Hilltop Speedway
March 31, 2012
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MORAN, MOREHOUSE, DAUGHERTY, ADKINS, POTTS, & KIDD START HILLTOP’S SEASON WITH WINS

by Mike Swanger
MILLERSBURG, OH (March 31) - Over the winter, Hilltop Speedway has seen many changes and new clay to the track surface, but opening night racing was the same as it always has been, fast and furious in front of a cold but huge crowd. The Holmes Tire Late Models was dominated by Dresden’s Devin Moran as he set fast time, won his heat race and led all the way in the 25 lap feature. Early in the race, heat winner George Lee would give the Custom Cutters, Eddie’s Sunoco and Donnie Moran’s Driving School #99m a challenge for the lead but the youngster would steadily pull away from the pack. The battle for third was back and forth between Ryan Markham and Bryan Casey until lap six. After causing a caution on lap two and going to the tail, Charlie Duncan rocketed back to move past Markham on lap 7 and the next circuit would slip past Casey for third. As Moran was building a half a lap lead, Duncan closed in on Lee for second as Markham and Casey dueled for third. With five laps to go, Duncan powered past Lee for second and on the next lap, Lee went low in turn four to try to recover second but hit a tire and spun out. That would erase Moran’s big lead and give Duncan a chance to swipe the win away from Moran, who would have nothing to do with it and pulled away on the last two laps for his first Hilltop win. Markham took third on the last lap from Casey as J.R. Gentry took fifth.

Larry Kugel grabbed the point from the outside front row of the Tri-State Modified feature and would lead for the first two laps when he spun, ending his night with mechanical woes. That would place last year’s track champion, Kevin Morehouse to the front of the line with Jesse Wisecarver on his bumper. Wisecarver would hound the Sam’s Used Cars, Service Welding, and Morehouse Logging #28 to the checkered flag but Morehouse, from Newark, kept him at bay for the win. Norm Aronhalt was third until he slowed and brought out a caution with four to go, putting Rick Mardis in third. On the restart though, Jimmy Smith edged past Mardis for that position and they would finish that way as Josh Morrow captured fifth. Kugel, Morehouse, Wisecarver and Aronhalt won the heats as Sid Danals topped the last chance race.

It was a highly contested start to the Street Stock main as Ed Leasure lead the pack with Steve Wolford, Tim Glassburn, Justin Patterson, Matt Shroyer and Bob Daugherty all bunched together. Wolford would bring out the yellow on lap 7 as Glassburn, Daugherty and Patterson was on Leasure’s tail. Fifth starting Daugherty got by Glassburn on the restart and using his low groove tactics, eased by Leasure for the lead on lap nine and then never looked back aboard the Mansfield based, Char’s Cars, McKenzie Concrete, Metz Machine Shop #21d. Leasure fended off all challenges from Glassburn to take second as Patterson and Shroyer rounded out the top five. Heat wins went to Leasure and Wolford.

Killbuck’s Terry Adkins and his #49 went flag to flag for the Mini Stock feature win as James Priebe and Gary Hensel Jr. stayed with in striking range of Adkins and even with the help of a lap 9 caution, could not muster up a late race move to get past Adkins. Polesitter Lester Berry finished fourth as Tyler Wiles came fro his 12th starting position to claim fifth. Berry, Adkins, Doug Hensel and Priebe posted the heat wins as Brad Hensel secured the last chance win.

The Bugs R Gone Trucks picked up from last season with the Potts’ versus the Larges’ shooting for the feature win. Sunbury’s David Potts beat Jack Large, both heat winners, into turn one at the drop of the green flag and spent the rest of the race keeping the JWC Electrical Services, Tickets Galore, and D&D Agri- Hauling #26 out front. Jack Large tried everything he could but could never get around David and on top of that, he had to protect second from Kevin Potts as he was ready to take it at any slip from Jack which never happened. Then there was John Large putting pressure on Kevin for third until he spun with three laps to go. At the checkered flag it was David Potts, Jack Large, Kevin Potts, Tom Garlick, and John Large.

Kyler Kidd of Zanesville took the lead on lap three of the Mini Wedge main to lock up his first Hilltop win. Josey Lillibridge followed Kidd on lap three into second and finished there with first heat winner Hannah Rose taking third followed by Triston Lillibridge and Cody Stillion. James Rose also was a heat winner.

Hilltop Speedway will be back in action next Saturday night, April 7th with all six class’ in competition as the first race taking the green flag at 7 pm.

