 Jeremy Clements One Stop/All South Electric Chevrolet 125 0 Chevrolet Camaro
18 36 53 Joey Gase National Crime Prevention Ford 125 0 Ford Mustang
19 15 18 Sammy Smith # TMC Toyota 125 0 Toyota Supra
20 23 8 Gray Gaulding Panini Chevrolet 125 1 Chevrolet Camaro
21 26 28 Kyle Sieg Night Owl Ford 125 0 Ford Mustang
22 28 2 David Starr Special Report with Bret Baier Chevrolet 125 2 Chevrolet Camaro
23 2 48 Parker Kligerman Big Machine Racing Spiked Chevrolet 125 1 Chevrolet Camaro
24 10 78 Anthony Alfredo Ticket Smarter Chevrolet 125 0 Chevrolet Camaro
25 12 5 Jade Buford Double Spiked Coolers Chevrolet 125 0 Chevrolet Camaro
26 18 8 Josh Berry Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Chevrolet 125 17 Chevrolet Camaro
27 14 1 Sam Mayer Accelerate Pros Talent Chevrolet 124 14 Chevrolet Camaro
28 24 44 Jeffrey Earnhardt ForeverLawn Chevrolet 124 0 Chevrolet Camaro
29 32 25 Brett Moffitt AM Technical Solutions Ford 124 0 Ford Mustang
30 37 34 Jesse Iwuji Chevrolet 110 0 Chevrolet Camaro
31 31 35 CJ McLaughlin Sci-Aps Ford 87 0 Ford Mustang
32 33 26 Kaz Grala Island Coastal Lager Toyota 82 0 Toyota Supra
33 21 6 Brennan Poole Macc Door Systems Chevrolet 81 0 Chevrolet Camaro
34 4 2 Sheldon Creed Whelen Chevrolet 41 5 Chevrolet Camaro
35 35 43 Ryan Ellis Heartbeat Hot Sauce Chevrolet 41 0 Chevrolet Camaro
36 6 11 Daniel Hemric Cirkul Chevrolet 20 0 Chevrolet Camaro
37 27 7 Blaine Perkins # AUTOPARKit.com Chevrolet 19 0 Chevrolet Camaro
38 30 4 Bayley Currey Mikes Weather Page/Firman Chevrolet 8 0 Chevrolet Camaro

# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver

Subscribe to GM Authority for more Chevy news, NASCAR news, GM motorsports news and around-the-clock GM news coverage.

Alexandra is a Colorado-based journalist with a passion for all things involving horsepower, be it automotive or equestrian.

Subscribe to GM Authority

For around-the-clock GM news coverage

We'll send you one email per day with the latest GM news. It's totally free.

Comments

  1. Does anyone know what happens to all the Camaro’s next season since Chevy will no longer be making the Camaro?

    Reply

Leave a comment

Cancel