Austin Hill Wraps Up Lanier Legends Semi-Pro Championship
When Austin Hill looks back on the 2008 season, he will have fond memories of a very successful year in racing. Multiple wins and championships decorate his stats chart with his most recent accomplishment being the Legends Semi-Pro track championship at Lanier National Speedway in Braselton, Georgia.
Lanier always has a reputation of drawing solid cars counts in all Legends classes. Hill took home three wins and six runner-up finishes so far this season, earning him the championship.
“It’s just like Thursday Thunder (at Atlanta Motor Speedway) and The Summer Shootout (at Lowe’s Motor Speedway) here at Lanier,” said Hill. “You have competitive cars here every week and we’re happy to win a championship here. We came out here all year and ran like 20 races. We were fast all year and finished top five just about every week.”
A few weeks back, Hill took home the feature win in the Legends Young Lions National event at the Speedrome in Indiana. It was his biggest win of the season, against some stiff competition.
“That was really one of the exciting victories of the season,” added Hill. “It really got me pumped up for the rest of the season.”
Hill also won the coveted Summer Shootout Series championship at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. This was the highlight of the season after he beat some of the best Legends car drivers from all around the country.
“Lanier means a lot,” added Hill. “Charlotte means a little bit more because you have more people looking to beat you each week at the track. With the track being in the heart of NASCAR racing, you know who is watching you race.”
As far as the National Championship picture, Austin and his Hill Brothers race team have given a valiant effort and it looks as if they will be rewarded with a top-five finish in the standings. Going into the nationals in Elko, MN, Hill still has a shot for a championship, but he will need other drivers to have problems.
“Bryce Walker and Zack Zimmerly, they just run tracks like Texas, where there aren’t as many competitive cars…maybe only five cars,” said Hill. “So they win there every week. We go to competitive tracks with like 20 cars, so it’s harder to win here than it is to win in Texas. They are in front of us in the points and we are going to do all we can to catch them.”
Even if Hill ends up behind when the final checkered flag flies, it will still be, hands down, the best season of racing in his young career.
Austin Hill at Lanier Int'l Speedway. (51 Photo)
