Austin Hill won his second pole award of the season and was running in the top five before a mechanical issue dealt him a 30th-place finish at Pocono Raceway on Saturday afternoon. Hill’s hot lap of 52.52 seconds in qualifying on Friday evening was new track record and put him in contention at the front of the field on Saturday until a mechanical issue ended his afternoon after 21 laps.
After taking the green flag from the pole position, Hill left the chaos of the opening laps in his rear view mirror as two quick cautions on laps one and six. Hill’s inside position on the initial start and restarts proved to be a disadvantage but managed to finish the opening stage running in fourth on lap 15 to collect seven points.
Crew chief Scott Zipadelli called Hill to pit road for fuel and four tires under the stage break, but Hill suffered a mechanical issue leaving his pit stall. Despite feverish work by the No. 16 United Rentals team, the issue forced Hill to a premature retirement and a 30th-place finish. With two races remaining in the regular season, Hill sits eighth in the NASCAR Gander Trucks Outdoor point standings.
Austin Hill Quote:“It’s been a tough stretch for our group the last few weeks, but we’re a tough group. Scott (ZipadellI) and the guys gave me an awesome United Rentals Tundra. I wasn’t expecting such a big lap in qualifying, but that just shows how fast our truck was. I really think we would have had a shot at it today, but unfortunately that’s not how it worked out. We’ll get back at it next week at Eldora and try to get some positive momentum again and get some good finishes back on our side.”
HRE PR
