Gracie Trotter Makes History with Las Vegas Bullring Victory

Gracie Trotter makes history with a Las Vegas Bullring victory in the ARCA Menards Series West General Tire 150 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Photo by Miranda Alam/ARCA Racing

Gracie Trotter makes history with a Las Vegas Bullring victory in the ARCA Menards Series West General Tire 150 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

 It only took 12 races for Gracie Trotter to etch her name in the history books.

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Hill Wins in Las Vegas and Earns a Spot in Next Round of Playoffs

Austin Hill wins in Las Vegas for the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series World of Westgate 200 on Friday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – SEPTEMBER 25: Austin Hill, driver of the No. 16 Weins Canada Toyota, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series World of Westgate 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on September 25, 2020, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Hill wins in Las Vegas for the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series World of Westgate 200 on Friday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Austin Hill rebounded Friday night, using a great final restart to earn the Playoff win in the World of Westgate 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Hill, who started 11th, reminded his NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoor Truck Series competitors there’s a reason he won the regular-season title.

Taking the lead for good on a restart with 39 laps remaining, Hill was jumping out ahead of the night’s most dominant driver Sheldon Creed. Creed led a race-best 89 of the 134 laps, ultimately finishing runner-up by 0.546-seconds.

The Rest of the Best

Tanner Gray finished third, followed by Stewart Friesen and Chandler Smith. Grant Enfinger, Zane Smith, Christian Eckes, Matt Crafton, and Tyler Ankrum – all Playoff drivers – to round out the top-ten.

“I was probably looking in my mirror more than I was looking out front,” Hill conceded of keeping Creed behind. “I knew he was better than we were and I knew I was going to have to protect.

“We didn’t have the best truck tonight, by no means,” Hill added. “We had to fight a lot of adversity in Stages One and Two. We weren’t good at all and [crew chief] Scott [Zipadelli] and the guys kept working on it and got better and better.

“The pit crew did a hell of a job on that last pit stop getting me in position I needed and I just had to go out there and get it and that’s what we did.”

With 11 laps remaining and Creed trying valiantly to catch Hill, his No. 2 GMS Racing Chevy truck hit the outside wall. In his effort, Creed was dropping to inside a second of catching Hill, but in the process, was falling to more than a second behind. Yet he was turning in an amazing push in the final laps to keep Hill honest.

Hill Wins in Las Vegas

Hill’s win in Las Vegas marks the second victory of the season for the 26-year old Georgia-native Hill and matched his Playoff win at Las Vegas last year. Most importantly, it gives Hill the automatic berth in the next round of the 2020 Playoffs. Entering the Las Vegas race, Hill was ranked eighth of the ten Playoff drivers – the final transfer position after a rare non-top-ten finish (25th) in last week’s Bristol Playoff opener.

Hill’s victory was that much sweeter for his team since his No. 16 Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota truck carried a very special name for NASCAR’s ‘Honor a Cancer Hero’ weekend. Hill’s truck honored ‘Torie Costa’ Zipadelli’s 20-year old daughter, who passed away from cancer in 2015.

Sheldon Creed Finds the Positive with Stage Wins

Taking away some positives from the night, despite Creed’s heart-breaking ending. he swept both stages by winning, besting Brett Moffitt in Stage 1 and Zane Smith in Stage 2 by a dominating four-second advantage. The effort gave Creed seven stage wins on the season – most in the series.

“Just frustrating, the best truck I’ve had all year and best truck I’ve had at this race track,” Creed said, disappointedly explaining his night. “We’re all racing hard. We’re in the playoffs, can’t really complain, that’s racing. Fought hard, back to second.”

The Playoff Contenders

As for the other Playoff eligible drivers, Todd Gilliland finished 14th, Brett Moffitt was 15th and Ben Rhodes – who spun out and brought out one of the race’s five caution periods, was 23rd.

The Playoff standings now show Hill with an automatic berth into the second round. Creed is ranked second, followed by Moffitt, Smith, Ankrum, and Eckes. With his tough night, Rhodes dropped to ninth place – six points behind Eckes with one race remaining to set the eight-driver second-round field. Gilliland is 10th – 19 points behind Eckes.

NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Point Standings

Action Sports and IndyCar Crossover

Along with the championship intrigue, the race featured a pair of new entrants – action sports star and former NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Travis Pastrana and IndyCar driver Conor Daly ran NEICE Motorsports trucks. The idea was taking a fierce iRacing competition between the two into ‘real life.’

This round went to Daly, with a finish of 18th in his NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series debut. Unfortunately for Pastrana he suffered a couple of early race setbacks, going down a lap at one point and was able to rally to a 21st place finish.

Up Next

The next race – and final first round competition – is the Talladega 250 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on Saturday.

NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Race – 24th Annual World of Westgate 200

Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Las Vegas, Nevada

Friday, September 25, 2020

               1. (11)  Austin Hill (P), Toyota, 134.

               2. (4)  Sheldon Creed (P), Chevrolet, 134.

               3. (12)  Tanner Gray #, Ford, 134.

               4. (17)  Stewart Friesen, Toyota, 134.

               5. (5)  Chandler Smith, Toyota, 134.

               6. (3)  Grant Enfinger (P), Ford, 134.

               7. (7)  Zane Smith # (P), Chevrolet, 134.

