Roy Hill Qualifies on Top, Advances to Third Round at Sportsman Spectacular

Courtesy of Roy Hill Racing
Photo by Bryan Epps / BME Photography

BUDDS CREEK, MD – Drag racing icon Roy Hill found himself in a familiar position at the conclusion of qualifying for the inaugural Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Spectacular at Maryland International Raceway in Budds Creek, MD this past weekend. 

After posting a class-leading 8.646-second elapsed time in the opening round of Super Stock qualifying, Hill cemented the pole position with an even better 8.595 in the final qualifying session Saturday evening. Hill’s Phoenix Racing Ford Mustang Cobra Jets have now qualified number one at every race the team has entered since April. Hill also won class eliminations in Super Stock A/Automatic yet again.

“We had another good weekend,” Hill said. “We went out and were number one qualifier right off the bat and came back and bettered ourselves, and won class. We were very happy with how well we ran in qualifying for Racing Radios, Coca-Cola, Goodyear, and Alsco.” 

Hill contends he could have gone even quicker in the opening round of eliminations Saturday night, but backed off in order to make sure he got the round win.

“The guy in the other lane had a bad light, so I backed off at the stripe since I was way out in front of him” said Hill. “We were two hundredths quicker to the eighth-mile on that pass, so it could have been an 8.57 or so, but I let off so I didn’t break out.”

Sunday would bring a dramatic change in the track surface due to higher temperatures, and Hill struggled to find his combination during the remaining rounds of eliminations.

“The track pretty much went away on Sunday,” Hill said. “Luckily we had a bye in round two, and it spun so hard off the line I just shut it off. We came back and made some adjustments, but just couldn’t run our number in round three.”

Hill faced Nick Chiles in that third round, and despite having a stellar .002 reaction time, Hill spun the tires in second gear and couldn’t catch Chiles at the stripe. He posted an 8.885 on an 8.72 dial-in, while Chiles ran a 10.282 on a 10.25 dial with a .009 light.

“I enjoyed running with IHRA again, and I appreciate all the support from everyone, even the racers,” Hill concluded. “I’m having lots of fun running Super Stock with these guys.”

Instead of heading back south to Sophia, NC, Hill is continuing northward to Epping, NH, where he’ll be hosting a drag racing school on July 12-13 at New England Dragway. The session will feature NHRA Funny Car driver Bob Tasca III as a special guest instructor.

“I couldn’t be happier to be hosting a session of Roy Hill’s Drag Racing School with the Tasca family and lots of their customers,” said Hill. “It’s another great event with the Ford Racing family, so come check us out if you’re in the New England area.”

Visit www.royhillsdragracingschool.com for more information about Roy Hill’s Drag Racing School and the team’s Ford Mustang Cobra Jet Super Stock program.