To the Top of the Hill for Sprint Cars!
#113 Hilltop Speedway, Millersburg, OH (5/16-mile dirt), 9/8/06...
After being dormant for 30 years, Hilltop Speedway reopened back in May. The 410 Sprint Cars were scheduled to make their first of two appearances of the year in June, but rain washed out the show and it was rescheduled for Sunday. The weather that day and radar looked terrible so I passed and planned on attending this show.
The weather was great on Friday with sunny skies and temps in the 70s. Hilltop advertises 6:30 PM for time trials and 8 for heat races. I arrived around 7 and found hot laps still taking place on the dusty surface. Hilltop time trialed the Sprints, Late Models, and the E-Mods. After time trials the track was watered, which was good timing as the sun was setting. The track, though dry, was much improved and you could see the racing.
Car counts were good with 19 410 Sprint Cars, 14 Super Late Models, 25 E-Mods, 24 Pure Stocks, and 25 Mini Stocks. The World 100 at Eldora took a few Late Models from them. With Attica not racing, they picked up 12 or 13 of their Sprints, the remainder were former Wayne County 360 competitors, with the exception of Texan Sam Haefertepe, Jr. who is touring the country with Rick Ferkel turning the wrenches. There has been talk that Hilltop would like to run more Sprint shows in 2007 and the rumors have also flown that Attica is considering dropping the 410s for the Late Models. That would be the only way 410s could make it at Hilltop unless the shows were scheduled on off Attica nights.
The fastest 6 qaulifiers in the Sprints, Late Models, and E-Mods were locked into the dash. These racers did not run a heat race as the inverted dash determined the first 6 starting spots of the feature, while the rest of the racers started straight-up on time in their heats with the heat finishes determining the remainder of the feature field. The heat races did not start until 8:35 PM.
After all the prelims, the track crew reworked the track. A great crowd was on hand as they really couldn't have gotten anymore people in the granstand area. Food was cooked on the grill as they had two concession areas.
The 25-lap Sprint feature went non-stop with Brandon Martin winning his first feature of the year. Martin passed pole-sitter Rob Chaney and drove a great race through lapped traffic to capture the $2,000 win. John Ivy, who started 5th, passed Chaney for second on lap 20. Chaney dropped to 3rd ahead of Lee Jacobs, Jamie Martin, and Chuck Wilson.
The 25-lap Late Model feature took the green at 11:03 and despite just 14 cars was an excellent race with only one caution. Eric Myers, Ryan Markham, and Scott Peltz put on quite a race as the three were covered by a blanket the entire race. Markham hounded Myers for 19 laps before finally getting by on lap 20, but missed his mark in turn two the following lap and dropped back to third. With Peltz in second he pressured Myers and made the winning move on lap 24. Myers held off Markham for second. Clint Coffman, and J.R. Gentry completed the top five.
With a good two hour drive home I headed for the exits. The facility was better than I expected and the racing was decent. The food was good and the crowd was impressive. Only downside was the late starting time and the surface could have been prepared better ahead of time. Hilltop made for my 25th Ohio track and #113 overall.
#113 Hilltop Speedway (OH), 9/8/06
#112 Kokomo (IN) Speedway, 9/3/06
#111 Lincoln Park Speedway (IN), 9/2/06
#110 Lawrence County Fairgrounds (PA), 8/16/06
#109 Midvale (OH) Speedway, 7/22/06
#108 McKean County Speedway (PA), 6/29/06
#107 Hesston (PA) Speedway, 6/17/06
#106 Grandview Speedway (PA), 5/16/06
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After being dormant for 30 years, Hilltop Speedway reopened back in May. The 410 Sprint Cars were scheduled to make their first of two appearances of the year in June, but rain washed out the show and it was rescheduled for Sunday. The weather that day and radar looked terrible so I passed and planned on attending this show.
The weather was great on Friday with sunny skies and temps in the 70s. Hilltop advertises 6:30 PM for time trials and 8 for heat races. I arrived around 7 and found hot laps still taking place on the dusty surface. Hilltop time trialed the Sprints, Late Models, and the E-Mods. After time trials the track was watered, which was good timing as the sun was setting. The track, though dry, was much improved and you could see the racing.
Car counts were good with 19 410 Sprint Cars, 14 Super Late Models, 25 E-Mods, 24 Pure Stocks, and 25 Mini Stocks. The World 100 at Eldora took a few Late Models from them. With Attica not racing, they picked up 12 or 13 of their Sprints, the remainder were former Wayne County 360 competitors, with the exception of Texan Sam Haefertepe, Jr. who is touring the country with Rick Ferkel turning the wrenches. There has been talk that Hilltop would like to run more Sprint shows in 2007 and the rumors have also flown that Attica is considering dropping the 410s for the Late Models. That would be the only way 410s could make it at Hilltop unless the shows were scheduled on off Attica nights.
The fastest 6 qaulifiers in the Sprints, Late Models, and E-Mods were locked into the dash. These racers did not run a heat race as the inverted dash determined the first 6 starting spots of the feature, while the rest of the racers started straight-up on time in their heats with the heat finishes determining the remainder of the feature field. The heat races did not start until 8:35 PM.
After all the prelims, the track crew reworked the track. A great crowd was on hand as they really couldn't have gotten anymore people in the granstand area. Food was cooked on the grill as they had two concession areas.
The 25-lap Sprint feature went non-stop with Brandon Martin winning his first feature of the year. Martin passed pole-sitter Rob Chaney and drove a great race through lapped traffic to capture the $2,000 win. John Ivy, who started 5th, passed Chaney for second on lap 20. Chaney dropped to 3rd ahead of Lee Jacobs, Jamie Martin, and Chuck Wilson.
The 25-lap Late Model feature took the green at 11:03 and despite just 14 cars was an excellent race with only one caution. Eric Myers, Ryan Markham, and Scott Peltz put on quite a race as the three were covered by a blanket the entire race. Markham hounded Myers for 19 laps before finally getting by on lap 20, but missed his mark in turn two the following lap and dropped back to third. With Peltz in second he pressured Myers and made the winning move on lap 24. Myers held off Markham for second. Clint Coffman, and J.R. Gentry completed the top five.
With a good two hour drive home I headed for the exits. The facility was better than I expected and the racing was decent. The food was good and the crowd was impressive. Only downside was the late starting time and the surface could have been prepared better ahead of time. Hilltop made for my 25th Ohio track and #113 overall.
#113 Hilltop Speedway (OH), 9/8/06
#112 Kokomo (IN) Speedway, 9/3/06
#111 Lincoln Park Speedway (IN), 9/2/06
#110 Lawrence County Fairgrounds (PA), 8/16/06
#109 Midvale (OH) Speedway, 7/22/06
#108 McKean County Speedway (PA), 6/29/06
#107 Hesston (PA) Speedway, 6/17/06
#106 Grandview Speedway (PA), 5/16/06
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posted by Mike Leone at 12:52 PM
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