By Caleb Whisler, Staff Writer
The 2018 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season is one of promising potential for Austin Wayne Self, driver of the No. 22 Chevrolet for Niece Motorsports.
Self joined Niece on a part-time basis in 2017 but moved to the organization for a full-time schedule in the Truck series in 2018. One of the biggest attractions to the organization for Self was that Al Niece was from Texas, like Self, but more importantly that the organization had big plans and goals for 2018.
“I raced against them the year before and have run for them a few times. I could see what they were trying to build. They had some big plans for this year. I was attracted to their goals really,” Self told Kickin’ The Tires.
Over the off-season, Niece Motorsports began a technical alliance with GMS Racing with support in the chassis, body, suspension and engineering departments. The partnership with GMS and Chevrolet has been beneficial to Self. Self believes the resources Niece is receiving puts the organization in contention to make the Playoffs.
Going into 2018, Self knew that the season would provide struggles as they continue to get their foot in the door with GMS. Knowing that the team would struggle, Self and the organization knew they had to create realistic goals.
“We knew we were going to get the support but knew we had to put the people in place to make it work. I think the goals have been realistic. We have a long season and all it takes is one race to get yourself into the playoffs,” Self continued.
Self was quick to admit that the organization has had a slow start to the 2018 season with an average finish of 18.3 through the first nine races of the season. However, Niece and Self know that there is still time in the season for things to come together to become a playoff contender.
GMS Racing wants to go out onto the race track and be the best there is. That mentality transfers to all their partnerships.
GMS is a team that has won a championship and they are pretty young. They want to go out and be the best there is. I think a big part of that is that they want to see their partnerships succeed as well,” Self said.
“I think they put a lot of time and effort into seeing our team succeed. I think that shows how much GMS wants to win. It isn’t just about their trucks on the track, but the partnerships succeeding. They want everybody to be up front.”
Another big change for Self and Niece Motorsports happened after Martinsville. At the beginning of the year, Joey Cohen was the crew chief for Self. However, Cohen left to pursue opportunities outside of motorsports. Currently, Cody Efaw, general manager for Niece, is the crew chief for the young driver.
Luckily, Efaw and Self worked together in 2017. Looking back, Self recognizes they had decent runs last year but is looking forward to what they can accomplish for the remainder of 2018.
“Cody is a great crew chief and general manager. He knows what I want, which is a big deal. I have confidence in him too. I think we can get it done with Cody on the box.” Self said.
Joining Self at Niece Motorsports is Justin Fontaine. With Self’s experience in the series, Fontaine is asking about the particulars of certain tracks. The biggest benefit of having Fontaine in the organization is that they are able to bounce ideas off each other.
“We are able to bounce back information on what we are trying. We show up to the track on two different setups to see how they work and we will lots of times meet in the middle or go off on different limbs and bouncing back on what did and didn’t work. That is the biggest thing,” Self said.
The biggest issue for the team is getting past the splitter rule change. Luckily, GMS Racing has been a big help. Despite the splitter issues, the focus is still on being in the playoffs for the organization.
“A lot of people might look at it and giggle a bit, but we haven’t had the best luck this year. We have had some unfortunate things happen. We have to get over that hurdle,” Self said.
The young driver believes that once they knock off the bad luck that they have a team with the potential of running in the top-10 and contending for the race win. Self believes that time is coming sooner rather than later.
“For me, and I think the team would agree, I think keeping our sights on making the playoffs is realistic. I am hoping we are able to turn our luck around soon and be able to show that,” Self said.
As the playoffs approach in seven races, Self sits 13th in the points standings, only 105 points out of playoff contention.