|
Hilltop Speedway
MILLERSBURG, Ohio (April 25) - Hilltop opened the season with Super Late Models, Modifieds, and Pure Stock divisions this past Friday night and every driver gave the fans a spectacular show to start the season with. During qualifications Tom Conley set the high mark for Modifieds with a time of 16.061 while track record holder George Lee picked up right where he left off with a Late Model fast time of 14.425 seconds around the 1/3 mile dirt oval. Strongest in numbers the Modifieds were up first and heat wins went to Larry Kugel, Nick Smith, and Bruce Miller while Barry Jacobs fought hard to win the consy. George Lee and Rick Bond followed with Super Late Model heat wins along with Brandon Gardner and Fred Snyder claiming Pure Stock heats. All preliminary event wins came down to the wire and only a glimpse of the great racing that would soon follow.
Although Hilltops premier division was small in numbers there was certainly no shortage of on track action. The opening laps saw George Lee and Rick Bond battle door to door for the lead before "The General" Lee took command and never look back until the end. With Bond in close pursuit, Ryan Markham picked up the pace and pulled alongside to challenge Bond for second while Scott Peltz and Justin Chance waged their own side by side battle that came to an end in a tangle, a displeased Peltz charged the caution. The lap five Delaware style restart had Lee up front followed by the remaining field side by side for an entire lap before a rare slip in turn two by Bond allows Markham around, the following lap Markham hits the same slick spot causing the field to check up and pile into one another with Jeff Esbenshade, Jeremy Canada, and Ryan Eddleblute receiving damage. Soon back to green flag racing Lee still the frontrunner with Bond and Markham, Peltz and Chance swapping positions while Esbenshade, Rick Armstrong, and Keith Tish race hard and clean. Near the 20 lap point Markham clears Bond and pulls alongside Lee to challenge the lead but the door slammed hard on the 5m of Markham who quickly fell back to fifth before regaining control. The final lap saw rapid change as Peltz made a valiant last corner charge into second only to surrender his comeback to a cloud of white smoke. Under the checkers, Lee, Bond, Markham, Chance, and Peltz.
I don't know how else to put it but the Modified division at Hilltop simply refuse to accept second billing and proved their point with an exceptional main event this Friday night. At the drop of the green it was a mad dash into the first corner with Thompson Ohio's Jack Young slamming the door on champ Norm Aronhalt to be there first. As the tight field approached the end of the backstretch at full speed cars began sliding everywhere and the potential for a massive pile up tremendous, somehow catastrophe was avoided and only David Hittle suffered enough damage to be eliminated from competition while Kris McCombs was charged the only caution of the race. A complete restart Aronhalt was ready for Jack Young and the entire field stayed side by side for an entire lap before Young secured a short lived lead. Close behind Nick Smith was enjoying the race of his life with Tom Conley and the two soon caught Jess Hartman and create a five way battle for the lead. Aronhalt slips high in the corner, Young secures the lead and Hartman jumps into second when Conley suddenly loses power and coasts infield. With six laps remaining cars are two, three, even four wide battling for position and anybody's race. With lapped traffic coming into play and laps nearing the end it's Hartman and Young side by side. At high speed down the front stretch with the white flag waving Young drifts up the track squeezing Hartman into the wall, Hartman recovers but not in time to deny the invader his first Hilltop feature win. Under the checkers, Jack Young, Jess Hartman, Norm Aronhalt, Nick Smith, and Larry Kugel the top five.
The excitement was far from over as the Pure Stocks took their turn and closed the nights racing activities with unexpected twists. As seen many nights before, champ Fred Snyder and Brandon Gardner would begin the race and go several laps side by side along with Kevin Sharier and Willie Coblentz waging their own battle while Jeff Facemire tries hard to squeeze into the mix. Up front Snyder and Gardner door to door, sometimes nose to tail when Gardner tries his patented front stretch slide jobs on Snyder that always bring a roar from the crowd. With Snyder in the lead Sharier and Coblentz step up their efforts, Coblentz clears Sharier and challenges Gardner in turn four but falls off pace to bring out the caution, despite a push he can't get his motor refired ending any hope of a purple victory. The Delaware restart had Snyder up front, Sharier inside and Gardner outside with Denny Shear and Jeff Facemire right behind. Gardner takes the lead on the backstretch but its three wide into turn four. Suddenly Gardner is off the track, problems too great to continue. Snyder inherits the lead and that's all he needed to cruise to victory. Top five: Snyder, Sharier, Facemire, Shear, and a very pleased Ken Daugherty.
The track was perfect and near dust free, cars fired out of the chute at a rapid pace to create a fast and exciting show, the final checker waved at 10:17 p.m. Could have used a few more cars but no doubt about it, a fantastic night of racing!
Modifieds
Heat 1 - Larry Kugel, Jesse Wardell, Mitchell Lam
Heat 2 - Nick Smith, Rory Reed, David Hittle
Heat 3 - Bruce Miller, Rob Melzer, Josh Morrow
Dash - Norm Aronhalt, Jack Young, Jess Hartman, Kris McCombs,
Tom Conley, Brandon Morrow
Feature- Jack Young, Jess Hartman, Norm Aronhalt, Smith, Kugel, Wardell, Brandon Morrow, Miller, Barry Jacobs, Lam, Kris McCombs, Melzer, Rick Mardis, Reed, Morrow, Tom Conley, Darrick Hubbard, Hittle.
Late Models
Heat 1 - George Lee, Ryan Markham, Chester Elliot
Heat 2 - Rick Bond, Scott Peltz, Justin Chance
Feature - Lee, Bond, Markham, Chance, Peltz, Jeff Esbenshade, Elliott, Rick Armstrong, Keith Tish, Jeremy Canada, Ryan Eddleblute
Pure Stocks
Heat 1 - Brandon Gardner, Kevin Sharier, Jeff Facemire
Heat 2 - Fred Snyder, Willie Coblentz, Ken Daugherty Jr.
Feature - Snyder, Sharier, Facemire, Denny Shear, Kenny Daugherty Jr., Daniel Hinkens, Bo Yarnell, Bob Chilcote, Gardner, Coblentz.
|
