Legendary Hilltop Beats Mother Nature And Keeps 2015 Rolling

By Matt Chalfant

For the second week in a row the Legendary Hilltop Speedway beat Mother Nature in order to keep the 2015 racing season rolling at the ¼ mile track just outside of Marietta Ohio. Despite a completely flooded infield and backstretch on Friday, the staff at Legendary Hilltop made the decision to postpone their second show of 2015 from Friday night until Saturday, which after nearly around the clock work by the staff, would result in a very racy surface and an impressive 94 car field for the second night of racing in this very young 2015 season.

The AMRA Late Model field featured some of the region’s top Late Model teams as 30 cars entered Saturday night’s festivities. Former AMRA Late Model champ Chris Garnes would set fast time in qualifying to kick off the evening in AMRA racing action.

Just one week after experiencing mechanical setbacks in his first trip to Legendary Hilltop in 2015, Garnes would continue his strong showing and capture a heat race win in over Travis Brookover and Steve Lucas, who all had intense battles through a very fast paced heat race.

In heat race number two, 2014 AMRA Champion Tyler Carpenter would come from the fourth starting spot, to out-battle veteran Butch McGill and previous week winner Nick Latham to capture a very exciting heat race win. Carpenter, the winner of the heat race, (along with others following the heats), would experience issues in post heat race tech and his (Carpenter) night was unfortunately done.

Heat race number three, would again be a fast paced battle as Derek Doll would capture the heat win over Anthony Kinkade whom was making just his first start in the 53c late model. Billy Guillon, Eric Monk and Zach Hill all had very intense battles for the transfer spot into the night’s feature race.

In the final late model heat, Kyle Thomas would capture his second heat win at Legendary Hilltop in 2015 as he would pull away from Kevin Smith and the rest of the field. In the last chance consolation race number one, Greg Mitchell debuting his new Late Model for 2015, would capture the win after passing Butch McGill who ran a considerable amount of the last chance qualifier on a flat left rear tire. In consolation race number two, Eric Monk would capture the win over Zach Hill and Pete Crum.

The AMRA Late Model feature would start 18 cars and would not disappoint the crowd of nearly 1,500 fans as Chris Garnes would jump to an early lead as Harold Redman Jr and Derek Doll would battle for the runner up spot early. As the race reached its middle stages, battles for position would take place all throughout the field but up front, Anthony Kinkade would battle his way into the 3rd position before moving past Doll as the race reached its final stages. Once in second, Kinkade would chase down the leader Garnes and battle door to door around the ¼ mile track until a late race caution would force a shootout with just 2 laps to go. Following the restart Kinkade would make every effort to take the spot away but Garnes would hold onto the top spot and claim his first feature win of 2015 at the Legendary Hilltop Speedway!

The AMRA modified field would also continue to be strong at Legendary Hilltop as 17 modifieds entered the evening with hopes to capture an early season win. Young Tyler Evans would start the evening off for the modified’s setting the fast lap of the evening.

The first heat race in the AMRA modified’s would become a display of young talent as Kyle Bond would jump to the lead before being chased down by eventual heat race winner Tyler Evans. Scott Peltz would rally to steal the second spot in the heat as Bond would finish third.

In heat race number two, the Evan’s racing team would continue their strong showing with Robbie Evan’s capturing a very exciting heat race win over veteran Andy Bond. The battle between Evan’s and Bond would be an action filled one, as the two cleanly ran side by side for the majority of the heat race before Evan’s managed to make the pass and take the win.

The third and final heat race for the modifieds would see Tom Sigler capture the win over Rick Venham and Jeremy Blake in a fast paced race.

The 25 lap AMRA Modified feature race would be led to the green by the father son duo of Robbie and Tyler Evan’s as they would continue to Evan’s domination of the modified portion of the night. Robbie who jumped to an early lead over son Tyler and Scott Peltz, would fend off multiple bids for the lead by Tyler (Evans) and race his way to a comfortable margin. Following a mid-race restart, another storied racing family would race their way into the top 5 as Kyle Bond and Andy Bond would secure the fourth and fifth spots but further progress through the field was held off by Scott Peltz. With the battles on going throughout the field for the duration of the race, Robbie Evans would never look back and capture his first 2015 feature win at Legendary Hilltop.

The 2nd race in the AMRA Sport Mod’s existence would continue to show the excitement and competiveness associated with this new class as 17 cars would enter the show. Heat race number one would be won by Gary Gould who battled for the feature win the previous week. Gould would win over Tj Roush and Allen Moore. The third heat race was won by Terry Hinkle who would reel off the win over Zack Perine who was debuting his car for the season, as well as Zack Perine’s younger brother Cole Perine who finished third. Heat race number three, would see previous week feature race contender Charlie Martin take the win over 2014 Legendary Hilltop Speedway track champ Darin Clark who was making just his first trip to the track in 2015.

The AMRA Sport Mod feature race would showcase the great mix of youth and experience in this class, as Zack Perine would take an early lead over Charlie Martin and hold the spot throughout the race. Martin would not have an easy job attempting to chase down the leader as Terry Kinkle would make numerous attempts to steal the second spot but with no prevail. As the race reached it’s reached its final stages, the young Cole Perine would race his way into third place before experiencing mechanical issues with just 2 laps to go. Despite his younger brother’s race ending early, Zack Perine would survive late race restarts and secure the feature win, which was his first AMRA Sanctioned Sport Mod race win at the Legendary Hilltop Speedway.

In Legendary Hilltop’s Street Stock class, Mike Martin would win his heat race and later race onto his 99th career overall feature win over Jim Rayner and Mike Mason. The “6 and Under” mini stock feature would see Dennis Adkins capture the feature win over Tommy Adkins in an exciting race that saw battles for position all over the track.

Legendary Hilltop Speedway will be back in action this Friday, April 17th featuring a special show for the AMRA Sport Mods. Legendary Hilltop will also be holding a much anticipated Sunday show, which is currently scheduled to include the always exciting AMRA Late Models.

Octane Race Products is the AMRA Modified sponsor, while Kryptonite Race Cars is the title sponsor for the Late Models. Other fine sponsors of the AMRA Modified series are Dave Poske’s Performance Parts, Wrisco Industries, Hoosier Racing Tire/Hoosier Tire Ohio Valley, AERO Racing Wheels, Two-Brothers Racing, Lincoln Welders & Lincoln Electric, AR Bodies, Hypercoils, Bazell Race Fuels, Alky Racing Alcohol and Sunoco Race Fuels, Impact Racing, RCI, OTR Filters, MSD Ignition, Wilwood Brakes, Kluhsman Racing Components (KRC), Evans Vinyl Signs, Winters Performance Products, Bilstein Shocks, AFCO, PST Drive Shafts, Schoenfeld, and Killer Bee Race Bodies. MSD Ignition is the Official Sponsor of the MSD Ironman Award!

MSD Ignition is the official Ignition of the AMRA. Hall’s Auto Repair and Feet Services is the official sponsor of the AMRA Modified Rookie of the Year! AR Bodies is the official sponsor of the AMRA Late Model Rookie of the Year! Join the AMRA now!-America’s Open Wheeled Modified’s Most Competitive Series!

Drivers and Fans can seek updates on www.amramodified.com or the AMRA Facebook page. The AMRA wishes to thank to all of the racers and promoters who have supported and participated in the past and to those continuing to support and participate in the AMRA. For more information about the AMRA, Visit amramodified.com or visit their facebook page.