Austin Wayne Self rides Texas momentum to Martinsville Speedway

[NickHolt]

Austin Wayne Self and AM Racing ride Texas momentum to Martinsville Speedway
 

MARTINSVILLE, Va.: The penultimate race of the 2020 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series season is on deck.

With just two races remaining this year, the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series is approaching the checkered flag, but for Austin Wayne Self and his AM Racing team, there is still plenty of work to be done.

And with momentum on their side from a terrific seventh-place finish in last Sunday’s SpeedyCash.com 400 at Texas Motor Speedway, the AM Racing team is using momentum to propel them into Martinsville (Va.) Speedway before gearing up for the season finale at Phoenix (Ariz.) Raceway on Nov. 6.

Feeling rejuvenated after Texas, Self is focused on continuing the strong pace in Friday night’s NASCAR Hall of Fame 200.

“Texas was a really good race for us from start to finish,” said Self. “We kept adjusting on our truck and it responded well which allowed us to be in a position to capitalize during the green-white-checkered finish. It wasn’t a win, but the finish felt like one and lifted the spirits of everyone on the team. Hopefully, we can go to Martinsville and enjoy more of the same.”

The 24-year-old returns to the 0.526-mile track poised to make his sixth start and seek his first top-10 finish. In his previous five efforts, Self-delivered a respectable 15th place finish in his track debut in 2016.

“For being a short track, Martinsville is very technical,” added Self. “When it comes to that place, sometimes you have to go slower to go faster. You need to have the momentum at the right time and be able to accelerate off the corners to be able to carry the speed down the straightaways before you get back to the corner.  When you put close to 40 trucks on the track, it becomes very crowded and even physical. Much like any short track, track position is critical so my crew chief Ryan (Salomon) and I will spend some time in race setup mode and see where we’re at.”

Salomon will continue to lead the team as crew chief this weekend. He made his debut two races ago at Kansas Speedway and has already led the team to their first top-10 of 2020.

“I feel like things are going really well with Ryan,” commented Self. “It’s never easy to swap crew chiefs during a season but Ryan has slid into the team nicely and I feel the chemistry is very solid. He’s been able to take the feedback I give them and he’s been able to make our No. 22 GO TEXAN | AM Technical Solutions Chevrolet Silverado better for the finish.  I look forward to seeing what we can do over the next two races.”

Even out of the Playoff picture, it’s still business as usual for the AM Racing team as Self expects the upward performance trend to continue to climb aboard his No. 22 GO TEXAN | AM Technical Solutions Chevrolet Silverado from now until Phoenix (Ariz.) Raceway in November.

In 105 NGROTS races, Self, the 2014 ARCA Menards Series Rookie of the Year, has two top-fives (second at Daytona 2017, fifth at Michigan 2019) and eight top-10 finishes. The Texan maintains an average finish of 18.7 during his five years of competition.

The Austin, Texas native is nestled 16th in the championship standings with two races remaining.

“We’re a relatively small team, but sometimes David can beat the Goliath and at times we’ve been able to show that on track with our heart and passion of racing,” added Self. “We have a lot of people, including our partners who are devoted to our race team and focused on seeing our team succeed not only in 2020 but as we start to think ahead to 2021.”

The NASCAR Hall of Fame 200 (200 laps | 105.2 miles) is the 22nd of 23 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series races on the 2020 schedule. The 38-truck field will take the green flag on Fri. Oct. 30, 2020, shortly after 8:00 p.m. with live coverage on FOX Sports 1 (FS1), the Motor Racing Network (Radio) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Satellite Radio, Channel 90). All times are local (Eastern).

In addition to primary partner GO TEXAN, AM Technical Solutions, Don’t mess with Texas, AIRBOX Air Purifier, CForce Bottling Company, Flying Circle, Kreuz Market and Prasek’s will serve as associate partners in the 22nd race of the year.

For more on Austin Wayne Self, please visit awsracing.com, like his Facebook page (Austin Wayne Self) or follow him on Twitter @AustinWSelf.

For more on AM Racing, please visit AMRacingteam.com, like their Facebook page (AM Racing) or follow them on Twitter @AMRacingNASCAR. 

About AM Racing:

AM Racing is a NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series (NGROTS) team owned by entrepreneur Tim Self. Established in December 2015, AM Racing is headquartered in Statesville, N.C. Operated by Self, a native of Austin, Texas, the team is prided on faith, honesty and intelligent performance.