Augie Grill
No. 4 Turner Motorsports Chevrolet
Iowa Speedway – American Ethanol 200 presented by Hy-Vee – September 15, 2012
In his first career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) start, Augie Grill overcame adversity again and again, facing an early spin and truck damage from hard side-by-side racing. Despite going several laps down near the beginning of the 200-lap event when a competitor forced him into the wall, Grill and the No. 4 Turner Motorsports team never gave up, but were ultimately relegated to a 27th-place finish.
With the 13th-fastest truck in both first and final practice, Grill qualified 20th for the American Ethanol 200 presented by Hy-Vee. After taking the green flag, the NCWTS rookie began to chip away at track position, working his way into 16th before contact with another truck on lap 36 sent him spinning through the frontstretch grass. Grill managed to save the truck and avoid any consequential damage, and crew chief Mike Hillman Jr. called him into the pits to take four fresh tires.
Despite the early setback, Grill once again made progress on the racetrack, racing from 23rd into 11th by lap 62. Close to breaking into the top-10, Grill and the No. 4 team were sidelined when another competitor failed to clear him on lap 69, pushing the Chevrolet Silverado into the outside wall and causing serious body damage and a blown tire. Grill brought his Turner Motorsports truck to pit road, and his crew quickly went to work repairing the damage and replacing four Goodyear tires over the course of two pit stops. While servicing their truck, the team learned that the sway bar had been damaged in the wreck as well, and they set to work preparing to fix it in their next opportunity to visit pit road.
Grill restarted 24th on lap 75, and a caution on lap 96 provided the team a chance to repair the sway bar. Hillman Jr. made the call to be cautious in thoroughly making the repair, sacrificing laps on the track in the sake of safety. Grill returned to the racetrack in 28th and five laps down, but able to continue making solid laps and gaining experience on the racetrack. Grill picked up four positions as other competitors fell out of the event, but was ultimately forced to retire from the event eight laps before the checkered flag due to issues under the hood, resulting in a 27th-place finish.
“This wasn’t the way we wanted our night to go, but I can’t thank Turner Motorsports enough for the chance to drive for them this weekend. I came into this race determined to make the most of this opportunity, and even though it may not show in the race results, I gained a lot of experience and had some fun out there. The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is extremely competitive racing, and I’m really glad I got to go out there, race against these guys and work with Hillman [Jr.] and this great No. 4 crew.”
First Practice
Position: 13th
Laps: 70
Fastest Lap: 23.493
Final Practice
Position: 13th
Laps: 45
Fastest Lap: 23.493
Qualifying
Position: 20th
Fastest Lap: 23.496
Race
Position: 27th
Laps Completed/Total Laps: 188/200
