Hilltop opener p.r. and results

[klunky]

FLY Motorsports
db Legendary Hilltop Speedway
Marietta, Ohio
6/22/12

---for immediate release to all media outlets---

Carr and Thomas get career firsts wins!, Weppler, Fluharty and Adkins join opening night victors @ the 'Legendary Hilltop Speedway'

The long idle Hilltop Speedway near Marietta, Ohio awoke from a long respite, as the half century old facility once again came to life after a decade of inactivity.
A large and enthusiastic opening night crowd were rewarded with high octane excitement, as 5 divisions of racing provided great on track action.

Ripley, WV's Nick Carr started 4th in his qualifying heat, but quickly found the fast line and moved into the lead when early leader Brandon Barnhart faltered late. He and fellow heat winner Shawn Donahue paced the field for the start of the 20 lap AMRA main event.
Carr outdueled Donahue, grabbing the lead from his outside pole position at the end of the first circuit. Darren Smith moved past Donahue and pressured Carr for the position, and was joined late in the going by Darren McDonald. Carr was steady as a rock, and when the Smith - McDonald battle became white hot the final 5 circuits, took advantage to extend his slender lead.
Carr blasted under the checkered flag, taking his career first feature win with a 10 car length advantage and in the process etched his name in the track's long list of feature winners.
Smith narrowly edged McDonald in a great late race battle, with Curt Reck and Shane Roush completing the top 5.

After an opening lap fracas relegated pole starter Levi Flesher to the tail, 2nd heat winner Chris Thomas bolted off the front row to grab the initial lead in the TSMA Hot Mod main event. Fellow young lion Curtis Watson was hot on Thomas's heels, but the positional battle behind the lead duo had the crowd's attention.
6th starting Lou Ennis, 8th starting Kip Todd and 10th starting Mike Conkle all were moving forward, and by the race mid-point were joined by Flesher who was charging back through the field after re-starting in the last position. Flesher was literally picking cars off at the rate of one a lap and had his sights set on squeezing inside of Watson as the pair dove into turn one. Flesher's great drive ended as an infield marker tire lodged under his car, and set the field up for a final dash to the checkered flag.
Alma, WV's Thomas was as cool as the other side of the pillow in picking up his career first feature in just his first season in the Hot Mod division. Watson held off the hard charging Conkle as the lead trio were presented trophies. Thomas's win was worth $500 in part because of the purse boost provided by Thomas Sigler of Sigler Fabrication. Kip Todd edged Lou Ennis in a great top five battle.

Marietta, Ohio's Lucas Weppler and Mineral Wells, WV's Bill Fordyce put on a door to door lead battle in the Pure Stock main before the 6th starting Weppler shaded Fordyce for his first lead of the event at the race's mid-point. Fordyce stuck to his top line, but Weppler worked the bottom to perfection in taking the opening night win. Following the lead duo to the pay window were Ted Lescody, Levi Wright and Greg Conger.

In racer's heaven, early Hilltop standout Pat Herrick had to be smiling as grandson Brandon Fluharty blew the field away in the Mod-Lite main event. The young New Martinsville, WV ace made the semi-banked quarter mile his personal playground in leading all 15 circuits. Fellow heat winner James Watson gave chase but could never muster the speed required to challenge Fluharty. The lead duo was chased to the finish line by Zack Watson, Bill Thorla and Terry Styer.

The evening nightcap was the 4 cylinder main where Portland, Ohio's Tom Adkins led flag to flag, staving off challenges by Seth Thaxton, Denzil Barker and finally Josh Salyers in the fast paced 15 lap main. Salyers kept pace with Adkins but the opening needed to make a winning pass never materialized. Chris Lauer, Seth Thaxton and Duston Daugherty rounded out the top 5.

Zach Carr edged Cole Mayle in the Mini-wedge main followed by Austin Washburn, heat winner Darryl Murphy, Toby Wilson, Samantha Roush and Corey Dotson.

A full slate of races is on tap every Friday night at the Legendary Hilltop Speedway, with gates opening at 4:30 and races beginning at 7 p.m.

results:

AMRA Modifieds: Nick Carr, Darren Smith, Darren McDonald, Curt Reck, Shane Roush, Shawn Donahue, David Wilson, Gabriel Sigler, Brandon Barnhart, Frank Roush. Heat winners: Donahue & Carr

TSMA Hot Mods: Chris Thomas, Curtis Watson, Mike Conkle, Kip Todd, Lou Ennis, Todd Chicklo, Mike Mason, Brad Dickson, Stevi Magyar, Bill Sigmon, Levi Flesher, Chad Dotson. Heat winners: Flesher & Thomas

Pure Stocks: Lucas Weppler, Bill Fordyce, Ted Lescody, Levi Wright, Greg Conger, Matt Maloney, Donnie Dotson III. Heat win to Fordyce

Mod-Lites: Brandon Fluharty, James Watson, Zack Watson, Bill Thorla, Terry Styer, Troy Collins, Steve Weekley, Joe Rogers Jr, Joe Rogers Sr, Brian Herrington, Tyler Riggs. Heat winners: Fluharty & J. Watson.

4 cylinders: Tom Adkins, Josh Salyers, Chris Lauer, Seth Thaxton, Duston Daugherty, John Sinnett, John Rankin, Billie Boswell, Denzil Barker Jr, Gary Hensel Jr. Heat winners: Adkins & Thaxton.

---end of press release---

[Kyle]

Great opening night at Legendary Hilltop! I look for many more visits this summer.

[CWatson51]

thanks again to sigler fabrication for sponsoring the hotmods this weekend. also thanks again for the trophys for top 3 a very nice gesture ! theres a lot of good things i saw for an opening night. and im glad theres a place for our class to grow on friday nights!

keep up the good work!

[dirtracer]

Would love to see some latemodle (steel block) i know i would come with mine. And i heard a bunch of guys say they would like to come down.

[dirtyracin08]

i would love to see the crate lates run here also but I would wait till they can make sure they get a few races under there belt before bringing guys like that in especially if they cant keep the track to hold moisture because it would be a cloudy mess of dust. Hands down this track could take off and be a track worth going to in the end.