By Robert Walden BULLS GAP, Tenn. (Aug. 4) — Over the years Vic Hill has written his name in the history book at Volunteer Speedway as a four-time (1997, ’98, 2000 and ’05) track champion, and along the way won over 50 career feature races. And it looked like he was going to add yet another victory Saturday on Pizza Plus Night at the Races, leading the “Gateway Ford” Super Late Model main from the drop of the green flag to where he could see the checkered flag waving coming off the fourth turn. However, Kerry Jones of Bristol sped past Hill to overtake him for the $2,000 victory, Jones’ third feature win on the season. “I cannot believe we won this race,” said a smiling Jones from victory lane after climbing from his car. “We had a good car tonight, but you have to give credit where it’s due and really we had a second-place car. To beat Vic (Hill) here you’ve really got to run your best, because he’s definitely got his act together. He’s won a lot of races over the years, and to be quite honest, to run second to him here isn’t exactly the worst thing in the world. “There on the last lap coming off the fourth turn, I saw Vic slowing and I didn’t know what was happening. I just stayed in the gas and fortunately we got past him for the win. I guess some people might think we just lucked into this win, but I don’t call it luck. We ran well tonight and put ourselves in position to get by Vic there at the finish. It’s just racing luck, I suppose. I’ve led races late and had mechanical problems take what I felt was a sure win away from me, and maybe tonight I was getting a payback for a race I’d lost in the past.” Hill, after running a quick-lap at 12.643-seconds captured the pole position for the 50-lap feature, with Jones timing-in second fastest at 12.760 to earn the outside front row starting berth. The duo raced side-by-side into the first turn at the drop of the green, but Hill, riding up high in the banking powered into the lead racing off turn two with Jones settling into the runner-up position followed by Bryan Hendrix, Jeff Maupin and Shane Roberts. Roberts got a strong run on the bottom racing off the fourth turn on the second lap to pass Maupin and move into fourth. But working on Roberts lap-after-lap, Maupin finally reclaimed the spot on lap 12 racing off the second corner. Mike Smith dropped Roberts back to sixth on lap 17 when he passed him racing off turn two to move into fifth-place. Hill appeared to have everything going his way, leading Jones by a little over a half-straightaway on lap 30. Back a distance behind Jones, Hendrix, Maupin and Smith were engaged in their own battle for position as they negotiated lapped traffic. Maupin stuck his nose under Hendrix racing off the fourth turn on lap 38, but Hendrix used the slower cars to his advantage to slam the door shut on Maupin. Hill crossed the start/finish line on lap 49 to receive the white flag out front seemingly in command. But racing down the backstretch into the third turn, suddenly the car’s engine shut off. With Hill trying to re-fire the engine between (turns) three and four, Jones was quickly closing ground to overtake Hill racing off the fourth turn. Jones, driving the Kerry Jones Trucking/ Bigfoot Enterprises - Used Trucks & Parts//VP Racing Fuels/Ohlins Shocks/Signs by Roach/Custom Race Engines/Scott Bloomquist Race Cars/No. 6 Monte Carlo, sped past Hill to get his third feature win for a payday worth $2,000, with Hendrix and Maupin finishing in second and third, respectively. With Hill coasting slowly off the fourth turn towards the checkered flag, and Smith trying to overtake Maupin for position, contact was made between Smith and Hill at the stripe, with both machines suffering extensive damage. The impact when Smith got into the rear of Hill knocked him across the line into the fourth spot, with Smith finishing fifth. Completing the top-10 were Herman Goddard, Rodney Kiker, John Tweed, Dwight Sams and Jackie Hughes. “This is a brand-new Scott Bloomquist Race Car, and for the first night out it sure ran well,” said Jones. “I have to give thanks to Scott and also Tommy (Hicks) down at Bloomquist Race Cars for all of their assistance back earlier in the week helping me and my guys get this new car finished. It takes a lot of preparation back at the shop during the week if you want to be competitive and have a shot at winning races, and I want to thank all of my guys (John Estes, Dave Burks, Buck Snyder, Steve Booher, Andy McCroskey and Joey Watson) who work on the car.” Following the race, after his badly torn-up race car was towed back into the pits, Hill said “When the engine just all of a sudden shut off down there going into the third turn, I got to flipping switches trying to get it (engine) to fire back up. I was hoping I would be able to coast off the fourth turn with enough momentum to carry me across the start/finish line. But when I saw Kerry (Jones) just fly past me, I held on tight and braced myself because I didn’t know if the cars were in single-file or stacked two- or three-wide coming to the checkered flag. All at once I got nailed and it knocked me on past the finish line.” Bobby Mays of Jonesborough ran a 13.800-lap to earn the pole for the 25-lap “Ramey Ford” Crate Late Model feature. Starting alongside Mays on the front row was Greg Burchett. Racing into