POINTS LEADER HILL LEADS TOYOTA WITH ANOTHER TOP FIVE FINISH
Austin Hill extended his streak to seven consecutive top 10 finishes to start the 2020 season
SPARTA, Ky. (June 27, 2020) – Austin Hill (fifth) and Rookie of the Year contenders Christian Eckes (sixth) and Derek Kraus (eighth) led Toyota at the rain-shortened Buckle Up In Your Truck 225 at Kentucky Speedway on Saturday evening.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series
Kentucky Speedway
Race 7 of 23 – 150 Laps, 225 Miles
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Sheldon Creed*
2nd, Ben Rhodes*
3rd, Matt Crafton*
4th, Johnny Sauter*
5th, AUSTIN HILL
6th, CHRISTIAN ECKES
9th, DEREK KRAUS
13th, RAPHAEL LESSARD
14th, SPENCER DAVIS
15th, STEWART FRIESEN
17th, BRENNAN POOLE
22nd, CHANDLER SMITH
25th, ANGELA RUCH
26th, CLAY GREENFIELD
33rd, BRYANT BARNHILL
34th, KORBIN FORRISTER
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
AUSTIN HILL, No. 16 AISIN Group Toyota Tundra, Hattori Racing Enterprises
Finishing Position: 5th
Another top five finish for you tonight, Austin. Talk about the finish.
“Coming into tonight, we tried a different package than we have ever ran in the past. Last year, we struggled here at Kentucky, and in years past they have also struggled in Kentucky as well. Coming in here we didn’t really know what we were going to have. We tried a total different setup with no practice. We just kind of swung for the fence. From my point, we were really good. We started off a little on the free side and then as the run went on through stage one, it got tight. So during the first stage break, we tried to stay in front of the race track and free it up. During that second stage, I thought we made some really good adjustments. I actually thought we had a really good shot at winning the race tonight if we could have got a little more track position. I felt like our truck could get through traffic a little bit better than most of the other trucks. All-in-all, we are consistent. I’ll take a P5 and go on to Texas and try to get a win there. I’m itching really bad for a win with how good our season has been and how good we are running each and every week. I know the wins will come. I just have to be patient. Just keep digging — keep fighting hard. Everybody on our AISIN Group Toyota Tundra did a heck of a job today coming to the track with no practice, with a brand new setup and being that fast off of the truck. It just goes to show how good everybody at HRE (Hattori Racing Enterprises) and Scott (Zipadelli, crew chief) and all the guys are at making these things really good off the trailer.”
CHRISTIAN ECKES, No. 18 Safelite Auto Glass Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Finishing Position: 6th
How was your race today?
“Finished in the sixth position today. I felt like we had a Tundra that could have contended for the win today. Obviously the 2 (Sheldon Creed) truck was good and congrats to him, he’s one of my good friends so that was cool to see. Just wish we could have fired back off. I don’t think I’ve ever been that excited to get back in my truck. Just unfortunately Mother Nature wasn’t agreeing with us. It was a good day and something we can definitely build on. We were able to minimize mistakes. The whole Safelite team did a great job and brought me a great truck. We’ll move on to Texas and it’s going to be a challenging one with the boss there, but hopefully we can go and get a win there.”
DEREK KRAUS, No. 19 ENEOS Toyota Tundra, McAnally-Hilgemann Racing
Finishing Position: 8th
You started from the back and drove all the way to the top 10. Talk about your run tonight.
“Yeah, we had a pretty good ENEOS Tundra. We started in the back and we were able to make our way up to eighth in that first stage. Then, we came in and had a good pit stop. We came out 12th and were able to get back to eighth again at the end of the second stage. We had a really good truck tonight, and I really wish we could have got going again, but coming home eighth isn’t that bad.”
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