AVONDALE, Ariz. – Seeking to secure a spot in the Championship 4, Austin Hill secured the pole for Friday night’s Lucas Oil 150 during qualifying at Arizona’s ISM Raceway.
Hill took down his third-career NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series pole with a lap of 27.021 seconds (133.230 mph) around the one-mile D-shaped oval in the No. 16 AISIN Group Toyota Tundra.
The Winston, Ga., native is seeking his fourth victory of the season, a win that would move him into the championship race at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway next weekend with a shot at the title.
“I knew that our mock run was really good, but after seeing everyone slipping and sliding around out there, I just tried to hit my marks the best I could,” Hill said. “I didn’t think it was that good of a lap, honestly, because I came off turn two and it was chattering the front tires pretty bad. The guys did a heck of a job adjusting on it, though, and I think we really picked up a lot (of time) in turns three and four.
“That’s the best the truck has felt in turns three and four all day, and now we’re starting on the pole, so we just have to go and finish it off here to go on to Homestead.”
Fellow playoff contender Stewart Friesen will join Hill on the front row, with non-playoff drivers Sheldon Creed and Ben Rhodes sharing the second row of the starting grid.
Ty Majeski, making his Truck Series debut, completed the top five qualifiers.
Chandler Smith, Brandon Jones, Grant Enfinger, Todd Gilliland and Matt Crafton fill out the front five rows. Tyler Ankrum starts lowest among the six playoff contenders after qualifying 15th.
The Lucas Oil 150 takes the green flag at 8:30 p.m. ET, with live coverage on FOX Sports 1, the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.
STARTING LINEUP: NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series; ISM Raceway; Nov. 8, 2019
- Austin Hill
- Stewart Friesen
- Sheldon Creed
- Ben Rhodes
- Ty Majeski
- Chandler Smith
- Brandon Jones
- Grant Enfinger
- Todd Gilliland
- Matt Crafton
- Johnny Sauter
- Brett Moffitt
- Anthony Alfredo
- Ross Chastain
- Tyler Ankrum
- Dylan Lupton
- Carson Hocevar
- Tyler Dippel
- Gus Dean
- Tanner Gray
- Sam Mayer
- John Hunter Nemechek
- Derek Kraus
- Jordan Anderson
- Austin Wayne Self
- Joe Nemechek
- Danny Bohn
- Colby Howard
- Kyle Plott
- Natalie Decker
- Carson Ware
- Harrison Burton
DNQ: Jesse Little, Jennifer Jo Cobb