Austin Hill Lasts at Knoxville Truck Race

Austin Hill celebrates his first win on dirt

(KNOXVILLE, IA – JULY 9, 2021 – RIS) After four overtime restarts at Knoxville Raceway's Corn Belt 150 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series dirt track race, Austin Hill earned his first win on a dirt track, edging ahead of Chandler Smith just before the final yellow flag flew and driving away to the win over rookie Chandler Smith by 1.207 second.

Hill said after the race that he "thought we were out of it there on that restart when I was on the outside of the 38 (Todd Gilliland) and I fell back to like 20th and I didn't think we were going to make it back up. Track position was huge and it was really hard to get around people. You had to kind of rough them up to get around them. I just kept my head down. This team and everybody at HRE (Hattori Racing Enterprises), they never quit and that's the thing I love about this group. We don't stop, we don't quit – even when we think we're down and out, we just keep coming back. If you would have told me that we would win a dirt race this year, I would have told you that you were lying."

A disappointed Chandler Smith commented on the final restart: "I don't think the call was right (at the end with regard to line-up) that they (NASCAR) made to be honest, but it is what it is and that's part of it."

The race finished with 29 laps over the scheduled 150, thanks to multiple restarts for late race incidents, at an average speed, counting red flag periods, of only 36.8 mph.

Unofficial Results: Inaugural Corn Belt 150 Presented by Premier Chevy Dealers at Knoxville Raceway, July 9, 2021

Fin, St, Driver, Trk, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 13, Austin Hill, No. 16 Toyota Mobility Parts/Tochigi/Fukishima Toyota, 179, 10, , 2, 11, 5, 41, Running
2) 10, Chandler Smith #, No. 18 JBL Toyota, 179, 9, , 7, 71, , 37, Running
3) 26, Grant Enfinger, No. 98 Champion/Curb Records Toyota, 179, , 5, , , , 40, Running
4) 3, Todd Gilliland, No. 38 Frontline Enterprises Inc. Ford, 179, 2, 3, 2, 61, , 50, Running
5) 1, Derek Kraus, No. 19 NAPA Power Premium Plus Toyota, 179, 1, 1, 3, 10, 2, 52, Running
6) 9, Matt Crafton, No. 88 Ideal Door/Menards Toyota, 179, , 4, 1, 1, , 38, Running
7) 18, Ben Rhodes, No. 99 Bombardier LearJet 75 Toyota, 179, , 10, , , , 31, Running
8) 15, Brian Brown, No. 51 Casey's/Rowdy Energy Toyota, 179, , , , , , 29, Running
9) 28, Tate Fogleman, No. 12 Basin Pump Down Services Chevrolet, 179, , , , , , 28, Running
10) 23, Danny Bohn, No. 30 North American Motor Car Toyota, 179, , , , , , 27, Running
11) 37, John Hunter Nemechek, No. 4 Mobil 1 Toyota, 179, , 7, , , , 30, Running
12) 34, Jake Griffin, No. 34 Great Escapes RV Center Chevrolet, 179, , , , , , 25, Running
13) 31, Ryan Truex, No. 40 Niece/Marquis Chevrolet, 179, , , , , , 24, Running
14) 14, Zane Smith, No. 21 Tender Bison Chevrolet, 179, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 32, Chris Windom(i), No. 02 TMC Chevrolet, 179, , , , , , 0, Running
16) 5, Carson Hocevar #, No. 42 Premier Security Chevrolet, 179, 4, 2, 5, 17, , 37, Running
17) 2, Tyler Ankrum, No. 26 LiUNA! Chevrolet, 179, 5, , , , , 26, Running
18) 39, Devon Rouse, No. 33 Camping World Chevrolet, 179, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 36, Norm Benning, No. 6 MDS A Sign Co Chevrolet, 179, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 6, Johnny Sauter, No. 13 FarmPaint.com Toyota, 179, , , 1, 8, , 17, Running
21) 4, Hailie Deegan #, No. 1 Toter/Engine Ice Ford, 179, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 24, Cody Erickson, No. 41 Magnum Contracting Inc. Chevrolet, 177, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 8, Kyle Strickler, No. 20 Crowe Equipment Chevrolet, 177, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 29, Andrew Gordon, No. 49 Staar Trucking Toyota, 177, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 40, Jennifer Jo Cobb, No. 10 Fastener Supply Company Chevrolet, 176, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 25, Jessica Friesen, No. 62 Halmar International Toyota, 175, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 19, Stewart Friesen, No. 52 Halmar International Toyota, 170, 7, , , , , 14, Running
28) 11, Josh Berry(i), No. 25 Rackley Roofing Chevrolet, 163, 3, 8, , , , 0, Accident
29) 7, Parker Price-Miller, No. 3 Townline Variety Chevrolet, 160, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 21, Austin Wayne Self, No. 22 GOTEXAN/AM Technical Solutions Chevrolet, 159, , , , , , 7, Accident
31) 27, Tanner Gray, No. 15 Ford Performance Ford, 153, , , , , , 6, Accident
32) 22, Donny Schatz, No. 17 Little Giant Ford Ford, 153, , 9, , , , 7, Accident
33) 30, Chase Purdy #, No. 23 BamaBuggies.com Chevrolet, 153, , , , , , 4, Accident
34) 38, Codie Rohrbaugh, No. 9 Grant County Mulch Chevrolet, 153, , , , , , 3, Accident
35) 16, Sheldon Creed, No. 2 Liftkits4less.com Chevrolet, 153, 6, , , , , 7, Accident
36) 12, Chase Briscoe(i), No. 04 CircleBDiecast.com Ford, 153, , , , , , 0, Accident
37) 33, Jett Noland, No. 45 Hype Motorsports Chevrolet, 151, , , , , , 1, Accident
38) 17, Brett Moffitt(i), No. 37 Concrete Supply/Destiny Homes Chevrolet, 139, 8, 6, , , , 0, Accident
39) 20, Jack Wood, No. 24 Chevy Accessories Chevrolet, 91, , , , , , 1, Accident
40) 35, Morgan Alexander, No. 44 Geneva Farms Chevrolet, 63, , , , , , 1, Accident
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 25 Mins, 55 Secs.
Race Length: 179 Laps, 89.5 Miles
Average Speed: 36.802 MPH
Margin of Victory: 1.207 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 19, 38, 25, 42, 26, 2, 52, 37, 18, 16
Stage 2 Top 10: 19, 42, 38, 88, 98, 37, 4, 25, 17, 99

