The NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series point leader, Austin Hill, is bound for Southern California to make his second NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) start of the season at Auto Club Speedway (ACS) on Saturday afternoon. Hill will be back behind the wheel of the No. 61 AISIN Group Toyota Supra for the first time since the season opener at Daytona International Speedway (DIS) two weeks ago. Saturday’s 300-miler also marks Hill’s first start in any series at ACS.
The 2020 season has started off in fine fashion for Hill and the HRE team. Despite an early exit in his first NXS start of the year at DIS, Hill has come out with a bang in the Gander Trucks. Hill finished sixth at DIS and took the point lead last weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a third-place finish. It’s the second time in his career that he has led the Gander Trucks points, and looks to parlay that early-season success into his NXS effort this weekend. He’ll look to raise the bar from his career best ninth-place finish which came in his debut last season at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Saturday’s Production Alliance Group 300 might be Hill’s first start at ACS and his debut at any venue in California, but he does have plenty of experience on two-mile speedways. ACS’ sister track, Michigan International Speedway, is a similar two-mile, D-shaped layout and was the site of one of Hill’s most impressive efforts in 2019. He has two starts on the big, two-mile speedway at MIS and scored his second Gander Trucks victory last season after leading a race-high 26 laps.