HILLTOP SPEEDWAY SUMMARY
Saturday, March 31, 2012

HOLMES TIRE LATE MODELS (13)
Fast Qualifier Devin Moran 15.405
Heat 1 Moran, Ryan Markham, Charlie Duncan, J.R. Gentry, Steve Prince, James Fisher, Kyle Moore (dns)
Heat 2 George Lee, Bryan Casey, Aaron Phillis, Cody Parker, Hiriam Bachmann, Mike Graber
Feature Moran, Duncan, Markham, Casey, Gentry, Lee, Prince, Phillis, Bachmann, Graber, Fisher, Moore, Parker

TRI-STATE MODIFIEDS (25)
Heat 1 Larry Kugel, Bob Page, Matt Samples, Kevin Shairer, Sid Danals, Mike Hutchinson
Heat 2 Kevin Morehouse, Jimmy Smith, Rick Mardis, Robin Duston, Vern Mardis, Eddie Wilson
Heat 3 Jesse Wisecarver, Ryan West, Vic Hottinger, Eric Singhaus, Scott Shellhorn, David Pryor
Heat 4 Norm Aronhalt, Josh Morrow, Ty Samples, Tom King, Casey Fritz, Melissa Haskins, Tigh Shaffer
B Main Danals, Wilson, Hutchinson, Fritz, Pyror, Haskins, Shellhorn, Shaffer, V. Mardis
Feature Morehouse, Wisecarver, Smith, R. Mardis, Morrow, Duston, Hottinger, T. Samples, West, King, Page, Wilson, Aronhalt, Danals, Singhaus, Kugel, M. Samples, Shairer

STREET STOCKS (12)
Heat 1 Ed Leasure, John Wilson, Bob Daugherty, Butch Butcher, Kyle Woods, Tom Wilson (dns)
Heat 2 Steve Wolford, Justin Patterson, Tim Glassburn, Matt Schroyer, Kenny Daughriety Jr., Cody Daughriety
Feature Daugherty, Leasure, Glassburn, Patterson, Schroyer, Daughriety Jr., J. Wilson, Butcher, C. Daughriety, Wolford, Woods, T. Wilson (dns)

MINI STOCKS (29)
Heat 1 Lester Berry, Chris Priebe, JT Feagan, Elliott Robinson, Jason St. John, Dustin Daugherty, Jeff Barker Jr., William Huntington
Heat 2 Terry Adkins, Tim Workman, Tyler Evans, Blain Markey, Brad Hensel, Dee Adkins, JR. Carpenter
Heat 3 Doug Hensel, Matt Kemp, Roger Rush Sr., Kevin Markey, Mitch Reichard, Tim Dockery, Moose Workman
Heat 4 James Priebe, Gary Hensel Jr., Tyler Wiles, Jerry Adkins, Mark Adkins, Arlen Kemp, Kyle Gross
B Main B. Hensel, St. John, M. Adkins, Carpenter, Daugherty, Reichard, Dockery, D. Adkins, Barker, Huntington, A. Kemp, Workman, Gross (dns)
Feature T. Adkins, J. Priebe, Hensel Jr., Berry, Wiles, J. Adkins, St. John, D. Hensel, B. Hensel, B. Markey, Rush, Robinson, K. Markey, Workman, C. Priebe, M. Kemp, Feagan, Evans

BUGS R GONE TRUCKS (13)
Heat 1 Jack Large, Kevin Potts, Tom Garlick, Dennis Wood, Chet Collmar, Jerry Gardner, Darrick Hubbard Jr.
Heat 2 David Potts, Steve Large, John Large, Cole Lillibridge, Dustin Miller, Stan Braxton (dns)
Feature D. Potts, Ja. Large, K. Potts, Garlick, Jo. Large, Gardner, Lillibridge, Hubbard Jr., Collmar, S. Large, Miller (dns), Braxton (dns)

MINI WEDGES (13)
Heat 1 Hannah Rose, Josey Lillibridge, Triston Lillibridge, Levi Bowen, Braxton Wilson, Kylar Wolford (dns), Olivia Large (dns)
Heat 2 James Rose, Blake Morris, Nicholas Large, Cody Stillion, Taylor Huggins, Kyler Kidd
Feature Kidd, J. Lillibridge, H. Rose, T. Lillibridge, Stillion, Huggins, Bowen, Wilson, N. Large, Morris, Wolford (dns), O. Large (dns), J. Rose (dns)