Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Second Annual Jack E. Norris Memorial at Hilltop Speedway

Dirt track racing in Northeast Ohio has had many highs and lows this seasonbut one thing is for sure, racing at Hilltop Speedway in scenic HolmesCounty is always a memorable event. Who will ever forget George Lee and hisfoot to the floor, over the edge driving style around the Hilltop highbanks? Modified race fans are witness to history being made as Norm Aronhaltturns away every challenger and currently holds TEN feature wins on theseason thus setting a benchmark that racers of all types will try to breakfor years to come. By no means has this been an easy feat, Stormin' Norm hasearned each and every win against a stellar field of cars and meets with anew challenge every week. There is so much more to say about every divisionand every competitor at this bullring that I must sum it all up by saying ifit's action your looking for, then Hilltop Speedway is the place to find it.


This Friday night at Hilltop Speedway we present our signature event, onethat is sure to also become memorable, but most importantly an eventdedicated to the many memories of a great racing past, The Second AnnualJack E. Norris Memorial. Hilltop Speedway track owner Jeff Norris sharedthis memory with me the other day; " I was very young when my dad lost hislife while in the heat of competition, a lot of what I know is just fromlistening to all the great stories but I do remember being loaded up in thefamily sedan and going all the way out to a paved short track somewhere nearIndianapolis. For a kid like me and back in the '60s that was a long tripbut everyone was excited Dad had an opportunity to test a professionallybuilt race car for a very well known car owner. You know the racing backhome at that time was nothing more than those cut down rail jobs, I guessthey were called modifieds at the time and we were always in the top threewith over two hundred trophies to show, these cars eventually progressedinto Sprints but here was a shining low slung race car with long exhaustpipes running along the side and this was Dads big chance. I guess if youwanted to make an impression you had to make that car go faster than itsever been, at least faster than the last guy to drive it. Well things didn'tgo that great and the car ended the day on its side. Dad gave that careverything it had and was thankful to even have this chance. I wish I couldremember more about that but definitely something I will never forget. Ithink about that every time I see someone strap into one of these things(Sprints) and what it takes to wheel around a race track at the speeds theyproduce. These cars and the drivers are really amazing to see in action."


Welcome to: The Second Annual Jack E. Norris Memorial, August 10, 2007 featuring 410Sprints, Super Late Models, Modifieds, Pure Stocks, and Mini Stock dirtracers. You will never find more action than at Hilltop Speedway thisweekend for only $15 general admission, $30 pit side and to attract the verybest Sprint Car race teams we offer $2,000 to win along with a very generouspurse throughout the field. We swing open the gates at 5:00 Fridayafternoon, Hot Laps followed by Time Trials for Sprints and Late Models at6:30, with racing scheduled to begin by 8:00. The track is a high banked 1/3mile dirt oval and Chad Blonde holds the official track record in a sprintcar at 12.155 seconds set on June 27, 2007. Hilltop Speedway is located 3miles south of Millersburg Ohio on County Road 150. County Road 150 islocated at the Ohio Rt 83 / US Rt 62 split or traveling north on Rt 83 turnleft just past Clark city limits. Please visit www.hilltopspeedway.net formore information

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