Trackin’ Trucks: Austin Hill Wins at Michigan, Playoff Field Set

Credit: Matt Sullivan

Austin Hill won his second race of the Gander Outdoors Truck Series on Saturday, holding off Sheldon Creed in overtime at Michigan International Speedway.

Hill overcame a speeding penalty on pit road to win the last race of the regular season.

“It’s huge,” Hill said, “We’ve had a struggle these last four or five races. We just keep having issues and just can’t finish these races.”

Tyler Dippel finished third, while Brett Moffitt and Austin Wayne Self rounded out the top five.

Ross Chastain won Stage 1 of the Corrigan Oil 200. He was taken out early in the race after sustaining heavy damage to his No. 45 Chevrolet on pit road.

The Nice Motorsports driver was exiting his pit stall when Johnny Sauter and the No. 9 of Codie Rohrbaugh made contact as Rohrbaugh tried to enter his stall, which was right in front of Chastain’s.

Chastain suffered right side damage after being hit by Rohrbaugh. He finished 30th of 32 trucks.

“It was gut-wrenching, for sure,” Chastain said. “It was a shame, but that’s part of racing. They can’t all be great days. … It’s tough to lose a race with a truck like we had today.”

A multi-truck incident on a Lap 97 restart collected nine drivers, including Sauter, Matt Crafton, and Todd Gilliland. The wreck occurred after Tyler Ankrum received a push from behind by Crafton, who was in jeopardy of missing the 2019 Playoffs.
The 2019 Playoffs kick off Thursday, August 15th at Bristol Motor Speedway. Eight drivers will be competing in the post-season for the championship: Chastain, Hill, Ankrum, Sauter, regular season champion Grant Enfinger, Moffitt, Stewart Friesen and Crafton.

A Look Ahead Into The Playoffs

The Gander Outdoors Truck Series head to Bristol Motor Speedway on Thursday, August 15, 2019.

Sauter led 58 laps at the race one year ago, before winning the race ahead of Friesen.

Can he earn his second win this season? Or will another championship contender win the first race of the post-season?

Find out on August 15th during the UNOH 200 at 8:30 p.m./ET on Fox Sports 1.