Hilltop Speedway hosts its own brand of crash-up derby
Coming out of turn four, during Heat 2 of the evening-opening Tri-State Modifieds event, Matt Samples went airborne and into a spectacular rolling tumble, banging up the No. 44 car badly, but walking away from the tangled mess OK physically.
Samples would watch Rory Reed sprint out to the lead for the first two laps of the feature race, before Kevin Morehouse caught him on lap three and Doug Drown passed him two laps later, as Reed stayed behind with the rest of the pack while Morehouse and Drown created a gap and battled for the lead, with Morehouse eventually racing past the waving checkers in his No. 28 car, to maintain his season points lead, reach the winner’s circle for the sixth time in 2011, and tie Street Stocks driver Brandon Gardner for the most wins at “The Hill” since ‘06, with 31.
Justin Gardner would finish 10th in the 17-car Street Stocks feature Saturday night, as Bob Daugherty blew away the rest of the field for his fourth win of the season, after watching Justin Chance fly over the turn two guardrail and smash into a tree on the first lap of the Holmes Tire Late Model main, with flagman Eddie Frederick still waving the green flag at the start of the race.
Gardner would back away from the tree just as safety crews arrived and eventually return to the race to finish ninth in the 17-car field, as Drown passed Jason Flory on lap four, following the restart, and the Wooster driver held on for the win.
Killbuck driver Terry Adkins registered his sixth win in the Guerne Heights Drive-In Mini Stocks feature as he went flag-to-flag to beat out Gary Hensel Jr. and Chris Priebe, while Jack Large went green-to-checkered in the Atom’s Pest Control Trucks feature, holding off David Potts and Kevin Potts, and creating Large bookends around the father/son combination -- with Steve Large crossing the line fourth -- as he cruised into the winner’s circle for the third time this season, continuing a trend in which a Large or a Potts has won the truck feature six times in ‘11.
Dillyn Wyer capped the night by winning his first feature of the year, beating out Blake Morris in the Mini Wedges to pick up some points and jump-start his racing career.
Double points will be on the line Saturday, August 20, when Hilltop hosts Season Championship Night, with the title in all six divisions still up for grabs.
The gates will open at 4 p.m., with racing action scheduled to get underway at 7:30 p.m.
For more information and all the latest track news, log on to http://www.HilltopSpeedway.org.
Tri-State Modifieds
Heat one: Rory Reed, Eddie Wilson, Josh Pyers, Robert Page, Jeff Dovenbarger, Vern Mardis, Virgil Eaches, Dave Sampsel, KevinDavis
Heat two: Hilton Eppley, Doug Drown, Ryan West, Larry Kugel, Rick Mardis, Jeff Votaw, Josh Cairati, Matt Samples, Kevin Shairer
Heat three: Kevin Morehouse, Norm Aronhalt, Robin Duston, Eric Singhaus, Darrick Hubbard, Vic Hottinger, Dustin Wheeler, Brock Burcher, Bob Schippers
Last Chance No. 1: Hottinger, Votaw, Wheeler, V. Mardis, Burcher, Sampsel, Eaches, Davis, Schippers, Cairati, Samples (dns), Shairer (dns)
Feature: Morehouse, Drown, Aronhalt, Reed, Eppley, Kugel, Hubbard, Duston, West, Hottinger, R. Mardis, Wilson, Votaw, Page, Pyers, Dovenbarger, Singhaus, Wheeler
Holmes Tire Late Models
Fast qualifier: Cody Parker 14.756
Dash: Jason Flory, Doug Drown, Thomas Baker, Justin Chance, Parker, Kristin Flory
Heat one: Keith Tish, Doug Smith, Larry Bellman, Brian Giaugue, Norm Aronhalt, Dave Hornikel (dns)
Heat two: JR Gentry, Steve Prince, Travis Leyda, Randy Pollock, Mike Graber
Feature: Drown, J. Flory, Parker, Baker, K. Flory, Prince, Aronhalt, Pollock, Chance, Leyda, Bellman, Graber, Gentry, Tish, Smith, Giaugue, Hornikel (dns)
Street Stocks
Heat one: Bob Daugherty, Brandon Craver, Bob Chilcote, Bob Fry, Jeff Votaw, Robert Smith, Joey Spearman, Jimmy Morey, Jason Shairer
Heat two: Todd Swim, Kenny Daughriety Jr., Kenny Daughriety Sr., John Wilson, Justin Gardner, Jeremy Dickerson, Randy Ryan, Craig Fry
Feature: Daugherty, Swim, Daughriety Jr., Chilcote, Dickerson, Craver, Wilson, Daughriety Sr., Spearman, Gardner, Votaw, Ryan, Smith, B. Fry, Shairer, Morey, C. Fry (dns)
Guerne Heights Drive-In Mini Stocks
Heat one: Jason King, Gary Hensel Jr., Dustin Daugherty, Jimmy Stilson, Mike Beckert, Steve Miller, Brett Adkins
Heat two: Terry Adkins, Chris Priebe, Matt Kemp, James Priebe, Kevin Markey, Elliot Robinson
Heat three: Michael Rose, Blain Markey, Moose Workman, Josh Gentry, Desi McHenry, Jesse Starner
Feature: T. Adkins, King, Hensel Jr., C. Priebe, Rose, B. Markey, Daugherty, Gentry, Workman, K. Markey, Starner, McHenry, Stilson, Robinson, B. Adkins, J. Priebe, Kemp, Beckert, Miller (dns)
Atom’s Pest Control Trucks
Heat one: Steve Large, Kevin Potts, Scott Gray, Gordon Zimmer, Jerry Gardner, Brad Phillips, Darrick Hubbard Jr., Kyle Cline
Heat two: Jack Large, David Potts, Rolly Heyder, Mitch Caskey, Cole Lillibridge, John Large, Tony Wengerd, Gary Hensel Sr.
Feature: Jack Large, D. Potts, K. Potts, S. Large, Caskey, Heyder, Gardner, Zimmer, Hensel Sr., Gray, Lillibridge, Wengerd, Hubbard Jr., Phillips, John Large (dns), Cline (dns)
Mini Wedges
Heat one: Dillyn Wyer, Josey Lillibridge, Hannah Rose, Evan Large, Taylor Huggins
Heat two: Blake Morris, Phil Bubeck, Charity Bubeck, Tristen Lillibridge, Donovan Dickerson
Feature: Wyer, Morris, T. Lillibridge, Dickerson, J. Lillibridge, Rose, Huggins, P. Bubeck, C. Bubeck, Large