I was lucky enough this weekend to end my 2010 racing season at the same place I kicked it off. Opening night at Hilltop was bitter cold and we even had snowballs thrown at us on the flagstand. Thanks Rita! None of that could take away from the kickass action this place is known for, and their last show of the year was just as impressive. I remember telling Jesse at the start of the season to be prepared for when that "new track owner shine" would wear off sometime during the season. Well, it doesn't seem that has happened yet. Silly me! Hilltop is still the talk of the area racing community, and every time I made the trip this year they had a huge crowd and damn nice car counts. That tells me that they must be doing something right. This weekend was no different with plenty of cars and tons of good folks in the stands for the first annual Mini Stock Nationals. This was a weekend event with the focus on a bunch of racers getting together for a damn good time while getting in their last racing fix of the year. If you missed this show your ass should be black and blue by now. What a show, and all with a party atmosphere. I can't thank the fine folks at Hilltop enough for providing my Saturday night dirt fix every chance I got this year. They always provided one hell of a show and made anybody and everybody feel right at home as soon as they walked through the gates. These folks are a real class act! It's no wonder everybody has been talking about this place all season. I can't wait to see what they have planned for 2011. Jesse and the gang are already working on some new ideas but those won't be released until at least the banquet. All I can say is stay tuned...........
Congrats to Bob Daugherty for picking up the Street Stock sweep winning his heat race and the feature. Damn that car was hooked up all night! Brandon Craver struggled with bad luck all night, starting with contact from a lapped car while running second in his heat race. With a badly bent ball joint he went on the win the heat race though. We made a trip into Millersburg in hopes of finding a new ball joint but no such luck. Ya can't send a Craver home with a car that still rolls so he put it back together just in time for the feature. The kid was once again on a rolling looking like a certain top 3 finish and probably more but ol' lady luck jumped up and bit him in the ass again when the second place car lost it in turn four and cut down Brandon's tire. I sure would have liked to see what he had for Daugherty but we'll have to wait until next year now to find out.
