At the wheel of Hattori Racing Enterprises’ No. 16 truck, Austin Hill drove to victory lane at the Michigan International Speedway on Saturday. He won for the second time this year (and of his career) and secured himself a spot in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Series (NGOTS) playoffs. At the same time, Hill was bringing with him a Spectra Premium high-performance radiator at the top of the podium for the very first time. The next day, in Canada, other Spectra Premium high-performance radiators filled the podium at Trois-Rivieres.
“We are very thankful to our partners Toyota Racing Development U.S.A., Dumoulin Competition and 22 Racing for making this major milestone come true,” said Jason Best, senior vice president, aftermarket at Spectra Premium. “We were confident about the performance and durability of our radiator in the NGOTS but reaching this milestone three months since its adoption is very special. Thank you and good luck Austin for the playoffs!”
Last November, Spectra Premium received NASCAR’s authorization to feature its radiators in the NASCAR Xfinity and then-NASCAR Camping World Truck series.
Canadian driver Raphael Lessard, who debuted this year in the NASCAR Trucks series, was the first driver to use a high-performance radiator at the Monster Mile in Dover on May 3. The KBM development driver landed an 11th-place finish in the No. 46 Spectra Premium.
The Spectra Premium high-performance radiator remained in use in select racing trucks for several races until Hill drove home in first place three months later on Aug. 10 in Michigan.
The next day, in the NASCAR Pinty’s series (the Canadian national NASCAR series), the most important race of the season took place in the streets of Trois-Rivieres. On his home track, defending champion Louis-Philippe Dumoulin brought his No. 47 Weathertech to victory, followed by vice-champion Alex Tagliani and his brother, Jean-François Dumoulin at the wheel of the No. 04 Spectra Premium.
The Dumoulin brothers were the first adopters of the high-performance radiator two years ago and contributed to its development for the NASCAR Pinty’s series. In that series, many leading teams trust the Spectra Premium high-performance radiator which secured victory in the last seven races.
