Austin Hill holds on for NASCAR truck series win at LVMS

Las Vegas Review-Journal

4 years ago

Austin Hill (16) wins the NASCAR Westgate 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Friday, Sept. 25, 2020, in Las Vegas. (Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @ellenkschmidttt

Austin Hill (16) poses in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Westgate 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Friday, Sept. 25, 2020, in Las Vegas. (Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @ellenkschmidttt

Jennifer Jo Cobb (10) pulls in for a pit stop in front of an empty stadium during the NASCAR Westgate 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Friday, Sept. 25, 2020, in Las Vegas. (Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @ellenkschmidttt

Derek Kraus (19) makes a pit stop during the NASCAR Westgate 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Friday, Sept. 25, 2020, in Las Vegas. (Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @ellenkschmidttt

Brett Moffitt (23) races during the NASCAR Westgate 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Friday, Sept. 25, 2020, in Las Vegas. (Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @ellenkschmidttt

The 24th Annual NASCAR Westgate 200 is underway without an audience at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Friday, Sept. 25, 2020, in Las Vegas. (Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @ellenkschmidttt

Sheldon Creed (2) drives a lap with empty stands in the background during the NASCAR Westgate 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Friday, Sept. 25, 2020, in Las Vegas. (Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @ellenkschmidttt

It was all Sheldon Creed for most of the World of Westgate 200 NASCAR truck series race Friday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. But it was Austin Hill when it counted most.

Hill took the lead on the 96th of 134 laps and held off the dominant Chevrolet driver for a narrow victory in front of empty grandstands at the 1.5-mile oval to clinch a spot in the next playoff round.

“Sheldon was definitely way faster than me,” the 26-year-old Hill said after claiming his sixth truck series win in 93 starts and repelling several charges from Creed over the closing laps by driving his Toyota to the high side of the track.

“I knew I was going to have to protect (the lead),” added Hill, who led the final 39 laps in earning his second win at LVMS. “That’s the first time I’ve ever ridden the wall around this place, so it was almost a little bit intimidating the first three or four laps when I moved up.”

Creed, who was driving for Las Vegas businessman Maury Gallagher, tried everything to retake the lead in a race he controlled.

The 22-year-old led a race-high 89 laps, including 66 of the first 67. Creed brushed the wall before making up ground by dipping to the low groove but didn’t have quite enough to overtake Hill, whose margin of victory was .546 of a second.

Tanner Gray finished third in a Ford, while Toyota drivers Stewart Friesen and Chandler Smith rounded out the top five.

Creed, who started on the outside of the second row, jumped pole sitter Brett Moffitt after the green flag fell en route to winning the first race stage. It was more of the same in the second stage, as Creed led from flag to flag.

IndyCar driver Conor Daly finished 18th and one lap down in his truck series debut, while fellow guest star, teammate and action sports personality Travis Pastrana was 21st. Natalie Decker was not medically cleared to drive and was credited with 36th and last place.

Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.