Yep, I'm starting out with asphalt news again, and there's a reason for that of course. After reading some of the comments on forums and such, and comparing them to comments I hear about the same track from the pavement guys, it seems the pavement guys appreciate the racing action at Hilltop more than some of the regular dirt folks do. Don't get me wrong, I certainly don't think the track has been perfect at Hilltop lately, but I have to agree with those at Midvale that the show is much better at Hilltop. I won't even get into the difference in time it takes to tow wrecked cars off the tracks. They've also commented on the friendly staff and fans they have met there this year. That says alot when we all know of the rivalry between us dirt folks and those pavement "sissies". ;-) All I can say is yes, the track could always be better at most dirt tracks on any given night, but be careful of what you wish for. Midvale has a smooth and dust free track every week, but you know what I'd choose between asphalt and dirt. Your memory might be a bit foggy if you believe that the track was always perfect last year (at any track), and it somehow turned to shit this season. Think about it and be honest with yourself. Oh well,,enough about all that.

It took weeks to get Mike Miller's car back in racing condition after an ugly incident with the wall a few weeks back. Even though he got some test laps last week, we didn't know what to expect on race night, and were eager to see how it stood against the competition. I'd say it did just fine. Mike turned some great laps in practice, but didn't get the lap he was looking for in qualifying for reasons I won't go into. ;-) Their rules don't allow you to run much better than your qualifying time during any race without getting black flagged. The time they clock you at in the race becomes your new qualifying time and you then take your "new" correct spot in the line-up in the feature. Needless to say, Mike saw the black flag wave while running away from the field in the heat race, and he became the fastest qualifier the hard way, without the benefits of those points. That meant he would start 12th in the feature, and he wasted no time moving forward from the drop of the green. There were a few setbacks including getting driven into the front wall, and getting dragged to the back by slow traffic, but when it was over, Mike was tripping over the 3rd place car. Not a bad night for the first time out in a patched up race car. Things are looking up!

On the dirty side of things, the kids sure seemed to have a blast on Friday night at Hilltop. I'm told that roughly 150 bikes were given away, along with all the other prizes. A HUGE THANKS goes out to all that donated and helped to make this the best Kid's Night I've ever seen at any track. Once again the racing community stepped up and made a difference in the lives of many kids. Nice job folks!!

The racing action may have been hard to see through the dust, but it was certainly out there. The Late Model feature saw a different winner for once, and Hornikel sure as hell worked for it. Chet Alexander has been the guy on the move these past few weeks, and he drove the wheels off that thing to finish 2nd. Lately Chet has been looking like many of us are used to seeing him compete, and if this keeps up he won't be denied that feature win at Hilltop much longer. Give 'em hell Chet!! Congrats also goes out to Rory Reed for picking up a win in the heat race. I know anything less than a feature win fails to make these guys happy, but ya gotta start some place huh? ;-) Congrats goes out to Denny Shear on winning the Pure Stock B-Main too. A cluster fuck in turn 2 kept him from having a strong run in the feature, but he sure looked good in the B-Main. Oh yea,,, I almost forgot to mention that Bill Franks is still no Scott Bloomquist, but I don't figure "Bloomer" was anybody special the first 2 weeks he hit the track either. ;-) That's a bit of an inside joke for those really long time visitors to this site.