Hill takes 12th win of 2009

Maryville, TN (8-30-09) The 3rd Annual Mountain Moonshine Classic at Mountain Raceway Park in Maryville, TN ended in thrilling fashion, no pun intended, as Vic “The Thrill” Hill and Randy “Dream” Weaver battled throughout most of the 30 lap feature before Hill claimed the win and the $2,500 payday by a fender at the start/finish line.

Things got especially dicey as the two negotiated lapped traffic for many laps during the nearly caution-free event. As the laps wound down toward the finish, Hill moved to the back bumper of Danny Yoder of Knoxville and had to make a quick decision to go inside or outside as Weaver was coming on strong on the outside. As the duo came to the checkers off of turn four, Hill nearly got tangled by the lapped car while Weaver made a charge to the high side bringing the crowd to their feet as cheers and waves met the two across the finish line. Ronnie Johnson of Chattanooga, TN finished third, followed by Mark Vineyard of Powell, TN and Billy Ogle Jr. of Knoxville, TN rounded out the top five.

“Randy was definitely quicker at the end because I went a little soft on the right front tire but lapped traffic played a factor. I saw him a couple of times there on the outside and I thought we were gonna lose this thing at the end but we got the job done. I’d like to congratulate those guys on a good run” stated Hill from Victory Lane.

The tight series point’s battle between Billy Ogle and Tommy Kerr of Maryville, TN continued as the two started 9th and 10 respectively. Ogle slowly worked his way to a fifth place finish while Kerr got up to as high as seventh before tangling with a lapped car and spun down the backstretch, ultimately relegating him to a sixteenth place finish.

Hill’s #1 GRT is powered by a Vic Hill Race Engine and is sponsored by Landair Transport, American Race Tire, Petersen Fluid Systems, Pilot and VP Race Fuels.

Hill returns to form at Tazewell

Courtesy Brady Cupp - Tazewell, Tenn. (August 10) — With August's sticky hot days the aptly titled Summer Sizzler proved that the action on the track could be just as hot.

The Summer Sizzler was a two night joint venture with Volunteer Speedway to showcase the area's best Super Late Model drivers. Each night would pay $3000 to win plus a $1000 bonus to the driver with the best average finish of both nights. Kerry Jones of Bristol lead all fifty laps of the feature Friday night at Volunteer Speedway followed by Mark Vineyard and Jeff Maupin. None of these three would opt to come to Tazewell Speedway to try for the $1000 bonus.

Eighteen Super Late Models signed in on Saturday night with Morristown's Vic Hill earning fast time with a lap of 11.395 seconds. Mike Weeks of Friendsville would qualify second. Hill suffered an oil line leak the night before relegating him to a thirteenth place finish. This would all but put him out of the running for the bonus.

At the drop of the green in the fifty lap feature Hill let it be known that he was out to erase the bad luck he had the night before. Weeks, Steve Smith, Anthony White and Tommy Kerr would battle for the top five. On lap twelve Kerr stormed past Weeks and White to take over second. Kerr would use the bottom groove to try and track down Hill who had the advantage coming off the corners. A scare came on lap thirty-one as Hill was catching the cars on the tail of the field. While trying to navigate around the car of Greg Estes they would make contact sending Estes spinning down the back stretch bringing out the caution.

On the restart Hill had his hands full holding off Kerr who worked high and low trying to find an advantage. In the end it was Vic Hill earning his fourth Tazewell Speedway victory of the season in the LandAir Transport, Miller Brothers Coal, Pilot Travel Centers, American Race Tires GRT Race Car powered of course by a Vic Hill Racing Engine. Kerr who finished second would earn the $1000 best average finish bonus. Shon Flanary would be awarded $500 for having the second best overall finish between the two nights. A special thank you goes to Pizza Plus, National Auto Parts & Service, Sunoco Race Fuels, Bearden Oil Company, Pilot Oil Company, Sunbelt Rentals, Hoosier Race Tires and American Race Tires for helping sponsor the Summer Sizzler.