Credit: Jeffrey Turford - www.TheDriversProject.com
By Tommy Goudge (June 15, 2016) Six Nations, Ontario – Alex Hill’s season of firsts continued last weekend, as the 16 year old driver and her #77x Sprint Car team competed at The Sprint Car Capital of the World for the first time.
Alex was a bit nervous about racing at Knoxville Raceway for the first time, but she quickly forgot about that once she got onto the famed Iowa half-mile. Unlike her first Eldora Speedway experience a few weeks ago, the cushion at Knoxville wasn’t right next to the wall.
“It was a great track and I love it there. It wasn’t as fast as I thought, but I think no track will compare to Eldora,” Alex laughed. “It was fun and it didn’t take that long to get comfortable, because the track wasn’t right around the top right at the beginning – It slowly made its way up to the wall, but it wasn’t even really near the wall.”
Her time trial effort of 16.965 seconds on Friday was good enough for 16th overall, but the time was disallowed when her car was found to be light at the scales. She started 10th and finished 9th in her heat race, and followed that by running from 19th to 15th in the A-Feature.
Saturday started better, as Alex’s time of 16.552 seconds was good enough for 15th overall in qualifying. She kept eventual feature winner Clint Garner and other strong contenders behind her to claim 2nd in her heat race.
“She would have won the heat, but (the leader) missed the bottom and slid up in front of her which killed her momentum coming to the white (flag),” noted crew chief Daryl Turford.
A close call with another competitor resulted in a spin at the finish line in the Saturday night A-Feature, and she was credited with 17th.
Next up for Alex and her #77x is a home track race at Ohsweken, Ontario on Friday, June 17, followed by a Saturday, June 18 race at Waynesfield, Ohio against the National Racing Alliance Invaders series. She finished 13th in her last Ohsweken start on June 3, and got rained out in her last try at Waynesfield on May 28.
BACK AT HOME…
-Cory Turner started 14th and finished 13th in the A-Feature on Friday night at Ohsweken, with invaders from the Patriot Sprint Tour on hand to take on the weekly Friday night racers. Cory remains 5th in the Ohsweken points standings with his #97 after four weeks.
-Dain Naida finished 2nd in the Patriot Sprint Tour dash race at Ohsweken on Friday, but wasn’t able to start the A-Feature due to mechanical problems. Dain is still 3rd in the Ohsweken points standings with his #17x after four weeks.
-Shone Evans and Jerry Hill continued their rookie campaigns in Ohsweken’s Crate Sprint Car division on Friday. Evans crossed the finish line 9th after starting 13th, while Hill came home 11th. Evans has his #87x sitting 7th in the points standings, while Hill’s #49h is 10th.
-Steve Hess started 14th and moved up to finish 11th in the Thunder Stock A-Feature at Ohsweken on Friday. Steve has his #777x sitting 6th in the points standings after four weeks.
LINKS
Website: www.HillsRacingTeam.com
Twitter: @HillsRacingTeam
Facebook: search “Hill’s Racing Team”
Instagram: www.instagram.com/HILLSRACING
HILL’S HELPERS
The Hill’s Racing Team would like to thank Iroquois Hereford Farms, Townline Variety, BMO Bank of Montreal, Tony Stewart Racing, CARSTAR Collision & Glass Service, Ackland Insurance, M-One, Davis Fuels, and Engine Pro Racing. Visit www.HillsRacingTeam.com to find out how you can join the team!
MAILING LIST
Send an e-mail to tgoudgecommunications@gmail.
