Austin Hill Wins Vegas Truck Race While ThorSport Drivers Eliminated

by Ron Fleshman

Chase Stevens

ThorSport Racing teammates Grant Enfinger, Matt Crafton and Johnny Sauter being knocked out early by mechanical issues, Austin Hill overhauled Ross Chastain with 11 laps to go and drove away to a victory in the World of Westgate 200.

Enfinger and Sauter, a former series champion, failed to advance to the second playoff

He will join Hill, Chastain, Brett Moffitt, Stewart Friesen and final qualifier Tyler Ankrum for the second round of three races that will determine the four drivers who will battle for the championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November.

“This was the hardest one I had to win,” Hill said after posting his third victory of 2019, beating runner-up Chastain across the finish line by 2.1 seconds in a race that saw three of the eight playoff drivers finish among the top 10.

Former LVMS Bullring champion Justin Johnson started last in the 32-truck field and finished 23rd, seven laps down.

Unofficial Race Results for the 23rd Annual World of Westgate 200 - Sept 13, 2019
Las Vegas Motor Speedway - 1.5 - Mile Paved

Fin, Str, Driver, Trk, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 7, Austin Hill (P), No. 16 Gunma Toyopet Toyota, 134, 3, 2, 6, 29, 5, 57, Running
2) 2, Ross Chastain (P), No. 45 CarShield Chevrolet, 134, 1, 1, 10, 88, 2, 55, Running
3) 1, Christian Eckes, No. 51 SiriusXM Toyota, 134, , 6, 2, 4, , 39, Running
4) 6, Sheldon Creed #, No. 2 Chevrolet Accessories Chevrolet, 134, 6, 7, , , , 42, Running
5) 3, Todd Gilliland, No. 4 JBL Fest Toyota, 134, 5, 8, , , , 41, Running
6) 18, Brennan Poole, No. 30 Toyota, 134, 7, 5, , , , 41, Running
7) 4, Brett Moffitt (P), No. 24 CMR Construction & Roofing Chevrolet, 134, 9, 3, 3, 12, , 40, Running
8) 13, Ben Rhodes, No. 99 Havoline Ford, 134, , 4, , , , 36, Running
9) 9, Harrison Burton #, No. 18 Safelite AutoGlass Toyota, 134, 8, , , , , 31, Running
10) 17, Dylan Lupton, No. 5 DGR Crosley Toyota, 134, , , , , , 27, Running
11) 16, Tyler Ankrum # (P), No. 17 B/X Custom Designs Toyota, 134, 10, 9, , , , 29, Running
12) 15, Anthony Alfredo #, No. 15 Sim Seats Toyota, 134, , , , , , 25, Running
13) 12, Anthony Mrakovich, No. 87 Street Stores Hardware Chevrolet, 134, , , , , , 24, Running
14) 14, Jordan Anderson, No. 3 Bommarito.com/WCIParts.com Chevrolet, 134, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 23, Gus Dean #, No. 12 LG Air Conditioning Technologies Chevrolet, 133, , 10, , , , 23, Running
16) 27, Codie Rohrbaugh, No. 9 Grant County Mulch Chevrolet, 133, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 26, Austin Wayne Self, No. 22 GO TEXAN Chevrolet, 133, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 20, Spencer Davis, No. 11 All Pro Toyota, 133, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 19, Stewart Friesen (P), No. 52 Halmar International Chevrolet, 132, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 29, Spencer Boyd, No. 20 ClickAndBuyGuns.com Chevrolet, 132, , , 1, 1, , 17, Running
21) 25, Colin Garrett(i), No. 38 Wide Open Entreprenuers Chevrolet, 131, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 30, Angela Ruch, No. 44 The Ruch Life Chevrolet, 131, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 32, Justin Johnson, No. 34 RedList Toyota, 127, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 31, Jennifer Jo Cobb, No. 10 Waldo's Painting Chevrolet, 90, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 21, Natalie Decker #, No. 54 Rudebusch Development Toyota, 87, , , , , , 12, Electrical
26) 22, Tyler Dippel, No. 02 Lobas! Productions Chevrolet, 80, , , , , , 11, Engine
27) 24, Derek Kraus, No. 19 ENEOS/NAPA FILTERS Toyota, 77, , , , , , 10, Transmission
28) 28, Mason Massey IV, No. 33 Anderson Power Services Chevrolet, 63, , , , , , 9, Engine
29) 10, Johnny Sauter (P), No. 13 Tenda Heal Ford, 45, 4, , , , , 15, Engine
30) 5, Matt Crafton (P), No. 88 Fisher Nuts/Menards Ford, 39, 2, , , , , 16, Engine
31) 8, Grant Enfinger (P), No. 98 ThorSport Racing/Curb Records Ford, 6, , , , , , 6, Engine
32) 11, John Hunter Nemechek(i), No. 8 Berrys Bullets Chevrolet, 0, , , , , , 0, Fuel Pressure
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie, (P) Playoffs driver

Time of Race: 1 Hr, 47 Min, 0 Sec.
Total Race Length: 134 Laps - 201. Miles
Average Speed: 112.71 MPH
Margin of Victory: 2.116 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 45, 88, 16, 13, 4, 2, 30, 18, 24, 17

Stage 2 Top 10: 45, 16, 24, 99, 30, 51, 2, 4, 17, 12

Race Comments: Austin Hill won the World of Westgate 200 his third career NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series victory.
Prior to the start of the race the following trucks dropped to the rear under penalty for the reasons indicated: No. 9 (engine change), No.12 (unapproved adjustments), No. 24 (tire change), No. 34 (backup driver, driver change).

Failed to Qualify: (3) 04 Cory Roper, 08 Justin Johnson, 56 Tyler Hill.

Caution Flags: 6 for 32 laps;
Laps: 7-13 (Fluid on the frontstretch from No. 98 [None]);
32-36 (Stage 1 Conclusion [34]);
41-45 (Fluid on the track from No. 13 and 88 [44]);
62-67 (Stage 2 Conclusion [33]);
69-72 (Fluid on the frontstretch from No. 13 [52]);
82-86 (Fluid on the track from No. 02 [11]).

Lead Changes: 21 among 5 drivers:
C. Eckes 1-3;
R. Chastain (P) 4-12;
C. Eckes 13;
R. Chastain (P) 14-16;
A. Hill (P) 17-18;
R. Chastain (P) 19-33;
A. Hill (P) 34-45;
R. Chastain (P) 46-48;
A. Hill (P) 49;
R. Chastain (P) 50;
A. Hill (P) 51;
R. Chastain (P) 52-63;
B. Moffitt (P) 64-72;
R. Chastain (P) 73;
B. Moffitt (P) 74-75;
R. Chastain (P) 76-82;
A. Hill (P) 83;
S. Boyd 84;
R. Chastain (P) 85-86;
B. Moffitt (P) 87;
R. Chastain (P) 88-122;
A. Hill (P) 123-134.

Duralast GT Brakes 'Brake in the Race Award': Stage 1: Ross Chastain, No. 45 Stage 1
Duralast GT Brakes 'Brake in the Race Award': Stage 2: Ross Chastain, No. 45 Stage 2

Mobil 1 Driver of the Race: Austin Hill, No. 16

Ron Fleshman

RIS NASCAR Editor. Has been with RIS since the middle 90's. Writes on each of the three main series of NASCAR.