Continue the Comeback … Austin Hill returns to his home turf at Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS) in search to avenge last year’s runner-up finish. The Winston, Ga. product looks to continue his comeback and ascend up the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series standings after a third-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS) two weeks ago. After two finishes outside the top-20 to start the season, the driver of the No. 16 United Rentals Toyota Tundra responded with a resilient podium performance to advance nine positions to 12th in the points standings. Hill looks to seal the deal on a coveted home-track victory and reserve a spot in the playoffs.
On a Crazy Streak … When it comes to racing at intermediate venues like AMS, Hill has a streak that few can match. Since his playoff victory at LVMS in September of 2019, 15 races have been contested at tracks 1.366-1.5 miles in length. In those 15 events, Hill has put up jaw-dropping numbers that include four victories, 10 top-three finishes and 11 top-five finishes. During that span, the only blemish outside the top-10 on Hill’s stat line was due to an engine issue and brings a streak of five consecutive podium finishes into “Hotlanta”. In 2020, Hill led 36 laps at AMS and had over a five second lead when an ill-fated caution with two laps remaining dealt him a second-place result.
Based on his string of consistency over the last 18 months, Hill will be one of the favorites on Saturday afternoon.
Atlanta History … Five of Hill’s 100 Camping World Trucks starts have come at his home track. Hill grew up racing legends cars and bandoleros on the quarter mile track inside AMS’ frontstretch and made his debut on the big track in 2016. The 26-year-old finished 12th in his home track debut and has tallied two top-10 finishes, both of which came with HRE, including a runner-up last June.
Chassis Selection … Crew chief Scott Zipadelli and the HRE team will use the same Toyota Tundra that was dominant in the closing laps last season, chassis No. 007. Hill also drove this chassis in all three races at Kansas Speedway last year, including a victory in July and a third-place finish in its most recent outing last October. Saturday will mark chassis No. 007’s fourth consecutive start for HRE at AMS. This Tundra captured a victory with Brett Moffitt in 2018 along with a seventh and second with Hill in 2019 and 2020, respectively.
Tune In … AMS hosts the first daytime race of the season and will be carried live on FOX Sports 1. Coverage begins at 1:30 p.m. ET with NASCAR Raceday on FS1 followed by the green flag at 2:30 p.m. ET. Stay connected with the No. 16 United Rentals team by following @Hattori_Racing on Twitter, @hattoriracing on Instagram, and Hattori Racing Enterprises on Facebook.
Austin Hill Quote:On returning home and success at 1.5-mile tracks:“I’m as excited as you can be to get back to Atlanta after how last year ended up for us. We had such a good long run truck last year and it unfortunately came down to a green-white-checkered finish. I’ve thought about that race quite a bit, so it’d be awesome to get a win for United Rentals, Toyota, and all the guys at HRE at my home track. I love worn out racetracks and Atlanta is exactly that. The surface is extremely abrasive, so tire management is always a big key there. We’ve been able to have really fast Tundras at those types of tracks over the past couple years, so hopefully we’ll be able to continue that on Saturday and lock ourselves in the playoffs with a win.”
HRE PR
