hill thrills crowd in pontiac excitement 50 at volunteer speedway

morristown resident claims $3,000 prize for taking checkered in pontiac excitement 50

Seymour Herald/Library Photo

The racing was tight and hard-charged Saturday for the $3,000 purse that went to the winner of the first Pontiac Excitement 50 at Volunteer Speedway. The race was won by track veteran Vic "The Thrill" Hill.

By Submitted Reports

published: June 02 2008 12:05 PM updated:: June 04 2008 01:56 PM

With big money on the line at Volunteer Speedway, you can bet Vic “The Thrill” Hill of Morristown was wanting to rob the bank.

Hill made it look easy in pocketing $3,000 for his flag-to-flag victory in the Rusty Wallace Auto Group Pontiac Excitement 50 Saturday night for his second win this season at the high-banked speedplant.

Hill, a four-time (1997, 1998, 2000 and 2005) track champion at “The Gap”, set fast-time at 12.403-seconds (116.104 mph) in qualifying, with Rick Rogers second-quickest at 12.498. The top-12 from qualifying locked into the $3,000-to-win main event, but they ran two six-lap dashes to determine their starting positions.

Rogers took the victory in the first dash over Hill, Billy Ogle Jr., Shanon Buckingham, Brandon Kinzer and Jeff Maupin, which determined starting positions one-through-six. Anthony White held Tommy Kerr off for the victory in the second dash, with Kerry Jones, Bryan Hendrix, Chad Ogle and John Tweed trailing, which determined starting positions seven-through-12.

The final twelve starting spots were determined through a 12-lap B-main, with Mike Smith taking the victory.

Rogers and Hill led the stellar 24-car starting field to the start, and with the green flag waving the duo raced door-to-door down the front straightaway into the first turn. With Hill riding the high-line around turns one and two, he carried momentum off turn two to grab the lead racing down the backstretch over Rogers, Buckingham, Billy Ogle Jr. and Maupin.

Maupin looked to the inside of Billy Ogle Jr. on the third lap racing off turn four to move into fourth in the running order. The event’s first caution waved on lap 10 as the front-runners worked slower traffic at the tail of the field. With Maupin riding on Buckingham’s rear bumper, he looked to the inside of Buckingham at the end of the front straightaway. With the car of Barry Arnold directly in front of Buckingham, and Maupin on the gas down on the bottom, Buckingham tangled with Arnold and spun between turns one and two.

The Delaware Double-File Restart had Hill all alone out front, with Rogers and Maupin side-by-side behind the leader, followed by Billy Ogle Jr. and Kinzer next in line. While it was clear sailing out front for Hill, Maupin was turning up the heat on Rogers for the runner-up spot. Getting a good run off the fourth turn to the inside of Rogers on lap 11, Maupin nosed ahead of Rogers at the start-finish-line and completed the pass for position as they raced into the first turn.

Working his way forward from his eighth-starting spot, Kerr dropped to the inside of Billy Ogle Jr. racing off turn two on lap 16 to move into fifth. With Billy Ogle Jr. relegated back to sixth, action in his rearview mirror between White, Jones, Hendrix and Chad Ogle was intense. Also locked in battle back in the field trying to get inside the top-10 were Mike Smith, Mark Douglas, Shon Flanary, Dale Ball, and Buckingham following his early-race spin that sent him to the tail of the field. Arnold slowed on the high-side between turns three and four on lap 20 to bring out the caution.

Once again going back green double-file, except for the leader Hill out front by himself, Rogers and Maupin had a good view of Hill. Racing into the first turn, Maupin drove in deep on the bottom to stick his nose momentarily under Hill to give the leader a peek. But Hill powered off the upper-groove of the track down the backstretch to secure his advantage out front, and within three circuits he had pulled out to a 10 car-length lead over Maupin and Rogers.

With Hill maneuvering his way past slower cars at the back of the field to place them a lap down with precise execution, Maupin got trapped behind a lapped car on lap 32 between turns one and two that allowed Rogers to make the pass to move into the runner-up position. The final caution waved on lap 42 when Douglas slowed at the end of the front straightaway, coasting to a stop on the high-side off turn two.

Going back green single-file for an eight-lap sprint to the checkers, Hill, driving the No. 1 Chevrolet Impala SS, would not be denied a trip to victory lane and the $3,000 winner’s share of the purse, as he won convincingly over Rogers, Maupin, Kinzer and Kerr.

Completing the top-10 at the finish were Billy Ogle Jr., Jones, Hendrix, Chad Ogle and Flanary.

1. (2) Vic Hill #1-Morristown, TN

2. (1) Rick Rogers #44-Knoxville, TN

3. (6) Jeff Maupin #0-Greeneville, TN

4. (5) Brandon Kinzer #18-Allen, KY

5. (8) Tommy Kerr #4T-Maryville, TN

6. (3) Billy Ogle Jr. #201-Knoxville, TN

7. (9) Kerry Jones #6-Bristol, TN

8. (10) Bryan Hendrix #5-Knoxville, TN

9. (11) Chad Ogle #10-Sevierville, TN

10. (17) Shon Flanary #98-Mount Carmel, TN

11. (4) Shanon Buckingham #50-Morristown, TN
12. (19) Dale Ball #7-Johnson City, TN