Hill Closes Successful “Sin City” Weekend with 17th at LVMS

Austin Hill wrapped up his double header weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS) with a 17^th-place finish in his fifth NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) appearance this season. The result capped off his fourth double duty weekend of the season which included a victory in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series on Friday night.

 

The driver of the No. 61 Weins Canada Toyota Supra began the Alsco 300 from the 29^th position and quickly moved up the running order. He advanced to 15^th by lap 14, but brought out a caution with a solo spin in Turn 2 on lap 19. No harm was done to the Weins Canada Supra, but Hill was forced to pit road for four fresh tires under the yellow which put him at a tire disadvantage for the remainder of the event.

 

After Hill drove from 28^th to 16^th before the end of Stage 1 on lap 45, crew chief Scott Zipadelli and team elected to put the original set of tires on for Stage 2. This was an effort to even themselves with the rest of the field on future tire strategy. Despite the wise strategy play, Hill was forced to pit under green on lap 68 with a vibration. He returned to the track in 28^th, two laps off the lead lap, but continued to fight to rejoin the lead lap.

 

Hill took advantage of the wave around to regain a lap for restart on lap 97. He restarted 28^th and advanced to 22^nd before pitting on lap 123 under green for four tires and a track bar adjustment. While Hill battled a loose condition on corner entry, he clicked off solid laps during a round of green flag pit stops which cycled him back into 19^th position by lap 153. A fortuitous caution on lap 156 allowed Hill to pit for his final set of fresh tires to be on even ground versus the rest of the field. He continued to battle for position during the final 40 laps and took the 17^th position on the race’s final restart on lap 192. He held serve during the last nine laps to claim the 17^th spot at the checkered flag, the first car one lap down.

 

“We fought for every spot we could today, but the early spin put us behind a little bit on tire strategies and were basically down a set to the field. Scott and the guys on this Weins Canada Supra did a good job making adjustments throughout the day, but we were just too loose most of the race. We definitely learned a lot and can make our Supras better with everything from today and can hopefully apply it for when we come back at Kansas in a few weeks. Overall, it was a great weekend with getting the win in the truck and everything we did today will help us going forward on our Xfinity program.”

 

HRE PR