Austin Hill wins lightning-shortened United Rentals 176 to close Truck regular season

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series regular season ended with a literal flash as lightning cut short Saturday’s United Rentals 176 at Watkins Glen International with twelve laps remaining. Austin Hill was the leader at the time of the delay, enabling him to score his second win of the year.

Hill started on the pole in the first Truck race at WGI since 2000, and he led the first four laps before Todd Gilliland took the spot. Gilliland, who won the most recent road race at COTA in May, would score the stage win ahead of Sheldon Creed, Derek Kraus, Josh Berry, Austin Wayne Self, A.J. Allmendinger, Paul Menard, Stewart Friesen, Ben Rhodes, and Ryan Truex. NASCAR newcomer Chad Chastain produced the lone caution of the stage when his truck stopped on lap seven.

The second stage ran green the entire distance as the lead was exchanged between Jack Wood, Carson Hocevar, Zane Smith, John Hunter Nemechek, and Hill. Hill would take the stage win ahead of Nemechek, Allmendinger, Smith, Creed, Tyler Ankrum, Hocevar, Gilliland, Ben Rhodes, and Sam Mayer.

As Hill continued to lead, Nemechek and Creed ran behind him. After a caution on lap 53 for Kraus spinning after contact with Allmendinger in turn four, ending the former’s playoff hopes, a red flag came on lap 60 for lightning. Despite efforts to wait out the storm, worries about clashing with the Xfinity Series race looming later in the day prompted NASCAR to call the race.

Albeit shortened by weather, the win is Hill’s second in a row after winning a month prior at Knoxville and his first on a road course. With a tenth-place finish, Hocevar locked himself into the playoffs alongside fellow rookie Chandler Smith.

Nemechek will enter the playoffs as the points leader after winning the regular season championship. Hill, Rhodes, Gilliland, and Creed are the other five drivers in the ten-person grid with race wins and are seeded as such. Smith, Matt Crafton, Hocevar, Smith, and Stewart Friesen round out the lineup.

Race results

Finish	Start	Number	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Status
1	1	16	Austin Hill	Hattori Racing Enterprises	Toyota	61	Running
2	6	4	John Hunter Nemechek	Kyle Busch Motorsports	Toyota	61	Running
3	19	2	Sheldon Creed	GMS Racing	Chevrolet	61	Running
4	2	38	Todd Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	61	Running
5	38	75	Parker Kligerman	Henderson Motorsports	Chevrolet	61	Running
6	8	21	Zane Smith	GMS Racing	Chevrolet	61	Running
7	10	26	Tyler Ankrum	GMS Racing	Chevrolet	61	Running
8	39	66	Paul Menard	ThorSport Racing	Toyota	61	Running
9	40	32	Sam Mayer*	Bret Holmes Racing	Chevrolet	61	Running
10	9	42	Carson Hocevar	Niece Motorsports	Chevrolet	61	Running
11	21	25	Josh Berry*	Rackley WAR	Chevrolet	61	Running
12	23	02	Kaz Grala	Young’s Motorsports	Chevrolet	61	Running
13	15	98	Christian Eckes	ThorSport Racing	Toyota	61	Running
14	22	15	Tanner Gray	David Gilliland Racing	Ford	61	Running
15	5	99	Ben Rhodes	ThorSport Racing	Toyota	61	Running
16	20	22	Austin Wayne Self	AM Racing	Chevrolet	61	Running
17	12	40	Ryan Truex	Niece Motorsports	Chevrolet	61	Running
18	3	18	Chandler Smith	Kyle Busch Motorsports	Toyota	61	Running
19	16	51	Corey Heim	Kyle Busch Motorsports	Toyota	61	Running
20	18	1	Hailie Deegan	David Gilliland Racing	Ford	61	Running
21	17	52	Stewart Friesen	Halmar Friesen Racing	Toyota	61	Running
22	7	19	Derek Kraus	McAnally-Hilgemann Racing	Toyota	61	Running
23	4	88	Matt Crafton	ThorSport Racing	Toyota	61	Running
24	14	13	Johnny Sauter	ThorSport Racing	Toyota	61	Running
25	36	56	Timmy Hill	Hill Motorsports	Chevrolet	61	Running
26	27	24	Jack Wood	GMS Racing	Chevrolet	61	Running
27	13	12	Tate Fogleman	Young’s Motorsports	Chevrolet	61	Running
28	25	23	A.J. Allmendinger*	GMS Racing	Chevrolet	61	Running
29	11	30	Danny Bohn	On Point Motorsports	Toyota	61	Running
30	35	3	Bobby Reuse	Jordan Anderson Racing	Chevrolet	61	Running
31	37	49	Roger Reuse	CMI Motorsports	Ford	60	Running
32	33	33	Josh Reaume	Reaume Brothers Racing	Toyota	60	Running
33	24	34	Lawless Alan	Reaume Brothers Racing	Toyota	60	Running
34	34	20	Spencer Boyd	Young’s Motorsports	Chevrolet	59	Running
35	31	45	Chad Chastain	Niece Motorsports	Chevrolet	58	Running
36	32	17	Taylor Gray	David Gilliland Racing	Ford	53	Running
37	28	10	Jennifer Jo Cobb	Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing	Ford	45	Running
38	26	6	Norm Benning	Norm Benning Racing	Chevrolet	40	Too Slow
39	30	9	Grant Enfinger	CR7 Motorsports	Chevrolet	8	Transmission
40	29	41	Will Rodgers*	Cram Racing Enterprises	Chevrolet	6	Transmission

Italics – Competing for Rookie of the Year
* – Ineligible for Truck points