Austin Hill was dealt a 33rd-place result at Daytona International Speedway’s (DIS) road course after a sequence of late-race issues plagued his effort on Friday night. The driver of the No. 16 SiriusXM Toyota Tundra ultimately suffered a cut tire that wrapped around the rear suspension on lap 39 and trapped him multiple laps down.
The second event on the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series calendar was the first race in series history that was contested on a wet racetrack with rain tires. Hill began the evening from the 20th position and carefully navigated disorder on the first lap to quickly advance inside the top 15. A caution flag on lap nine allowed Hill to gain five positions under yellow by staying out under the caution flag. The strategy play put the Winston, Ga. native in position to earn three points at the end of Stage 1 on lap 12 while running in eighth position.
Hill restarted Stage 2 in 27th after pitting under caution for a set of wet-weather tires and advanced to 23rd by lap 21. Crew chief Scott Zipadelli called Hill to pit road under green on lap 22 for slick tires as the racing surface continued to dry and gain grip before the end of Stage 2. Under the ensuing stage caution, Hill radioed the team that his throttle was sticking which forced him back to pit road to replace the throttle body under yellow. The SiriusXM team made necessary repairs under the lap 32 caution and returned Hill to the track in 31st position.
Hill quickly knifed his way through the field to 21st on the lap 36 restart. He lined up in the same position for another restart on lap 39 but was hit from the rear in Turn 6 and caused the right rear tire to go flat. The cut Goodyear tire caused Hill to spin in the backstretch chicane and wrapped around the rear suspension. The lengthy repairs trapped Hill three laps down and relegated him to a 33rd-place finish.
Austin Hill Quote:“Just another tough night. I think we had some good speed in our SiriusXM Toyota Tundra. We were able to make our way up into the top-10 and get some stage points at the start when the track was real wet and were in a good position to start the last stage as the track was drying out. We had an issue with the throttle sticking and had to pit to replace the throttle body. That put us back in the field and got hit from behind which cut our tire down and that basically ended our night. We’ll go to Las Vegas to try and rebound and start gaining some points back.”
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