Hill Keeps On Rolling in New Year
Opener at New Smyrna is Third Straight K&N Pro East Victory
NEW SMYRNA, Fla. — Offseason did nothing to slow down Austin Hill.
The 20-year-old picked up right where he left off last year in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, leading every lap Saturday in winning the Hart To Heart 150 Breast Cancer Foundation 150 at New Smyrna Speedway.
Hill finished 2014 with back-to-back wins at Greenville (South Carolina) Pickens Speedway and Dover International Speedway. And he kicked off his pursuit of a NASCAR championship with a dominating performance on the .48-mile high-banked oval just south of the “World Center of Racing,” Daytona International Speedway.
The NASCAR Next driver won his first career 21 Means 21 Pole Award and then survived a challenge on a green-white-checkered from rookie Dalton Sargeant to earn the win. The race ended under a yellow-checkered following an accident on the white-flag lap.
Sargeant, making his first series start, settled for second. Gray Gaulding was third, followed by Kyle Benjamin. Sargeant and Benjamin, as well as sixth-place Dillon Bassett and seventh-place William Byron are Sunoco Rookie of the Year contenders.
Nick Drake, Sergio Pena and Kenzie Ruston rounded out the top 10.
It was the fourth career win for Hill, who also won at Dover in 2013.
The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East will return to the track at Greenville on April 4.
The Hart To Heart Breast Cancer Foundation 150 will air on NBCSN on Thursday, Feb. 19 at 10:30 p.m. ET.
RESULTS | RACE CENTRAL LIVE REPLAY
Sources: Jason Christley/NASCAR PR
NKNPS East New Smyrna 2/15/15 Results
K&N Pro Series East
Race: NKNPS East New Smyrna 2/15/15
Pos No. Name Sponsor Laps Diff
1 22 Austin Hill A&D Welding Ford 151
2 51 Dalton Sargeant * Galt Chevrolet 151 0.656
3 20 Gray Gaulding Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Chevrolet 151 1.026
4 34 Scott Heckert Project Lifesaver Chevrolet 151 2.228
5 27 Kyle Benjamin * Benjamin Motorsports Ford 151 3.162
6 44 Dillon Bassett * Citrus Pest Mgmt/Roush Yates Perf. Ford 151 4.035
7 9 William Byron * Liberty University Chevrolet 151 4.333
8 15 Nick Drake NAPA Toyota 151 4.712
9 1 Sergio Pena Saitama Toyota 151 5.325
10 4 Kenzie Ruston Rev Racing Toyota 151 5.889
11 36 Dalton Zehr * Whelen Engineering Chevrolet 151 6.471
12 31 David Garbo, Jr. * Whelen Engineering Chevrolet 151 8.774
13 7 Codie Rohrbaugh * Grant County Mulch Chevrolet 151 10.582
14 99 Anthony Kumpen * Whelen Euro Series Toyota 151 20.325
15 2 Collin Cabre * UTI/NTI Toyota 150 1 Lap
16 04 Ronnie Bassett, Jr. Citrus Pest Management Ford 150 1 Lap
17 98 Rico Abreu * GoPro Motorplex/AccuDoc Solutions Chevrolet 150 1 Lap
18 3 Kaz Grala Kiklos Olive Oil Toyota 149 2 Laps
19 45 Christian Celaya * Farbe Technik Chevrolet 147 4 Laps
20 49 John Holleman IV * Midway Mobile Storage Toyota 132 19 Laps
21 5 J.J. Haley * Braun Auto Chevrolet 126 25 Laps
22 23 J.P. Morgan * www.soldbyjackiemorgan.com Chevrolet 118 33 Laps
23 6 Devon Amos * Max Seigel, Inc. Toyota 118 33 Laps
24 28 Jared Irvan * BIAA/Race City Marine Toyota 69 82 Laps
25 42 Jay Beasley Special Smiles Pediatric Dentistry Toyota 49 102 Laps
26 40 Travis Miller CRC Brakleen Chevrolet