One year after coming within mere truck lengths of victory, Austin Hill returns to Pocono Raceway looking to take the final step towards victory lane in the Keystone state. The driver of the No. 16 Toyota Tsusho Toyota Tundra has had the necessary performance in his five previous starts at “The Tricky Triangle” to get to victory lane but hopes to finally grab the checkered flag on Saturday afternoon. The last time the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series held qualifying at Pocono, Hill topped the charts by posting a new track record and claimed his first top-five finish at the triangular venue last season.
Inching Closer … While victory has eluded Hill through 12 races this season, the Winston, Ga. driver has been one of the most consistent finishers and prolific point-scorers in the series. He sits third in the drivers’ championship standings coming off a performance at Nashville Superspeedway where his ninth-place finish netted him the third-most points scored in the event. Since his ninth-place result at Charlotte Motor Speedway (CMS) on May 28th, Hill has scored 124 points, third-most of all drivers in that span. His efficient outings have earned him a comfortable 146-point cushion over the cut line with three races remaining before the playoffs.
Season to Date … Through three quarters of the Camping World Trucks regular season schedule, Hill holds the third spot in the championship standings by way of his 10.5 average finish. Of the drivers that have competed in all 12 events, Hill ranks fourth in that category and one of only five drivers to be running at the finish of every race thus far. In 12 races, Hill has compiled four top-five and nine top-10 finishes.
Chassis Selection … Chassis No. 007 returns to action on Saturday for its fourth appearance this season. This Toyota Tundra first raced at Pocono in July 2017 and has been one of HRE’s most successful trucks. Hill most recently finished ninth in this Tundra at CMS four weeks ago and scored podium finishes at Atlanta Motor Speedway (second) and Kansas Speedway (third) earlier this season.
Tune In … FOX Sports 1 will have live coverage from Pocono beginning with NASCAR Raceday at 11 a.m. ET, followed by the green flag at Noon ET. Stay connected with the No. 16 Toyota Tsusho team by following @Hattori_Racing on Twitter, @hattoriracing on Instagram, and Hattori Racing Enterprises on Facebook.
Austin Hill Quote:On his outlook for Pocono Raceway:“Pocono has been one of our best racetracks over the last couple of years. (Crew chief) Scott (Zipadelli) and the guys at HRE have brought extremely fast trucks each time we’ve raced there. We sat on the pole two years ago and nearly came home with a win last year. I have a ton of confidence going to Pocono that we have what we need in our Toyota Tsusho Toyota Tundra to get the job done, because we’ve been so close before. It’d be nice to get ourselves a win before the playoffs and start getting hot at the right time of the year. It’s a really short race this week, only 60 laps, so restarts will be really wild. You’re going to have to get what you can because it’ll likely be three short runs that will decide the race. Hopefully we can make the right moves at the right times to put ourselves in position at the end of the day.”
HRE PR
