Austin Hill did not win last weekend's Xfinity Series race at Daytona International Speedway, but he passed Dale Earnhardt on a historic list with some early dominance.
The Richard Childress Racing racing driver passed the seven-time champion for the second-most laps led on drafting tracks in the second-tier series.
Hill entered the weekend third on the all-time Xfinity list with 532 laps led on drafting tracks. Earnhardt had 573 laps led at these tracks while winning eight races -- seven at Daytona and one at Talladega. This was good enough for second on the all-time list.
Hill then led 56 laps in the season-opening race before a mechanical failure ended his night. He left the track with 588 laps led on drafting tracks.
The only driver ahead of him at this point is Dale Earnhardt Jr. The Hall of Famer led 691 laps on drafting tracks during his time in the second-tier NASCAR series. He also won seven times on drafting tracks -- six Daytona races and one Talladega race.
Hill has been very strong at Daytona. Since joining RCR, he has led 181 laps at the Florida track and won three races. He has been even better at Atlanta, with 218 laps led and four trips to victory lane.
The driver of the No. 21 Chevrolet has yet to win a race at Talladega, but he has won the pole three times. He has led 189 laps in the last five races at the Alabama track.
Hill has quickly risen up the laps-led leaderboard for two reasons. The first is that Xfinity drivers now have three drafting tracks on the schedule -- Daytona, Talladega, and Atlanta.
The other reason is pure dominance. Richard Childress Racing always brings the best cars to these tracks, so the team's drivers can do whatever they want at any point of the race. Hill was already a skilled superspeedway racer before joining RCR, but he has truly put on a show behind the wheel of these cars.