Darlington Debut … Austin Hill will take on the storied banks of Darlington Raceway on Sunday afternoon with two races remaining before the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series playoffs begin. The driver of the No. 16 Gunma Toyopet Toyota Tundra will dance with “The Lady in Black” for the first time in his Gander Trucks career as the series returns to NASCAR’s oldest superspeedway for the first time since 2011. While most of the field will have little to no experience at Darlington, Hill will have 200 miles under his belt on Sunday as he will be pulling double duty in the NASCAR Xfinity Series on Saturday afternoon behind the wheel of the No. 61 Toyota Tsusho Toyota Supra.
Push for the Playoffs … Hill continues to lead the championship standings by 28 points and can officially clinch the regular season title if he leaves Darlington with a 61-point lead. The regular season crown pays out a bonus of 15 playoff points that would aid Hill’s championship pursuit. He enters the track “Too Tough Too Tame” on the strength of a relentless third-place finish at World Wide Technology Raceway last Sunday, and has three consecutive top-10 finishes. Hill and the Gunma Toyopet team have continued to their push for the playoffs with five finishes of eighth or better in the last six events.
Season to Date … No other driver on the Gander Trucks circuit has built as consistent of a season at Hill. The current point leader has scored top-five finishes in half of the events this season, seven in 14 races, and has top-10 finishes in 12 of those 14 events. His average finish (7.1) and average running position (7.0) are two positions better than any other series regular and are in indicator of the No. 16 team’s strong performance through the duration of the season.
Chassis Selection … For the first time in over a year, crew chief Scott Zipadelli and the HRE team have prepared chassis No. 008 for Hill’s Darlington debut. Hill most recently drove this Toyota Tundra to a 10th-place finish in the playoff opener at Bristol Motor Speedway last August. Chassis No. 008 competed seven times in 2019 and had a best finish of fourth at Kansas Speedway.
Tune In … The Gander Trucks’ return to Darlington Raceway will be televised live on FOX Sports 1 at 2:00 p.m. ET, and will be preceded by NASCAR Raceday at 1:30 p.m. ET. on FS1. Stay updated with Hill and the No. 16 team by following @Hattori_Racing on Twitter, Hattori Racing Enterprises on Facebook, and @hattoriracing on Instagram.
Austin Hill Quote:On the Gander Trucks’ return to Darlington Raceway:“It’ll be interesting for sure. Being able to race at Darlington is a nice surprise this year. There’s tons of history and it’ll be a big challenge to figure out what we need in our Gunma Toyopet Tundra throughout the day. It’s so different from any other place we go. The entry and exit in turns one and two are really sharp and you need to have a good handling truck to turn down the hill and through the bumps in turn two with some speed. The surface is really abrasive and similar to some other high wear places like Atlanta and Homestead. We’ve been really strong at those style racetracks, so I’m looking forward to the challenge and hopefully we can put ourselves in position to get another win before the playoffs start. Last week was a great effort by our entire team to keep improving on our truck throughout the day, so we’ll be ready to fight hard all afternoon on Sunday too.”
