Legendary Hilltop Keeps 2015 Rolling
5 min read
With afternoon temperatures rising into the 90’s on Friday afternoon, over 1,000 dedicated race fans packed the stands at the Legendary Hilltop Speedway in Marietta Ohio for the 6th time this season. With 22 AMRA Late Models, 17 AMRA Modifieds and 8 AMRA Sport Mods along with solid classes in the Street Stock and Mini Stock class, fans were treated to another action packed night of racing.
2015 has been the year of Chris Garnes at the ¼ mile track, and that would not change in qualifying as Garnes would capture the fast qualifier award for the evening. Garnes would continue his strong showing as he would capture a heat race win in heat race number 1 over Derek Doll and Colten Burdette who rounded out the top 3. Heat race number 2 would not disappoint as Anthony Kinkade and Corey Conley would continue their battle from the previous week’s “Topless 30” only this time Kinkade would claim the top spot over Conley with veteran Andy Bond finishing third. Heat race number 3 for the AMRA Late Models would see a fast paced battle for the lead as Freddie Carpenter would jump to the lead and hold off multiple bids for the top spot by Moran, as Carpenter would go on to pick up the heat race win.
With a very stout field of Late Models taking the green flag in the 25 lap AMRA Late Model feature race, those in attendance would certainly get a show as the action was packed from flag to flag. Early in the running, Chris Garnes showed his strength and grabbed the lead, only to be held up when a caution flag flew early for a major caution that would see Devin Moran spin, which also collected Tyler Carpenter and Andy Bond along with others. Once back underway, Garnes would not look back as he would outrun Derek Doll and set a blistering pace throughout the remainder of the race and safely capture his 4th feature win in 6 races at the Legendary Hilltop Speedway. The feature just saw one caution flag and saw Derek Doll finish second over Anthony Kinkade, Corey Conley and Colten Burdette rounding out the top 5.
The AMRA Modifieds would continue their always exciting racing at Legendary Hilltop with veteran Robbie Evan’s claiming the fast qualifying time for the night. Robbie Evans night would continue in heat race number 1 as he would lead the field to the green and quickly battle with veteran Larry Bond and Tyler Evan’s in a battle of great racing families. This time Larry Bond would claim the first place finishing position in front of Robbie Evans and Tyler Evans going on to finish third. Heat race number 2 would see another great battle as 2014 AMRA Champ Kenny Johnson would battle for the lead with Rick Venham Jr throughout the heat but Johnson using his familiar high line was able to pull away and take the heat win with Venham continuing his strong 2015 season by finishing 2nd and Kyle Bond 3rd. The 3rd and final heat race for the night would feature another impressive run by Jesse Wisecarver in his 101 machine take the lead and not look back as he would claim the heat race win over Andy Bond and Robin Ours who was making just his second start of 2015.
The modified feature would take up right where the Late Models left off as exciting racing would take place all over the ¼ mile track. With Larry Bond leading the field to the green, he and Kenny Johnson would battle on a number of starts only to be held up by cautions and once the field was lined up single file for the start, the racing got underway. Bond would jump to the lead with Johnson and Robbie Evans in quick pursuit but as the race wore on, Bond would have the speed to keep Johnson and Evans behind him as he made his number 110 machine work on the outside line throughout the middle and later portions of the race. Following one late race restart with just 2 laps to go, Johnson and Evans had one final shot at Larry Bond and Kenny Johnson would make a show of it as he dove to the inside of Bond on the final lap and raced door to door but Bond’s momentum would prove too strong and he would claim an exciting feature win! Kenny Johnson, Robbie Evans, Rick Venham Jr and Andy Bond would round out a very stout top 5 finishers.
The AMRA Sport Mod’s evenings would continue their exciting innuagural season as heat race number 1 would see Martin Lamm take the lead over Gary Gould until a caution would fly midway through the race. Following the caution, the two would battle door to door but Gould would take the lead and go on to take the heat race win over Lamm who finished 2nd and Bryan Filkins finishing 3rd. Booger Garnes would continue his winning ways in the AMRA Sport Mod class as he would capture the second heat race of the night over Terry Hinkle and Charlie Martin.
The AMRA Sport Mod feature would Gary Gould and Booger Garnes lead the field to the green and battle door to door nearly the entire race. With only 8 Sport Mod’s in attendance, the racing was full of passing and racing all over the track and as the race was reaching its final stages, Garnes would outduel Gould and pull away for the night’s feature win, his 3rd of the season. Gary Gould, Martin Lamm, Charlie Martin and Terry Hinkle would round out the top 5.
In Legendary Hilltop’s Street Stock class, Justin Poling would claim the feature win in his 109 machine, with Todd Chicklo and Brandon Francis rounding out the top 3. Fan’s saw some great racing action in the “6 and Under” Mini Stock class as Tommy Adkins would claim another win in his familiar A2 machine over Casey Butler and Joel Nichols.
Legendary Hilltop will be back in action next Friday May 15th with a special night for kids! The track will be holding their annual kid’s “Gold Rush”, along with the AMRA Poster Night for the young fans at the track! More information on the poster contest can be found on Legendary Hilltop’s social media sites as well as AMRAMODIFIED.COM
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