HAMPTON, Ga. -- When NASCAR drivers head to Daytona International Speedway or Talladega Superspeedway, they can usually rely on past data. This isn't necessarily the case with EchoPark Speedway, which increases the amount of prep work required.
The reconfigured track has aged in such a way that what worked in past races may not necessarily work moving forward.
"I think that going back and watching film you can't just go back and watch the last race that we ran here," Austin Hill said in response to AltDriver. "You need to watch the last three races that we ran here because all three of them raced a little bit different than the next.
"Tonight could be one of those races where it raced very similar to the February race, or it might race very similar to last year's September race or heck, it might even race similar to three races prior.
"So really I think you have to do a lot more of that studying, looking at in-car camera, going back, and watching how cars are moving around and how some guys had really good balance, some guys didn't and they were out of control but they had good, just raw speed."
Film study isn't necessarily a standard part of Hill's pre-race prep work when he heads to drafting-style tracks. He acknowledged that he doesn't study film of Daytona or Talladega. There isn't as much information that he can take and use moving to the next races at these particular superspeedways.
EchoPark Speedway is an entirely different beast, so much so that Hill spent extra time studying film this week. He watched the past three races, which he won, to get a better idea of what could possibly happen.
Of course, this work could be all for naught if the track races differently under the lights.
"I'm kind of up in the air on which one I think it's going to race like tonight, but you have to be ready for a lot of the unknowns and it could be a total different race than we've ever even seen here," Hill added.
"There could be a four car breakaway on the front four and we might leave the pack behind us. Like, we just don't know what it's going to look like, so you have to be ready to kind of change it up on the fly and I think that's something that our 21 team does really well."
Hill is no stranger to success at EchoPark Speedway despite the ever-changing conditions. Since the track underwent its reconfiguration to emphasize drafting, he has parked the No. 21 in victory lane five times. This includes three straight wins leading into Friday night's race.
Yet, this past success doesn't particularly mean much for Hill, the Georgia native. He said that other drivers in the Xfinity field don't particularly want to work with him given his level of sustained success.
This lack of help will be something Hill will have to account for as he pursues his sixth Atlanta win in eight career Xfinity starts. He will also have to adapt in the moment to the changing track positions.
Will the Friday night race end with Hill celebrating in victory lane once again? He doesn't have the answer, but he has confidence in his expanded week of work.