Vic Hill
The 2014 version of the Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals presented by Old Man’s Garage is set to kick off on Monday night(July 21) at the Wythe Raceway in Rural Retreat, VA. The series will showcase 10 races over the course of the following 13 nights and will crown a champion who will receive $5,053 in points fund money for his efforts.
As has been the case for the past several seasons, Vic Hill plans to be among those who will compete in the Ray Cook promoted mini-series. The Mosheim, Tenn. driver has had his share of success in the Southern Nationals, scoring a total of four wins and achieving a runner-up finish in the 2010 overall standings behind Jonathan Davenport.
“I’ve got a few new crew members and we’ve got a new car,” Hill stated during in a recent interview. “I haven’t got to race a lot this year because I’ve been travelling and doing those off road truck engines, so we’re looking forward to getting our feet wet. We’ll start Monday at Wythe and then go Tuesday to 411 and see how things go.”
After working in NASCAR for teams such as Richard Childress Racing, Hill began building Dirt Late Model engines on his own back in 2000. His Vic Hill Racing Engines company has since branched out into the field of off road truck racing, which has necessitated trips to California and Utah in recent weeks.
Vic Hill will tackle the Southern Nationals in a new Warrior Race Car.
Hill’s experience with racing engines has taught him the keys to getting through a stretch such as this with so many races in such a short period of time.
“The biggest thing is having a surplus of air filters that are clean and you just cycle them in and out,” he explained. “You keep a check on your valves and valve springs. You’ve also got to keep your radiator cleaned out to make sure the engine runs cool because it’s going to be hot in most of these places we go to. And you change the oil and the filters and hopefully don’t have any parts failures.
“It depends on what kind of RPMs you’re turning on the engine as to what your maintenance is going to be halfway through this thing,” Hill added. “Normally, you can do the whole thing with one engine if you don’t have any trouble.”
But this driver and engine builder knows that a good engine isn’t enough to win a series that will take teams to big, wide-open tracks such as the Wythe Raceway and Smoky Mountain Speedway and to tighter layouts such as 411 Motor Speedway and Tazewell Speedway. Hill’s experience with shocks and other setup components will likely pay dividends over the next two weeks.
“There are some big changes,” Hill pointed out regarding the differing types of tracks to be used during the Southern Nationals. “With the tracks up here(east Tennessee), we’ve got a few laps at 411 and we’ve run a lot at Smoky Mountain, Duck River and Tazewell. But when you get down south to Screven, Swainsboro and Modoc, you’re going to see some new stuff.
“We run well at Wythe so we feel like we have a good setup for there,” he said of the track on which he has scored two Southern Nationals wins. “411 will take a totally different setup. Then when you got to Screven and Swainsboro, it’s totally different again. I feel like I’ve gotten better at giving the car what it needs each time we’ve gone down there just because we’ve been there before. We’ve actually got three setups that are pre-set for all these different race tracks.”
So what are the ultimate goals for this veteran racer going into the 2014 Southern Nationals?
“The biggest thing is that it’s fun,” Hill declared. “It’s tough for us blasting around in a dually truck and trailer having to find motels, but it just depends. If you can come out of this deal and win one or two of them, you’re not going to lose a whole lot of money and you’re not going to make a whole lot of money. You’re just going to have some fun. It’s good for us.”
2014 Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Series Schedule:
Monday July 21-Wythe Raceway-Rural Retreat, VA-$3,500 to win/35 laps
Tuesday July 22-411 Motor Speedway-Seymour, TN-$3,500 to win/35 laps
Thursday July 24-Modoc Raceway-Modoc, SC-$3,500 to win/35 laps
Friday July 25-Swainsboro Raceway-Swainsboro, GA-$5,300 to win/53 laps
Saturday July 26-Screven Motor Speedway-Sylvania, GA-$5,300 to win/53 laps
Sunday July 27-Rome Speedway-Rome, GA-$5,300 to win/53 laps
Tuesday July 29-Boyd’s Speedway-Ringgold, GA-$3,500 to win/35 laps
Thursday July 31-Duck River Raceway Park-Wheel, TN-$3,500 to win/35 laps
Friday August 1-Smoky Mountain Speedway-Maryville, TN-$5,300 to win/53 laps
Saturday August 2-Tazewell Speedway-Tazewell, TN-$5,300 to win/53 laps
