The Hill Speedway closed out their points season Friday night with over a hundred cars in the pits, and a near record number of fans in the spectator area. Lamphere Truck Parts of Monroeton joined with Space Mountain Fireworks to provide the fireworks in the sky, with the season championship fireworks on the track providing it's own brand of excitement. While this was the final points night at The Hill, it should be noted that track management has decided to continue Friday night racing on through the end of September.
Matt Browning earned his seventh feature win in a row, the ninth of his season, to claim his second Front Wheel Drive Four Cylinder season championship in a row. Twenty cars took the green flag in the 30 lap special feature with Jake Lamphere setting the early pace. Greg McKernan took over the top spot for the next four laps when 2018 Champion Adam Delgrosso took the lead. Delgrosso held off Browning until the midpoint, and kept close to the leader for the remainder of the event, but had to settle for second at the checkered flag. Josh Bailey was involved in a yellow on the eighth lap, but smoothly drove back through the field to record third. Ryan Wood was fourth, with Ken Evans finishing fifth. Heats were won by Ryan Wood, Greg McKernan, and Adam Delgrosso.
FEATURE FINISH: Matt Browning, Adam Delgrosso, Josh Bailey, Ryan Wood, Ken Evans II, Mike Wilcox, John Maynard, Jake Lamphere, Dakota Decker, Greg McKernan, Austin Howard, Patrick Brown, Gavin Maryott, Tim Johnson, Steve Castle, Greg Slater, Tim McAdam, Dave Maxwell, Randy Lane (DNS), Lou Sprawls (DNS)
A jam up in the first lap of the Pure Stock feature put pole starter Bob Maynard and second in points Cole Burgess to the back of the field , and points leader Mike Morse out front. Maynard made a determined charge and by the seventh lap he had made it back to third, taking over second on lap eight. Maynard shadowed the leader for much of the race, until in heavy lap traffic, he bid and won the lead on the twenty third circuit. Burgess powered into third with five to go, as Morse challenged to regain the top spot. On the final lap, Maynard left the bottom lane open in turn three, and Morse drove to the bottom. The pair made contact and stayed together through turns three and four, continuing contact all the way to the finish line. The pair separated momentarily after the checkered flag, but Maynard steered into the Morse car again in turn one, causing major damage to both cars and ending with the Morse machine on top of Maynard's hood. Morse was penalised for the aggressive initial contact by placing him as the last car on the lead lap in the finishing order, and Maynard was deleted from the finishing order. Cole Burgess was awarded the win, with Jerred Dennis second and Josh Parker third. Heats were won by Morse and Parker.
FEATURE FINISH: Cole Burgess, Jerred Dennis, Josh Parker, Mike Morse, Leo Elridge, Zack Kriner, Tim Perham, Dalton Decker, Nathan Kriner, Josh Vanderpool, Brad Chilson.
Going into the IMCA Style Modified main event, 2019 Champ Jake Maynard held a slim six point lead over Keith Jack Lamphere. The expected battle for the championship didnt materialize, however, as Maynard was out of the event by the ninth lap with suspension damage. Lamphere took over the second spot about the same time, and finished the race there, which secured the Championship. Gary Lamphere powered into the top spot on the fifth lap and fought off all challenges to record his second win of the season. Brad Sites took over tut hird with five laps remaining and led Eddie Sites and J.W. Lamphere across the finish. Qualifying heats went to Eddie Sites and Keith Jack Lamphere.
FEATURE FINISH: Gary Lamphere, Keith Jack Lamphere, Brad Sites, Eddie Sites, J.W. Lamphere, Doug Lantz, Jason Sullivan, Ray McClure, A.J. Hunsinger, Harry Ely, Matt Benjamin, Keith Lamphere, Jake Maynard, Logan Terry.
Chad Homan has owned Victory Lane in the Crate Late Models, since making his debut back in June, and this one was no different as he cruised to his seventh win of the season. Steve LaBarron kept the pressure on throughout, but settled for second. Second in the night's feature was good enough for LaBarron to win the points championship ,however, as the final tally shows a tie between LaBarron and Darin Horton, with the tiebreaker being the number of feature wins. Kurt Stebbins finished third, Horton ffg ourth and Mike Epler fifth. Homan also won the lone heat race.