Comments: Austin Hill won the Inaugural Corn Belt 150 Presented by Premier Chevy Dealers at Knoxville Raceway, his seventh victory in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

Prior to the start, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: Nos. 4 (backup), 02 (driver change).

Caution Flags: 14 for 80 laps;
Laps: 17-20 (#13 Spin Turn 4 [None]);
32-36 (#51 Spin Turn 3 [None]);
39-41 (#62 Spin Turn 2/Stage 1 Conclusion [41]);
66-72 (#19, 62, 44, 99 Incident Turn 3 [None]);
88-91 (#51 Spin Turn 4/Stage 2 Conclusion [6]);
93-100 (#3, 24 Incident Turn 4 [33]);
107-111 (#19 Spin Turn 4 [51]);
117-121 (#40, 52 Incident Turn 4 [51]);
131-136 (#02 Flat Tire Turn 2 [19]);
140-145 (#37 Spin Turn 4 [99]);
148-153 (#4, 2, 1, 13, 45 Incident Turn 2 [41]);
155-159 (#9, 15, 1, 6, 25, 26, 21, 41, 23, 04, 6, 34, 17, 2, 45, 02, 34 Incident Turn 1 [Red Flag 14:16] [40]);
161-170 (#22, 20, 40 Incident Turn 1 [02]);
172-177 (#52, 26, 21, 13 Incident Turn 1 [02]).

Lead Changes (20 among seven drivers)
#, Trk, From, To, Tot.
Pole,
 No. 19 Derek Kraus, 1, 2, 2
1)      No. 13 Johnny Sauter, 3, 10, 8
2)      No. 42 Carson Hocevar #, 11, 21, 11
3)      No. 38 Todd Gilliland, 22, 36, 15
4)      No. 19 Derek Kraus, 37, 40, 4
5)      No. 38 Todd Gilliland, 41, 86, 46
6)      No. 19 Derek Kraus, 87, 90, 4
7)      No. 18 Chandler Smith #, 91, 99, 9
8)      No. 42 Carson Hocevar #, 100, 101, 2
9)      No. 18 Chandler Smith #, 102, 110, 9
10)    No. 42 Carson Hocevar #, 111, 111, 1
11)    No. 18 Chandler Smith #, 112, 120, 9
12)    No. 42 Carson Hocevar #, 121, 122, 2
13)    No. 18 Chandler Smith #, 123, 135, 13
14)    No. 88 Matt Crafton, 136, 136, 1
15)    No. 18 Chandler Smith #, 137, 144, 8
16)    No. 42 Carson Hocevar #, 145, 145, 1
17)    No. 18 Chandler Smith #, 146, 148, 3
18)    No. 16 Austin Hill, 149, 149, 1
19)    No. 18 Chandler Smith #, 150, 169, 20
20)    No. 16 Austin Hill, 170, 179, 10

Cometic Gasket Pole Award:  Derek Kraus, #19 

Mobil 1 Driver of the Race:  Austin Hill, #16 

Sunoco Rookie of the Race:  Chandler Smith, #18 

John Davison

Long-time RIS staffer, beginning in the mid-80s. Charlotte, NC area local contact.

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Volume 2021, Issue 7, Posted 1:21 AM, 07.10.2021