"JAMMIN" JEFF HILLOCK #41 TAKES TWO IN INTERMOUNTAIN LATE MODEL SERIES

Source: Jon Proctor
Date: 05/14/2000

After a strong qualifying session featuring 22 cars the top six lined up for the trophy dash with last weeks main event winner Russell Butler #25 on the pole due to the invert and Hillock on the outside. Hillock got the jump from the start and stayed out in front for the 6 lap dash.

In the first heat race Frank Andreason #98 had the pole and held the lead until lap 5 when Gary Porter #77 took the lead. On lap seven Kevin Truscott #3 left the track for a minor mechanical problem. Gary Porter took the win for 12 lap heat race, while Mike Brennan #7 lost his engine crossing the finish line causing a 20 minute delay for the start of the next heat race while the oil was cleaned up.

The second heat race featured some fantastic door to door and bumper to bumper racing. Zan Sharp #84 had the pole while Paul Marconi #10 had the outside, with Jared Elwell #99 leaving the track before the green was dropped, 10 cars remained for the 12 lap heat race. On the start Marconi grabbed the lead from Sharp. Lap number two brought a brief caution for the #66 car of Troy Workman when he spun between turns 3 and 4 and backed into the wall causing some body damage to the left rear. After getting turned around and back in line the green was given and the battle between Marconi #10 and Hillock #41 began. Hillock used every trick he had to get around Marconi, but the #10 car was not going to let him by. Lap number out brought a black flag for #11 Brad Young which later turn out to be radiator overflow hitting his headers. The battle between Marconi and Hillock came down to the last lap with Marconi winning by half a car length when Hillock made a last attempt coming out of turn four to get underneath Marconi, but it was not enough.

The 50 lap main event brought more great racing action to the fans. Zan Sharp #84 had the pole with Fred Walker #50 on the outside. The first 5 laps saw movement by the faster cars, Sharp maintained the lead while Hillock #41, Butler #25 started moving up with Rick Ellison #09 right with them. Lap ten saw #66 Troy Workman get sideways between turns 3 and 4, but was able to pull it out avoiding a caution.

On Lap 12 Sharp still held the lead that he obtained from the start, with Butler and Ellison battling it out for 5th the made some hard contact on lap 14 between turns 1 and 2 which put Butler #25 down into the infield while Ellison was able to keep it going. This brought the first caution of the race. After getting the line up sorted out the green flag was given, on lap 16 Sharp still maintained his lead but Hillock had been moving and was in 3rd place.

Lap 17 saw #11 Brad Young leave the track due to overheating and #73 Joel Miller also leave the track for the same problem. Hillock continued his move and on lap 23 took the lead from Sharp, with Clint Kidd #88 in third and Paul Marconi #10 in fourth. Lap 30 saw Kevin Stuaffer #2 Black flagged for a smoking car and 3 laps later the number one qualifier Rick Ellison #09 had to leave the track due to a cut left front tire.

On lap 44 the second and final caution was brought out after Jerry D. Cox #22 run into both #50 Fred Walker and 5th place #63 Marty Zehr causing all three to spin out. During the caution 3rd place #88 Clint Kidd left the track with mechanical problems and did not make it back before the race went green. During this green run last weeks winner left the track on lap 46.

The last 6 laps saw Hillock pull out from the next four cars who where do everything they could jockeying for position allowing Hillock to further his lead for a couple of laps but this was tighten up when lap traffic started to play a role. The final 2 laps saw the 2 through 6th place cars looking for a way to get around Hillock with no luck as he was able to slam the door shut and take the checkered flag making it a double for the night. Further information can be found at www.intermountainseries.com

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