CONCORD, N.C. — Audio, story and photo by Race Chaser Online Managing Editor Jacob Seelman —

Look out, Charlotte Motor Speedway. There’s a familiar face back behind the wheel of a Legends car.

Winston, Ga. native, NASCAR Next inductee and NASCAR national series competitor Austin Hill will make his return to a Legends car in Tuesday night’s Round Seven of the 22nd annual Bojangles’ Summer Shootout Series at CMS driving for the powerhouse Ladyga Motorsports team.

The appearance will be Hill’s first in a Legend car since last year’s INEX Road Course World Finals at Virginia International Raceway.

Hill will pilot a second car as a teammate to Young Lions division driver Alex Reece, who currently sits fourth in that group’s points standings, and said that the opportunity to jump back behind the wheel of one of the cars he grew up racing was a special one.

“Right now, I’m just trying to get back used to [the cars],” Hill said during Shootout practice on Monday afternoon. “I haven’t even been behind the wheel of one in eight months. I was thinking about bringing out my car that I ran at VIR, but it needs a lot of work done to it and I knew that [Tim and Cheryl Ladyga] had the second car available, so I shot them a text last week about running it and here we are.”

“I love coming out here to the Shootout — these cars are probably the hardest thing to drive of anything I’ve ever driven in my career, so hopefully we can go out and have some fun tomorrow.”

In recent years, Hill has spent his time at the Shootout turning wrenches on multiple Bandolero and Legends cars under the AK Performance brand — building the team as a developmental group with longtime friend and former on-track rival Kendall Sellers — and says that time spent crew chiefing for the next generation has kept him involved in what he needs to do to show speed on Tuesday night.

“I’m working on three Legend cars right now, and I think me being out here is going to help them, and vice versa,” Hill said. “They’re new to the sport and haven’t run a lot of races, so they don’t know how to tell me exactly what to do to make their cars better.”

“Me being out here and running will let me see what the track is doing so I can better help them, but I also have a basis to start with since I’ve already been tweaking to help them find speed. It really works both ways in the end.”

Hill has run two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races this season, with a best finish of 16th at Dover in May, and currently sits second in the 2015 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East points standings on the strength of a win, two top five and six top ten finishes in seven races.

Team owner Tim Ladyga is excited to have a driver of Hill’s caliber behind the wheel of one of his cars, and hopes to be able to celebrate in victory lane for the first time this summer at the end of the night on Tuesday.

“I’m looking forward to see what he can do tomorrow night,” Ladyga said in the garage area on Monday. “It’s going to be fun. If the car is good, we know Austin’s talent is enough that he’ll be in position for a great finish on Tuesday night.”

The Bojangles’ Summer Shootout kicks off on Tuesday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway with round seven of ten for the country’s top Legend car and Bandolero competitors in seven divisions. Grandstand tickets are $8, with kids 13 and under getting in free.

The Performance Racing Network (www.goprn.com) will also be video-streaming Tuesday night’s events live online for fans who cannot make it out to CMS.

For more information on the Bojangle’s Summer Shootout Series, visit www.charlottemotorspeedway.com.

Listen in as Race Chaser Online caught up with Austin Hill during practice for Round Seven of the 2015 Bojangles’ Summer Shootout:

About the Writer

Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network. Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s. He is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for both the United Sprint Car Series and the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.

Email Jacob at: [email protected]

Follow on Twitter: @Speed77Radio or @JacobSeelman77