Austin Wayne Self ready for "home track" NCWTS event at TMS

[NickHolt]

AM Racing | NASCAR Camping World Truck Series - Texas Motor Speedway | SpeedyCash.com 220

No. 22 AM Racing Team with driver Austin Wayne Self

Primary Partner(s): AM Technical Solutions and GO TEXAN

Manufacturer: Chevrolet Silverado RST

Crew Chief: Ryan Salomon; Spotter: Tony Raines; 2022 Driver Points Position: 19th | 2022 Owner Points Position: 22nd; Chassis Intel: AMR Chassis No. 116; previously raced at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway on Friday, March 4, 2022 (Start: 18th | Finish: Ninth).  Engine: Ilmor Racing Technologies

Notes of Interest:

Getting Back On Track: Eight races into the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, AM Racing and driver Austin Wayne Self are looking to back up their solid pace from 2021. After picking up back-to-back top-10 finishes at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway and at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway earlier this year, the team has endured five straight difficult races at Circuit of the Americas, Martinsville (Va.) Speedway and the Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway Dirt Track during the month of April. The team was hoping to change their luck in the latest race during the month of May last weekend at Kansas Speedway but were plagued by handling woes. A home state race at Texas Motor Speedway is on deck and the Statesville, N.C.-based team is hopeful of a reboot of their 2022 season.
 
The Stretch Drive: Friday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Texas is the third of an eight-week consecutive stretch of races for the tour. With races complete at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway and Kansas Speedway, the series during the month of May will also compete at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend and Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway next weekend respectively. In June, the series treks to World Wide Technology (Ill.) Raceway at Gateway, Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway, Knoxville Raceway and concludes the campaign at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway on June 24th. By the end of the stretch, the Truck Series will have completed 14 of its 23 races in 2022.
 
AM Racing x2: AM Racing successfully launched their second part-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series entry at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in March with Late Model standout Logan Bearden. The No. 37 team will return to the race track later this month at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway for the N.C. Education Lottery 200 where the AM Racing driver will attempt to make his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut.
 
Austin Wayne Self Truck Series Texas Motor Speedway Stats: Friday night’s SpeedyCash.com 220 will mark Self’s 11th NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at the 1.5-mile race track.  In his previous 10 starts, Self has finished a track-best of seventh in the fall of 2020 after starting 18th. He has completed 1,529 of the 1,575 laps available for a 97.1 percent lap completion.
 
Austin Wayne Self Truck Series Speedway Stats: At NASCAR Camping World Truck Series tracks classified as a speedway, Self has made 78 starts throughout his career with eight top-10 finishes, while also carrying an average finishing position of 18.5.
 
To The Point(s): Entering Texas, Self sits 19th in the championship standings. AM Racing’s No. 22 team secures 22nd in the Truck Series owner standings.
 
Kansas Speedway | Heart of America 200 Race Recap: In the most recent NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Kansas Speedway, Self made his 137th career Truck Series start. After starting the race 23rd, Self quickly negotiated his No. 22 AM Technical Solutions | GO TEXAN Chevrolet Silverado RST through traffic to quickly move into the top-20. However, as the race stretched into darkness, Self lacked the grip he needed to maintain his position inside the top-20 and fell to 23rd at the checkered flag.
 
Calling the Shots: Ryan Salomon will continue to lead Austin Wayne Self and the AM Racing team in 2022, including at Texas Motor Speedway.  This weekend marks his 34th race as crew chief for Self and in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. During his tenure, he guided Self to an average finish of 17.8 during 2020, 2021 and 2022 seasons respectively.
 
Career Rundown: Since 2016, Self has competed in 137 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races, delivering two top-five and 15 top-10 finishes. He finished a career-best 12th in the championship standings in 2018. Spanning six years of Truck Series competition, he maintains an average finish of 18.6.

Austin Wayne Self Pre-Race Quotes:

On Texas Motor Speedway: “It always feels good to go back home to Texas Motor Speedway. We’ll be surrounded by a lot of support and that always feels comforting after the last batch of races we’ve had.

“Hopefully, Texas can be the race that we turn the corner and get our season back on track. We really need to start making some serious progress forward if we’re even going to find ourselves anywhere near in contention to make the Playoffs. It’s likely going to take a Hail Mary at this point, but we’re up for going outside the box to change around our strategy and deliver a good finish at one of my favorite race tracks.”  
On 2022 Season: “We had a great first three races to the 2022 Truck Series season but have suffered bad luck in the last five races at COTA, Martinsville, the Bristol Dirt, Darlington and a so-so run at Kansas. The frustration level has certainly pegged but we are trying not to get down as a team because we realize we are bringing fast race trucks to the track. We will continue to fight to put our season back on the right path and hope it will mean that we have paid our dues for the rest of the year when it comes to bad luck.”

The SpeedyCash.com 220 (147 laps | 220.5 miles) is the ninth of 23 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races on the 2022 schedule. Practice begins on Friday, May 20, 2022, from 3:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Qualifying will soon follow from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. The 36-truck field will take the green flag later that night shortly after 7:30 p.m. with live coverage on FOX Sports 1 (FS1), the Motor Racing Network (Radio) and SiriusXM NASCAR Channel 90. All times are local (CT).

About AM Racing: AM Racing is a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) team headquartered in Statesville, N.C. Established in December 2015, AM Racing is prided on faith, honesty and intelligent performance.

Follow on Social Media: 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.