TIRE ISSUES, PIT ROAD PENALTIES AND LATE RACE WRECK DERAILS HILL’S RUN AT VEGAS
 

Austin Hill made his second career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) start at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway Friday night. After two practice sessions, the Winton, Ga., native qualified 16th. Throughout the 134-lap World of Westgate 200, Hill overcame tire issues and a pit road penalty, but he was ultimately involved in a multi-truck accident on the second overtime restart that ended his night and resulted in a 23rd-place finish.
 
STAGE 1 RECAP: 

• Started Stage 1: P16
• Finished Stage 1: P24

Hill started the 134-lap World of Wingate 200 from the outside of Row 8. There was only one caution in the opening stage, for Hill’s teammate blowing a tire on lap four, and Hill went on to finish Stage 1 in 24th.
 
STAGE 2 RECAP: 

• Started Stage 2: P25
• Finished Stage 2: P14

Crew chief Chad Kendrick called Hill to pit road on lap 33 for four tires, fuel and adjustments to help aid tight conditions on the Young’s Building Systems No. 02 that Hill reported at the end of Stage 1. On lap 37, he restarted from the 25th position and survived one caution on lap 45 and advanced 11 positions to finish Stage 2 in 14th.
 
STAGE 3 RECAP: 

• Started Stage 3: P14
• Finished Stage 3: P23 

The pilot of the No. 02 Chevrolet came to pit road on lap 63 for four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment and restarted the final stage from 14th. On lap 82, Hill reported he had a tire going down, luckily the caution was displayed the following lap and Hill came to pit road on lap 84 for four tires and fuel. He returned two laps later for some adjustments and to check the right side of the Young’s Building Systems No. 02 where the tire went down. Unfortunately, the team was hit with a pit road penalty for a crew member going over the wall too soon and he restarted from the tail end of the longest line. On lap 89, Hill restarted in 25th and climbed to 17th with 40 laps remaining. During a flurry of cautions in the closing laps, Hill returned to pit road for more adjustments to the No. 02 Chevrolet and restarted 13th on the green-white-checkered restart. The caution was displayed again. Hill came to pit road for a new right front tire and restarted 21st for the second overtime restart. Unfortunately, he was involved in a multi-truck accident on the front stretch during the restart, relegating him to a 23rd-place finish.

Tanner Thorson made his fifth-career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start this past Friday in the World of Westgate 200. The Minden, Nev., native ran his first laps on the 1.5-mile circuit in two practice sessions on Thursday and made the second round of qualifying to start 11th for the 134-lap race at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway. Unfortunately, Thorson blew a tire ending his day, resulting in a 32nd-place finish.
 
STAGE 1 RECAP:

• Started Stage 1: P11
• Finished Stage 1: P32 

Thorson started the World of Westgate 200 from the inside of Row 6 and was running just outside of the top-10 when the right front tire blew on the GoShare.co No. 20 Chevrolet Silverado, sending him into the outside wall. Thorson came to a stop near the entrance of pit road and climbed from the cockpit as the tire had caught fire, ending his day. He was treated and released from the infield care center and relegated to a 32nd-place finish.