FORT WORTH, Texas – Just days after being announced as a full-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) driver for Niece Motorsports next season, Austin Wayne Self (@AustinWSelf) heads to Texas Motor Speedway for this Friday night’s JAG Metals 350 with confidence on his side.
Self, a native of Austin, Texas is hoping that confidence carries from the garage to inside his No. 45 United Sorghum Checkoff Program / Don’t Mess with Texas Chevrolet.
“I’ve been waiting to get back to Texas Motor Speedway,” said Self. “We had a really good truck there in the Spring and got tangled in a last lap accident and finished 12th. I wasn’t sure what kind of race that new asphalt would permit, but it really turned into a fun and competitive race.
“For me, there’s a lot of good things happening and I’d like to go back to Texas and finish what we started and see if we can get our Niece Motorsports Chevrolet inside the top-10 at the end of the night.”
Feeling confident about his race truck for the penultimate intermediate track of the season, Self is proud to bring a new marketing partner to his Truck Series team for the 147-lap race.
The Texas Grain Sorghum Board and the United Sorghum Checkoff Program will serve as the primary marketing partners for Self’s fourth trip to Texas Motor Speedway.
In the ethanol industry, the United Sorghum Checkoff Program is focusing on developing direct awareness of the benefits of using sorghum as a fuel and feedstock.
Renewable fuel, which includes ethanol, serves as the foundation of demand for the sorghum industry. Ethanol producers typically use about one-third (approximately 120 million bushels) of the sorghum crop to produce clean-burning, high octane fuel.
The Sorghum Checkoff’s renewables program is focused on expanding and developing opportunities for sorghum growers within the renewables space through a combination of research and market development.
Last year, sorghum was planted across about 1.9 million acres in Texas with millions of bushels harvested. Texas was second in the top-five sorghum-producing states in 2016.
“As we work harder to provide a healthier environment, I’m proud to have the support of the United Sorghum Checkoff Program and the Texas Grain Sorghum Board for Friday night’s race at Texas,” said Self.
“They are doing so much to help fuel America by creating jobs and trying to preserve the world we live in, along with its resources, for future generations to come. I plan to try to educate my fans as much as possible, so they know just how much sorghum has been an influence to make ethanol a clean-burning, high octane fuel and its connection to NASCAR.
“I’ve learned a lot the last few weeks and I never realized all of the uses for sorghum. I’m especially impressed that sorghum uses 1/3 less water and produces the same amount of ethanol per gallon compared to other ethanol producing plants.
“It’s all very neat and I look forward to promoting its use.”
Knowing that under the right circumstances, Friday night’s Truck race has the opportunity to become a fuel mileage race – his new association puts everything into perspective.
“You never know what kind of race you’re going to get at Texas,” said Self. “You can have a fast-paced race with hardly any cautions or you can have a very active race where cautions wave frequently.
“It’s anyone’s guess.”
Looking for his fourth career top-10 finish in Truck Series competition, Self says it’s important to stay in the spotlight, especially at his hometown race.
“In a way, this is like my Daytona 500,” he explained. “We have a bunch of guests, friends and marketing partners who come to the track and root for us. I’m very fortunate to have a great group of Texas-based marketing partners who would like to see us deliver a top-10 run, and believe me that’s on our agenda!”
In addition to The Texas Grain Sorghum Board, Don’t Mess with Texas, AM Technical Solutions, GO TEXAN, B&D Industries Inc., Superior Essex and Accu-Tech will serve as associate marketing partners for Self’s 38th career NCWTS race.
In 15 races this season driving for AM Racing, Martins Motorsports and Niece Motorsports, Self earned a career-best second place performance in the season-opening NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway and earned an additional top-10 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, both finishes driving for AM Racing. Overall, Self has earned one top-five, two top-10, seven top-15 and 11 top-20 finishes respectively.
The JAG Metals 350 (147 laps / 220.5 miles) is the 21st of 23 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races on the 2017 schedule. Practice begins on Thurs., Nov. 2 from 2:00 p.m. – 2:55 p.m., with a final practice session set for 4:00 p.m. – 4:55 p.m. Qualifying is set for race day, Nov. 3 beginning at 3:00 p.m. The 32-truck field will take the green flag shortly after 7:00 p.m. with live coverage on FOX Sports 1 (FS1), the Motor Racing Network (Radio) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Satellite Radio, Channel 90). All times are Central (CT).
To learn about the Texas Grain Sorghum Board and the United Sorghum Checkoff Program and its benefits, please visit sorghumcheckoff.com
For more information on Don’t mess with Texas and how you can become involved in the program, visit dontmesswithtexas.org.
For more on Niece Motorsports, please visit niecemotorsports.com.
To learn more information on AM Racing please visit amracingteam.com.
For more on Austin Wayne Self and AM Racing, please visit awsracing.com, like his Facebook page (Austin Wayne Self) or follow him on Twitter @AustinWSelf.
About Don’t mess with Texas:
TxDOT’s Don’t mess with Texas litter prevention campaign has been educating Texans about litter prevention since 1986. For more information, visit dontmesswithtexas.org. Don’t mess with Texas is a registered trademark and service mark owned by the Texas Department of Transportation.
About the Texas Grain Sorghum Board and The United Sorghum Checkoff Program:
In the ethanol industry, the United Sorghum Checkoff Program is focusing on developing direct awareness of the benefits of using sorghum as a fuel and feedstock.
Sorghum is truly a versatile crop that can be grown as a grain, forage or sweet crop. The United States is the world’s largest producer of grain sorghum, having produced 480 million bushels in 2016.
The United Sorghum Checkoff Program commits to efficiently invest checkoff dollars to increase producer profitability and enhance the sorghum industry.
About Niece Equipment:
For over 30 years, Niece Equipment has provided clients with reliable products at competitive prices. Their reputation is built on service, integrity and dependability.
Each of their water and fuel/lube trucks are engineered with quality and durability in mind. Niece Equipment’s capability ranges from 2,000 gallon water trucks to 12,000 gallon water towers. The fuel/lube trucks they offer range from 600 to 4,000 gallons.
Niece Equipment has three locations in Fort Scott, Kansas, Irving, Tex. and Buda, Tex.