FEATURE FINISH: Chad Homan, Steve LaBarron, Kurt Stebbins, Darrin Horton, Mike Epler, Ernie Martin, Jared Keeney, Joe Lane
The points gap for the Rear Wheel Drive Four Cylinders has be close all season and only 17 points separated A. J. Lane and Larry Colton going into the final points feature. Colton got to the lead on lap seven, with Lane in pursuit, and Lane took over on the eleventh lap. Colton kept the pressure on, but mechanic as l problems dropped him from competition with two laps to go. Randy Mathews Jr. took over the second spot with Brett Gleason third, Eric Ellsworth fourth, and Zack Bruce fifth. A.J. Lane and Scott Bump won heats.
FEATURE FINISH: A.J.Lane, Randy Mathews Jr, Brett Gleason, Eric Ellsworth, Zack Bruce, Brett Neally, Billy Groover, Larry Colton, Shane Rockwell, Andrew Collins, Scott Bump,Trevor Belcher, Shawn Gowin.
Going into the final points feature for the Snell Metalfab Crate Sportman. The top three were separated by less than 20 points... after the checkered flag waved, the top three were separated by only four points, and there was a new leader. Rich Talada turned a second place feature finish into a one point lead for the points championship. Dalton Maynard took the lead from Jason Benjamin on the fourth lap, with Rich Powell and Talada making it a four car group for most of the race. Talada pressured from second, but could not overcome Maynard. Powell did get around Benjamin, but the points leader needed to finish ahead of Talada to lock in the title. Conner Brown gained two spots in the last five laps to finish fifth in the thirty lap special event. Powell, Talada, and Brown each won qualifying races.
FEATURE FINISH: Dalton Maynard, Rich Talada, Rich Powell, Jason Benjamin, Connor Brown, Christian Zschoche, Isabel Barron, Jordan Bacon, Kinser Hill, Eric Jensen, Mathew Sullivan, Lee Sharpsteen, Reese Hackett, Chris Clemens, Tony Harris, Braden Buchanan, Quentin Buchanan.
Last year, Earl Zimmer won a lot of races on his way to the points title, but this year he did it with consistent finishes and never won a points feature. A solid fourth place finish locked him into the points championship at the end of thirty hard fought laps. Kurt Stebbins hauled over two hours to make his second appearance at The Hill this year, and he made it count, taking the lead from Dustin Maynard on lap four and setting the pace all the way to the finish. Maynard held the runner up spot and Dan Force finished third, and Lou Sharpstown followed Zimmer across the line to record fifth. Mike Koser, Dustin Maynard, and Bobby Maynard won heat races.
FEATURE FINISH: Kurt Stebbins, Dustin Maynard, Dan Force, Earl Zimmer, Lou Sharpsteen, Austin Allen, Butch Green, Ben Hulslander, Dylan Hinkley, Trevor William's, Mike Koser, Jakub Ingham, Rick Davis, Eddie McKernan, Thomas Moon, Dave Stalker, Bill Tice(DNS) Bob Maynard(DNS)
The final event of the night was a special ten lap match race between Keith Jack Lamphere in an IMCA Style Modified and Rich Talada in his Crate Sportsman. The race created $2100 to a local charity and was won by Talada.
The Hill will continue hosting non points races for it's seven regular divisions through the end of September, weather permitting. Gates open on Friday nights at 5pm, with practice starting at 6:30, and racing scheduled for 7:00. Unique in that it has no grandstands, the hillside overlooking the track is groomed and maintained for groups to lay out blankets or set up lawn chairs. There are also park and view spots from turn four around to turn two that are available for a nominal fee. The Hill normally runs every Friday night from Spring til September. The track is located just a couple miles off route 414, at the intersection of Dunn Hill Road and Banks Road in Monroeton PA. For further info check their Facebook page, or their web page at
www.thehillspeedway.com