Austin Wayne Self’s string of bad luck continued after finishing a disappointing 27th in Thursday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) Buckle Up In Your Truck 225 from Kentucky Speedway.
Self, making his first career NCWTS start at Kentucky Speedway, had a strong Toyota yet was unable to complete the scheduled 150-lap event, after a fierce three-wide battle on lap-45 ended with the air being taken off the nose of Self’s truck, getting him loose and into the outside wall. At the time, the twenty-year old Self, who started from the twenty-third position, was battling the No.98 of Rico Abreu for the 17th spot.
After sustaining right front-side damage to his No.22 AM Technical Solutions Toyota, Self would pit for repairs. Hopeful, the crew jumped into action to access the damage all while attempting to keep Self on the lead lap. As Self exited pit road with intentions to return, it became obvious the damage sustained during the accident was more than just cosmetic. Under caution and circling the 1.5 mile newly repaved Kentucky track Self severed an oil line causing the rookie driver to bring his Toyota behind the wall for more attention.
After losing 31-laps making repairs Self was able to re-fire the engine and return to action hoping to salvage as much as possible. Limping his crippled Toyota around the track Self would eventually succumb to transmission failure while in the 27th position.
“I am disappointed with our finish tonight at Kentucky Speedway. We got into an accident on lap 45 where we severed an oil line. My entire AM Racing team worked really hard to get us back out there and gain some positions on the track.”
“We had a solid run going there, picked up 8 positions. I hate that we weren’t able to run the whole race and bring the AM Technical Solutions Toyota home with a good finish tonight.” Despite the lackluster finish the AM Racing team walked away with their heads held high – knowing their efforts will soon pay dividends.
“These guys don’t evet quit. When things went bad they kicked into another gear and got me back out on the track when all seemed lost. Everyone takes a lot of pride in what we do. We had a great truck tonight – but our night just got spoiled due to hard racing and some bad luck.”
AM Racing PR
