“I knew I could do it, given the right opportunity.”
Friday’s Love’s RV Stops 225 at Talladega Superspeedway was FAR from the first NASCAR National Series start for Austin Green – having run 40 races in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series since 2024 – but the race did include two major firsts: his debut in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series and his first start in top-tier equipment.
Green was tapped by Spire Motorsports to drive the No. 77 GUNK Chevrolet Silverado RST, and aside from parking the vehicle in Victory Lane, the Concord, North Carolina-native did exactly what was asked of him, pushing his teammate Sammy Smith to the victory and coming home an incredible third-place.
“It’s a huge learning day, probably the most fun I’ve had in a race car all year,” Green said post-race. “Overall, a really good day.”
“I didn’t think I really fought anything. I felt like if Sammy and I were together, we could kind of hook up and make our own speed – we weren’t together all race, so I feel like they made it hard on us, but yeah, like I said, I’m used to the O’Reilly stuff on the superspeedways, so this is my first Truck Race, so learning how to do all the aero stuff was huge.”
That third-place result is the best finish by a driver making their NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series debut since Ryan Preece won at Nashville Superspeedway in 2021 for David Gilliland Racing, and the best since Kyle Benjamin at Martinsville in 2018 for drivers who hadn’t made a previous start at NASCAR’s top level.
It’s a significant boost of confidence for the 25-year-old driver, who, quite frankly, has had a lot of noise surrounding his name in the last couple of months. After being announced as the full-time driver for Peterson Racing in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, the team replaced him with Nick Sanchez halfway through the season. Then, several months later, the team confirmed a three-race slate with Green behind the wheel, only for that to be axed after just one race (which caused some drama on social media, which included the team’s social admin).
“I think, you know, it’s just good motivation to go out and do good,” Green said. “Like I said, super thankful for the Spire [Motorsports] guys and everything they’ve done for me the past couple of weeks.”
Green wasn’t the only person happy (and proud) about the effort, David Green, Austin’s father and the 1994 NASCAR Busch Series champion, spoke highly of his son post-race, who, prior to the morning’s qualifying session, had never driven a Truck.
“Never been in a Truck, to the day to qualifying at 11:30AM, let the clutch out on the truck for the first time, no practice, and then run an amazing race,” said David Green. “I think the key there at the end was getting one of the Spire trucks in Victory Lane, and Sammy [Smith] was very good, and Austin got shuffled that one time, but to get our teammate into Victory Lane and us in third was a great day.”
“So, maybe this will be something good for his career for next year,” David added.
His father, David, wasn’t the only one taking notes, so was 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski, who, while in the FOX Sports booth for the event, said that Austin “to me, is one of the hidden gems of the development rookie crop. Doesn’t get a lot of attention, but every vehicle he gets in, he makes the most of and he’s doing that here today.”
With no events scheduled for the remainder of 2026, Green, without plans announced, will have to look forward to what the 2027 NASCAR National Series campaign holds.