               8. (9)  Christian Eckes # (P), Toyota, 134.

               9. (6)  Matt Crafton (P), Ford, 134.

               10. (2)  Tyler Ankrum (P), Chevrolet, 134.

               11. (13)  Johnny Sauter, Ford, 134.

               12. (23)  Ryan Truex, Chevrolet, 134.

               13. (10)  Todd Gilliland (P), Ford, 134.

               14. (34)  Dylan Lupton, Ford, 134.

               15. (1)  Brett Moffitt (P), Chevrolet, 134.

               16. (18)  Tate Fogleman #, Chevrolet, 134.

               17. (26)  Tyler Hill, Chevrolet, 134.

               18. (27)  Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 133.

               19. (32)  Spencer Davis, Toyota, 133.

               20. (15)  Raphael Lessard #, Toyota, 133.

               21. (29)  Travis Pastrana, Chevrolet, 133.

               22. (21)  Clay Greenfield, Toyota, 133.

               23. (8)  Ben Rhodes (P), Ford, 132.

               24. (25)  Austin Wayne Self, Chevrolet, 132.

               25. (19)  Danny Bohn, Toyota, 132.

               26. (35)  Ray Ciccarelli, Chevrolet, 131.

               27. (16)  Chase Purdy, Chevrolet, 131.

               28. (24)  Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, 129.

               29. (30)  Josh Reaume, Toyota, 127.

               30. (14)  Derek Kraus #, Toyota, 125.

               31. (31)  Jesse Iwuji, Toyota, 115.

               32. (20)  Jordan Anderson, Chevrolet, Track Bar, 85.

               33. (36)  Tim Viens, Chevrolet, Too Slow, 69.

               34. (28)  Jennifer Jo Cobb, Chevrolet, Oil Tank, 62.

               35. (33)  Dawson Cram, Chevrolet, Accident, 16.

               36. (22)  Natalie Decker, Chevrolet, Fatigue, 0.

The World of Westgate 200 Stats

Average Speed of Race Winner:  119.861 mph.

Time of Race:  One Hr, 40 Mins, 37 Secs. The Margin of Victory:  0.546 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  Five for 25 laps.

Lead Changes:  Four among four drivers.

Lap Leaders:   B. Moffitt (P) 1;S. Creed (P) 2-67;C. Eckes # (P) 68-72;S. Creed (P) 73-95;A. Hill (P) 96-134.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Sheldon Creed (P) two times for 89 laps; Austin Hill (P) one time for 39 laps; Christian Eckes # (P) one time for five laps; Brett Moffitt (P) one time for one lap.

Stage 1 Top-Ten: 2,23,19,98,21,99,18,15,88,51

Stage 2 Top-Ten: 2,21,23,19,99,13,18,88,16,15

Is Kyle Busch Really on the Ropes?

Is Kyle Busch really on the ropes when he states that he'll be eliminated in the next NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 12?
Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Is Kyle Busch really on the ropes when he says that he’ll be eliminated in the next NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 12?

For most of his NASCAR Cup Series career, Kyle Busch seems invincible.  He has an uncanny ability to win races at will and is an easy fantasy pick every weekend.  But now, for whatever reason, 2020 is different.  This season, the defending 2019 NASCAR Cup Series Champion appears to be mortal.  Kyle Busch is now beatable on the track.

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Las Vegas, Memphis NASCAR Weekend Preview with Hot Topics on Fan4Racing Radio

Las Vegas, Memphis  NASCAR Weekend Preview is presented by host Sharon Burton and co-host Jay Husmann. Join us as we rev up NASCAR fans for the upcoming weekend of racing. Then stick around for Hot Topics Sound Off with co-host Andy Laskey and the Fan4Racing crew! 

This episode centers around Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the NASCAR Cup, Xfinity, and Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, along with ARCA West at the Las Vegas Bullring. Also the ARCA Menards Series at Memphis International Raceway.  We’ll also give a few updates ARCA East along with pre-race audio from drivers as time permits.

The Agenda

  • First, we preview the ARCA Menards Series at Memphis, the ARCA West at the Las Vegas Bullring, and updates from the ARCA East.
  • Next, we preview the NASCAR Truck race at Las Vegas.
  • Next, our preview continues with the NASCAR Xfinity and Cup Series at Las Vegas.
  • Then, it’s Hot Topics Sound Off with the Fan4Racing Crew.

As always…Thanks for listening!

Ross Chastain Joins CGR in the NASCAR Cup Series for the 2021 Season

Ross Chastain joins CGR and the No. 42 team for 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Season in an announcement on Monday, September 21st.
BRISTOL, TENNESSEE – SEPTEMBER 18: Ross Chastain, driver of the #10 Dyna-Gro Seed Chevrolet, waits on the grid prior to the NASCAR Xfinity Series Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway on September 18, 2020 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Ross Chastain joins CGR and the No. 42 team for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Season in an announcement on Monday, September 21st.

In an announcement on Monday from Chip Ganassi Racing, the organization reveals that Ross Chastain will pilot their No. 42 entry in the NASCAR Cup Series starting in the 2021 season. Chastain is a CGR development driver since 2018 and is now racing full-time in the Xfinity Series for Kaulig Racing. He is competing in the Xfinity Series Playoffs for the second time after his runner-up finish at Bristol Motor Speedway this past weekend.

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