HOME 06 POINTS 06 SCHEDULE 2007 RESULTS

 

A Night For The Record Books
by Ken Cunningham

5/26/06 Millersburg Ohio : Drivers and fans were greeted by prisitine track conditions when they rolled into Hilltop Speedway this Friday evening but a suddden downpour quickly buried a weeks worth of preparation below a layer of muck.
With persistent and threatening weather conditions partly responsible for lower than average fan and driver attendance along with a ruined racing surface most speedways would throw in the towell. "We worked too hard this week not to see a race. I have a priority set to get a race in on time but we dont have a curfew and I dont care if we're all here till six in the morning. We are gonna race." It soon became apparent the task at hand was too much for the tracks run in vehicles and the heavy artillery was called in, the large six wheeled grader up first to the challenge but could not muster the traction needed to move the wet heavy clay. With guidance from Ed Fredericks a large bulldozer was called upon and after a few passes the track was soon ready for a more conventional run in. The Mini Stocks were first to take to the track and circled the slick surface often completely sideways followed by Modifieds, Pure Stocks, and even the Late Models pitched in to help get the track into shape.

 

 

The Late Models wide tires were exactly what was needed and by 10:30 pm the first Late Model heat rolled out onto a smooth and super tacky race track much to the liking of Blaine Aber as he claimed the first win from the tail. Next taking checkers were Doug Drown and D.J. Miller in Late Models, Kevin Morehouse and Allan Baker in the Modified division, Tim Myers and Denny Shear driving Pure Stocks, followed by Mini Stock racers Rick Maffett and Andy Parks. The heats ran very quickly so a short intermission followed to allow drivers time to prepare their cars.

 

 

Anticipation and excitement filled the air as the Late Model feature lineup rolled out of the pits and over the high banked corner with Blaine Aber and Doug Drown filling the front row of seventeen starters. At the drop of the green Drown let his Rocket fly taking the lead before the first corner with Aber and DJ Miller in tow but the action was short lived as both spins and broken driveshafts would bring out the yellow. Another short green flag run when Charleston West Virginia driver Travis Brookover slipped sideways and collected both Josh McMorrow and Jeff Wright. As racing resumed Miller turned up the heat to pressure Aber for the second spot but lost his grip in turn 3 for another caution and sent to the tail. As the field realigned hometown favorite Charlie Duncans machine came to a stop on the track and required a lift pitside. On this restart Drown and Aber were still one and two but now with Ryan Markham in the hunt he quickly disposed of Aber and set his sights on Drown. The duo constantly exchanged the lead lap after lap as Aber enjoyed a front seat view to this show. Racing from the tail a hard charging Miller picked off cars one by one to eventually catch Aber once again but time ran out before he could advance further. Two consecutive yellows slowed the action but not the excitment as Drown and Markham picked up right where they left off. At the white flag Markham gave Drown his best shot and momentarily pulled into the lead but a banzai move by Drown high off the turn four cushion propelled the # 12d machine into the lead for good. All smiles and still feeling the effects of an adrenaline rush Drown exclaimed, " Racing with Markham like that, that's the most fun I've ever had! "

Kevin Morehouse and Allan Baker lead the Modified field onto the track and after one false start Baker of Massillon Ohio immediately powered his homebuilt # 99 into the lead and on to a non stop green to checkers feature win. Morehouse kept the pressure on but settled for second. Close behind a serious battle took place between Larry Kugel and Kyle Brown who finished in that order followed by fifth place finisher Rory Reed.

At the start of the Pure Stock feature Fred Snyder jumped into the lead but lost power in the first corner forcing a restart and his #7 Ford sent to the tail. When racing resumed we saw a fierce 3 way battle for the lead between Tim Myers, Denny Shear, and Paul McVickers. Myers took control and stretched his lead into what seemed to be a sure win but the Fine 55 cornered just a little too low passing a lapped car clipping a large mud clump and spun. This set the stage for a side by side shootout between Shear and Snyder with Snyder taking the win. Parked in victory lane Snyder stated, " This is just great, my dad won a lot of races here and was the Hilltop Track Champion back in 1968. Now I've got a win here".

The Mini Stocks finished the night off with another non stop event as Rick Maffett and Andy Parks fought back and forth most of the race before Maffett slipped up and fell back giving Dale Beckett his point. Hard charging Jeremy Lucas worked his way up from his ninth starting spot to challenge Beckett for the second while Ed Ray and Maffett filled the top 5.

This night would not have been possible without the help of Ken and Dustin Hosteter of Diversified Services who have been helping at Hilltop since day one. Fantastic job on that race track !

 

 

RESULTS -

Late Models :
Doug Drown, Ryan Markham, Blaine Aber, D. J. Miller, J. R. Gentry, Eric Smitley, Mark Gardiner, Ty Myers, Charlie Duncan, Andy Fike, Michael Stiltner, Josh McMorrow, Jeff Wright, Travis Brookover, Jim Gentry, Tracey Fritter, Mike Stiltner, Mike Graber - d.n.s.

Modifieds :
Allan Baker, Kevin Morehouse, Larry Kugel, Kyle Brown, Rory Reed, Steve Saylor, Gary McGregor,
Rick Wolford.

Pure Stock :
Fred Snyder, Denny Shear, Paul McVicker, Tim Myers, Tom Wilson, Jim Weller, Raymond Hickson,
Dave Haven, Scott Carpenter - d.n.s.

Mini Stocks :
Andy Parks, Dale Beckett , Jeremy Lucas, Ed Ray, Rick Maffett, Jerry Adkins, Brian Dawson, James Hyre, Dave Sampsel, Delbert LaRue, Matt Brady, Jesse Baker, Jeff Dovenbarger,
Henry Britton - d.n.s. Jeremy Madison - d.n.s.

 

Above images are thumbnails - click to see full size
All images (c) Ken Cunningham Photo