NALMS 

 

Steve Hillard Takes NALMS Win at Vermilion County Speedway

For Immediate Release:

(Danville IL)Sadorus IL, driver Steve Hillard has been winning at Danville for years, but Sunday night possibly could have been his biggest ever here at the 1/4 mile facility. Hillard, a former track champion in both the sportsmen, and modified divisions, took home his second Northern All-Stars Late Model Feature here, and the $2,000 that went with it.

With 31 late models in attendance, Scott James quickly showed the field the quick way around setting fast time with a time of 14.402. The heat race victories were taken by Steve Hillard, Dick Taylor, Dennis Erb Jr., and Tim Lance. Once again the heat race action was awesome with multiple grooves available to pass on, and the drivers took advantage of it. The semi-feature victors were Fast Qualifier, Scott James, and Dion Deason.

Following the heat races, the winners drew numbers to determine the front two rows of the feature. With Tim Lance, and Hillard on the front row, and Erb Jr., and Dick Taylor on the second, the field was ready to go. On the start, Hillard jumped to the lead. After a brief battle with Lance, Hillard began to work away from the field, as back in the pack the passing was fast and furious. Scott James quickly made his presence felt moving from his 15th starting spot to 7th in 6 laps, only to get some sheetmetal torn up in an altercation, which slowed his progression. Out front Hillard was walking away from the field, and working lapped traffic excellently. Kevin Weaver (who started 11th) and Jim Curry were tracking the leader down in the closing stages, and got help by a lap 26 caution for Roger Long who slipped off the backstretch ending his night. After the caution, the rundown had Hillard, with Curry and Weaver right on his tail. Hillard pulled off to a three car length lead, and went on to the checkered flag, and his second NALMS victory of the year. Hillard in his Budda Enterprises/Tatman’sTowing/Hixson/MasterSbilt, showed why he is one of the hottest drivers in the Midwest. " We really wanted to win here two weeks ago, but this is great too, as this is one of our home tracks. To beat Weaver, and Barnett and Curry, Just makes this even better. I just want to thank my sponsors, and my family for making this possible" said the elated Hillard. Behind Hillard at the finish were Kevin Weaver, Steve Barnett, Jim Curry, and Ernie Barrow. Rounding out the top-ten were Bob Pierce, Tim Lance, Dennis Erb Jr., Scott James, and Doug Ault.

Feature (30 Laps) Steve Hillard, Kevin Weaver, Steve Barnett, Jim Curry, Ernie Barrow, Bob Pierce, Tim Lance, Dennis Erb Jr., Scott James, Doug Ault, Dion Deason, Marvin Burton, Joe Harlan, Jeff Martin, Dick Taylor, Jeff Hartzell, Brett Davis, Roger Long, Shawn Negengard, Jeff Riddell

Fast Qualifier: Scott James (Lawrenceburg In) 14.402

Heat 1: Hillard, Curry, Long, James, Shawn Toczek

Heat 2: Taylor, Pierce, Burton, Ault, Jeff Martin

Heat 3: Erb Jr., Barnett, Weaver, Harlan, Hartzell

Heat 4: Lance, Barrow, Negengard, Deason, Brad Barrow

Semi 1 :James, Ault, Martin, Davis

Semi 2: Deason, Harlan, Hatzell, B.Barrow

Next up for the Northern All-Stars Late Model Series is September 4th at K&L Speedway, Mount Vernon IL, and September 5, at Tri-State Speedway, Haubstaudt IN.

Darin Stewart

Public Relations Consultant

Northern All-Stars Late-Model Series