Hill Hauls Trash and Trophies at the Brickyard

The OBRL YesterYear Racing Cup Series made its annual pilgrimage to the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway for 85 laps around the 2.5-mile Brickyard, and when the dust settled, it was Daniel “Trash Man” Hill who hauled home the hardware with a resilient, hard-fought victory.

Courtney Nelson in the #78 grabbed the pole, with Hill alongside in the #7, while last week’s Dover winner Greg McDaniel and several others were shuffled to the back due to penalties from their rough-and-tumble outings the week prior.

The race got off to a rocky start for some, as Lonnie Corey suffered a disconnect just minutes into the run. Strategy quickly became the talk of the day, with some teams eyeing a two-stop approach and others gambling on stretching fuel for a potential one-stopper if the cautions played in their favor. The first half of the race saw drivers fighting not just each other, but the notoriously finicky first and second turns of Indy. Multiple cars got loose, some due to the track’s low grip and others thanks to iRacing updates and packet loss gremlins.

The midway caution shuffled the deck when pit strategy came into play—some opting for two tires, others for four, and a few going for fuel only. That yellow also spelled heartbreak for pole-sitter Nelson, who had dominated the early laps but was collected in a chain-reaction incident during a check-up, ending his chances for a Brickyard win.

That opened the door for Daniel Hill to mount his charge. After an earlier setback, reportedly caused by a “net code” glitch that dropped him back in the pack, Hill put on a masterclass in recovery driving. Lap after lap, he sliced through the field, taking down heavy hitters and setting the fastest lap of the race with just seven laps remaining. When it mattered most, the Trash Man wasn’t just taking out the garbage—he was taking home the checkered flag.

Hill crossed the yard of bricks first, followed by Andrew Medlin in second and Greg McDaniel in third, marking back-to-back podium finishes for the Dover winner. Roger Hurley came home fourth, earning valuable points as the playoff picture begins to tighten.

With just a handful of races left in the season, Hill’s Indy triumph not only adds another trophy to his collection but also cements him as a championship threat heading into the final handful of rounds.