“The Hoosier slicks were sticky, and they worked. The track was damp right at the start, but then it really started to dry up,” Austin said afterwards. “I’ve been practicing leading on the simulator … just practicing being up in front and not looking in my mirrors. That was the big challenge for today.”

On Sunday, the path to victory wasn’t as clear cut for Varco. His father, David, was still out of the race with a mechanical which meant Austin had to fend off the Rush Motorsports team of Clement Lee and Evan Jacobs lining up second and third, respectively. Though working together to break the draft to Jacobs, Varco and Lee frequently and aggressively battled for the lead. Lee, on fresher tires, took the lead from Varco on Lap 12 and the pace changed as Lee went defensive, backing Varco into Jacobs. Ultimately, it was an intense three-car shootout to the line. Varco led on the white flag lap, a push from Jacobs propelled Lee into an outside pass in Star Mazda and a drag race to the line, finishing first over Varco by 72 thousandths of a second.
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