AUSTIN, TX — Story and audio by Managing Editor Jacob Seelman for Speed77 Radio and Race Chaser Online — Austin Self Racing/Cunningham Motorsports photo — Austin Self is heading back where it all began for this weekend’s ARCA Racing Series scheduled stop.
This weekend’s Menards 200 at Toledo Speedway is significant in several ways for the now-18 year old Lone Star State native. Not only will it mark the first race for Self since a season-high third-place effort two weeks ago in Talladega that surprised even him, Self admits, but the young star’s return to Toledo marks the one year anniversary of his very first ARCA Racing Series start, also at the venerable half-mile oval.
“It’s pretty special,” Self said of returning to Toledo in a recent interview with Race Chaser Online. “It’s where this whole journey began for me a year ago; it’s hard to believe it’s already been that long,” the Texas teenager laughed. “How far I’ve come though, and how far this team has come, it really makes me smile knowing what we’ve accomplished so far. Hopefully this is only the beginning.”
Self is coming off his podium exploits at Talladega with a lot of momentum and heading to a track he knows well. That alone, he says, gives him confidence that he can work to erase that goose-egg that still sits in the wins column.
“Talladega was huge for us. It was my first time on a restrictor plate track (he missed Daytona because he didn’t turn 18 until March) and I feel like we turned a ton of heads. We were strong all day and we had a shot there at the end,” Self said of his afternoon in Alabama.
“Now, going to Toledo, we know full-well we’re capable and I think we can grab that first win this weekend at Toledo. We’ll have a shot at it, at least.”
Self pushed his teammate Tom Hessert to victory lane, taking one for the team despite looking like he might have a shot to take the win for himself in the final laps.
“I’ll be honest, I didn’t even realize it was the last lap,” Self added of the finish. “We came into the tri-oval and my spotter told me ‘coming to the checkers’ and then the 15 (Townley) was alongside me with a huge run. I thought about if I had a shot to try and get the win for myself a bunch in the last few minutes of the race, but I think John Wes and that outside were coming so fast through the tri-oval, had I moved up to try and get a push I would have been turned around. Really glad we got a third place finish though; I honestly wish we had another restrictor-plate race to go to now!” Self said with a smile.
The likable Texan is strong on the short tracks; in addition to finishing sixth at Toledo last year he finished second to Frank Kimmel at Winchester and added a fourth-place effort at Salem earlier this season in April to bolster his resume on the bullrings. Self is confident that his past dealings on the short tracks will give him an edge come Sunday afternoon.
“I really enjoy Toledo, and really enjoy driving on a lot of these short tracks that ARCA goes to,” Self explained. “It just seems the little bit of beating and banging, scrambling for space really suits my driving style. I know how to handle those types of situations and I think that’ll help us this weekend.”
The young gun tested yesterday at Toledo around some intermittent rain showers, and showed solid speed alongside teammate Tom Hessert as Cunningham Motorsports geared up for the weekend.
“We had a really good car in the test session we ran yesterday,” Self said. “It was feeling real good despite the fact we had to dodge the raindrops. I can’t wait to get back in the seat this weekend and go racing.”
Asked if he feels any added pressure this weekend, Self simply chuckled lightheartedly before responding.
“No extra pressure. The special nature of this weekend actually inspires me even more, I think,” Self adds. “Behind the wheel, I just go out there and have fun and don’t think about the pressure or the other aspects of it; that seems to work pretty well for me.”
“I’m just going to go out and run my race. If I do that, we should be there towards the end. Then we’ll just see if it falls into place.”
Self also says, looking back on the last year, that he couldn’t be more grateful for where he’s at now.
“It’s been a fun ride, and I’m truly blessed to have come as far as I have. Not many kids my age get to say they’re living the dream, but this whole journey has definitely been that.”
“Hopefully, we can make Sunday count and just keep building on everything we’ve got going. And trust me, there’s gonna be a big party if we can score that Toledo trophy on Sunday afternoon,” Self added.
“Close isn’t gonna cut it any more. It’s time to go grab the win.”
Listen in as we talked with Austin on a recent episode of the Stock Car Steel/SRI Motorsports Show on his strong Talladega performance and his upcoming return to Toledo Speedway, as well as his outlook now on the rest of 2014:
