Approaching the halfway point of the 2020 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series season, Austin Wayne Self and his AM Racing team seem to be hitting their stride in competition and head to Michigan International Speedway for Friday’s Henry Ford Health System 200 on the heels of a season-best 13th place finish two weeks ago.
Self and crew chief Eddie Troconis will look to deliver their fifth straight top-20 or third top-15 effort in the last five races after delivering 17th and 13th place finishes in the series’ most recent doubleheader weekend at Kansas Speedway.
Showcasing speed in their No. 22 GO TEXAN | AM Technical Solutions Chevrolet, Self returns to the Irish Hills of Michigan hoping that the team continues to make gains for the final 13 races of the season.
“I feel very confident about the direction of our AM Racing team right now,” said Self who has climbed from 21st to 17th in the championship standings over the past month. “We had steadily made some gains at the race track – but over the last three races, we seem to have found something that is working.
“Not having any practice or qualifying is really tough – especially for a small team like us, but after the last few races I feel like we can go to Michigan this weekend and fight for our first top-10 finish of the year.”
Statistically, the two-mile oval of Michigan has been incredibly kind to the Austin, Tex. native, including last August when Self earned a top-five finish after starting 23rd.
Knowing that practice and qualifying won’t be in play for Friday’s race, Self hopes that his team can utilize the notes from last year as a starting point to launch with speed and finesse.
“The race at Michigan last year was crazy,” recalled Self. “There was a lot of drafting and blocking, but we had a fast truck. That was helpful. I really feel like that if things can go our way – we can repeat our effort.”
In four prior Michigan Truck Series starts, Self has never finished worse than 16th and carries an average finish of 11.8 from 2016 to 2019.
He also has two prior starts in the ARCA Menards Series with a third-place result in 2015 and two top-10 finishes overall.
“Michigan is a fun place to race because there’s a lot of room,” Self said. “Restarts are so important because it’s an opportunity to make up ground – but if you can work the draft to your advantage too, it opens the door to pass too.
“Last year’s race was almost like a crapshoot too. If that happens again this year, it could open the door to steal a win and make it into the Playoffs. That would be so big for this team. We’ll just go to the track and fight hard like we always do.”
Don’t mess with Texas, CForce Bottling Company, Flying Circle, Kreuz Market and Prasek’s will serve as associate partners in the 11th race of the year.
In 94 NGROTS races, the 2014 ARCA Menards Series Rookie of the Year has two top-fives (second at Daytona 2017, fifth at Michigan 2019) and seven top-10 finishes. The Texan maintains an average finish of 18.4 during his five years of competition.
The Austin, Texas native is nestled 17th in the championship standings with 13 races remaining.
For more on Austin Wayne Self, please visit awsracing.com, like his Facebook page (Austin Wayne Self) or follow him on Twitter @AustinWSelf.
For more on AM Racing, please visit AMRacingteam.com, like their Facebook page (AM Racing) or follow them on Twitter @AMRacingNASCAR.
Show your GO TEXAN pride: find Texas products, restaurants or enroll your business in GO TEXAN.
For more information on Don’t mess with Texas and how you can become involved in the program, visit dontmesswithtexas.org.
For more on Flying Circle, please visit flyingcirclegear.com, like them on Facebook (FlyingCircleGear) and follow them on Instagram (@flyingcirclegear) and Twitter (@flyingcircle_). Also, connect with Flying Circle on Pinterest and YouTube.
Visit JB Henderson Construction online at jbhenderson.com.
For additional information on CForce premium artesian water, please visit cforce.com.
For more on Kreuz Market, please visit kreuzmarket.com. like them on Facebook (KreuzMarketLockhart) and follow them on Twitter (@kreuzmarket).
To learn more about Prasek’s and what they offer, please visit praseks.com.
The Henry Ford Health System 200 (100 laps| 200 miles) is the 11th of 23 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series races on the 2020 schedule. The 38-truck field will take the green flag on Fri., Aug. 7, 2020 shortly after 6:00 p.m. with live coverage on FOX Sports 1 (FS1), the Motor Racing Network (Radio) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Satellite Radio, Channel 90). All times are local (Eastern).
AM Racing PR
