Austin Hill returns to the rolling hills of central Iowa on the best streak of his NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series career. The winner from Daytona International Speedway (DIS) has constructed a streak of four consecutive top-10 finishes and returns to Iowa Speedway fresh off one of his most complete efforts of the season at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS). The driver of the No. 16 ARCO National Construction Toyota led 34 laps en route to an eighth-place finish last week at TMS and looks to keep his string of strong finishes rolling at Iowa on Saturday night.
Back for More Money … Even though an ill-timed caution kept Hill and the No. 16 team out of victory lane in the first round of the “Triple Truck Challenge” last week at TMS, Gander Outdoors still has plenty of money on the line. An extra $50,000 bonus is in play for Hill, or any Gander Trucks competitor, to win on Saturday night at Iowa, and $150,000 bonus is still possible if Hill can claim the top spot at Iowa and World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway on June 22nd.
HRE Salutes … During the NASCAR Salutes campaign, HRE will honor service members close to team members by placing their names on the right-side door of Hill’s No. 16 Toyota Tundra.
This week at Iowa, Hill will carry the name of Brent Adkins, a close friend of many team members on the No. 16. Adkins served stateside in the U.S Army and National Guard from 1971-1978 during the Vietnam War era. Adkins was stationed in Fort Lewis, Washington, Fort Hood, Texas, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and Fort Huachuca, Arizona. During his service, Adkins specialized in vehicle repair and radio and teletype equipment. While in the National Guard, Adkins worked with medics for evacuation of military patients and was honorably discharged from the service in 1978.
Iowa History … Hill has only one previous appearance in the Gander Trucks at Iowa Speedway, which resulted in a 14th-place finish last season driving for Young’s Motorsports. However, the Winston, GA native has six Iowa starts under his belt in the K&N Pro Series East from 2013-2015. Hill ran for his family-owned team in all six of those events, and scored a best finish of seventh in May 2015.
Season to Date … The road to the playoffs is past the halfway point and just seven races remain until the playoffs and the dash to the Gander Trucks championship begins. Through nine races, Hill is one of just two Gander Trucks regulars to have a guaranteed position in the playoffs with his win at DIS. Hill has notched one victory, two top-five’s, six top-10’s, and has led in five races for a total of 80 laps. He sits seventh in the championship standings.
Chassis Selection … Crew chief Scott Zipadelli will bring chassis No. 008 back to the track for the fifth time this season. Hill most recently wheeled this Toyota Tundra to a fourth-place finish at Kansas Speedway on May 10th. Chassis No. 008 went to victory lane at Chicagoland Speedway in 2018 and has made appearances at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, TMS, Dover International Speedway and Kansas this season.
Tune In … Coverage from Iowa Speedway kicks off with qualifying on Saturday evening at 5:35 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 2 followed by the green flag at 8:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1. Stay updated with Hill and the No. 16 team by following @Hattori_Racing on Twitter, @hattoriracing on Instagram, and Hattori Racing Enterprises on Facebook.
Austin Hill Quote:On his streak of four top-10 finishes heading to Iowa:“I feel really good about the direction our team is headed, especially after how well we ran at Texas last week. That truck was so fast and it makes me really excited for Iowa. I’ve only run one Truck race at Iowa, but Scott (Zipadelli) and these guys won last year there, so I can’t wait to get to work. We always had fast cars in the K&N cars, but just never had any luck to get the finishes we deserved. Hopefully that’ll change this weekend. It’s a fun racetrack. There’s plenty of room to race and it’s a track that gives you a lot of options. We were close to a win at Texas last weekend, so hopefully we can finish the job this week for ARCO National Construction and everybody that puts so much effort into this team.”
HRE PR