the first turn on the opening lap, Mays rode the cushion up top to grab the lead over Burchett, bringing Kelly Glass along for the ride on the outside as they raced off turn two down the backstretch. Burchett, Jensen Ford and Josh Henry rounded out the top-five in the running order. Henry passed Ford racing off the second corner on lap 2 to move into fourth, but Ford battled back to reclaim the position on the fifth circuit. After applying pressure for several laps, Brad Dyer worked his way past Henry to move into fifth-place on lap 11 racing off the fourth turn. With Mays on cruise control out front, suddenly his advantage over Glass began to shrink when the leader had difficulty negotiating lapped traffic on lap 15. With lapped cars stacked two-wide in front of Burchett and Ford, while negotiating the slow cars Ford spun between turns three and four to bring out the event’s first caution. Going back green with a clear track ahead of him, Mays completed a flag-to-flag run en route to capturing his fourth feature win with Glass, Burchett, Dyer and Jerry Broyles rounding out the top five at the checkers. Finishing sixth through tenth, respectively, were Tony Trent, Henry, Todd Brooks, Van Lester and Joe Good. Jesse Helton of Rogersville is getting ready to begin his senior year at Cherokee High School. But the 18-year-old has been schooling the field all summer at “The Gap,” as he entered the night of racing with a division-leading six “Rusty Wallace Toyota” Hobby Stock feature wins and holding a commanding 78-point advantage over his closest challenger in the track point standings. A strong field of 27 entrants timed-in for the $1,000-to-win “Summer Shootout 25” with Phillip Nichols setting fast-time to earn the pole position. Nichols jumped into the early lead over Mike Hodges, Helton, Dale Reed and Dustin Shaver. With the field working the second lap, Ray Jarnigan got up on the outside concrete wall just past the flagstand and began flipping wildly down the front straightaway into the first turn. With the red flag quickly waving to bring the field to a halt, Jarnigan climbed unassisted from his destroyed car with emergency personnel and track officials on the scene to the cheers of the crowd. Back under green Nichols showed the way out front over Hodges, Helton, Reed and Shaver. Hodges was sticking the nose of his mount under Nichols racing off the corners, while he was also being pressured from behind by the hard-charging Helton. Racing off the fourth turn on the seventh circuit, Helton got into the left-rear quarter panel of Hodges to spin him down the front straightaway. With the field behind quickly checking-up and taking evasive action, Shannon Davidson got turned up into the outside concrete wall and just as Jarnigan earlier, Davidson flipped several times. After a few anxious moments, Davidson emerged shaken but unhurt from his badly torn-up race car. With just five laps remaining, Nichols looked to be in control. But he tangled with a slower car between turns three and four just three circuits from the finish as the leaders worked lapped traffic. Helton capitalized to move into the lead, bringing Reed along into the runner-up position and dropping Nichols back to third in the running order. Helton held on for the $1,000 victory, his seventh on the season, with Reed, Jamie Whitt, Jason Long and Jon Cook rounding out the top five at the checkers. Nichols crossed the stripe third in line, but following the race was disqualified for failing post-race technical inspection for a tire violation. Joey Allen of Newport grabbed the lead over pole-sitter Kevin Atwell at the drop of the green flag in the 20-lap “Century 21 Masengill-McCrary Realtors” Mini Stock feature and held off Shawn Henry, Allen Carrier, Brent Hensley and Chuck McMahan for his third feature win on the season. “GATEWAY FORD” SUPER LATE MODEL (50 laps) 1. Kerry Jones #6-Bristol, TN 2. Bryan Hendrix #5-Knoxville, TN 3. Jeff Maupin #0-Greeneville, TN 4. Vic Hill #1-Morristown, TN 5. Michael Smith #4-Rogersville, TN 6. Herman Goddard #22-Knoxville, TN 7. Rodney Kiker #25-Greeneville, TN 8. John Tweed #T1-Greeneville, TN 9. Dwight Sams #54-Marshall, NC 10. Jackie Hughes #27-Johnson City, TN 11. Dennis Alverson #71-Kingsport, TN 12. Shane Roberts #32w-Bluff City, TN Did Not Start: Michael Jackson #Q-Greeneville, TN “RAMEY FORD” CRATE LATE MODEL (25 laps) 1. Bobby Mays #19-Jonesborough, TN 2. Kelly Glass #01-Jonesborough, TN 3. Greg Burchett #17-Church Hill, TN 4. Brad Dyer #20-Mohawk, TN 5. Jerry Broyles #72-Jonesborough, TN 6. Tony Trent #18-Morristown, TN 7. Josh Henry #B00-Newport, TN 8. Todd Brooks #T1-Greeneville, TN 9. Van Lester #50-Dandridge, TN 10. Joe “Dirt” Good #911-Greeneville, TN 11. James Cole #5-Gatlinburg, TN 12. Ricky Moore #75-Mosheim, TN 13. Hugh “Wishbone” Scalf #56-Gray, TN 14. Larry Rowe #R0-Greeneville, TN 15. Gerald Smith #12-Kingsport, TN 16. Tommy Eastridge #37-Laurel Bloomery, TN 17. Travis Trent #5-Whitesburg, TN 18. Brad Kenyon #98-Chuckey, TN 19. Jensen Ford #83-Johnson City, TN Did Not Start: Warren McMahan #33-Dandridge, TN; Logan Hickey #16-Morristown, TN “RUSTY WALLACE TOYOTA” HOBBY STOCK (25 laps) 1. Jesse Helton #28-Rogersville, TN 2. Dale Reed #52-Whitesburg, TN 3. Jamie Whitt #1-Wise, VA 4. Jason Long #15-Morristown, TN 5. Jon Cook #0z-Jonesborough, TN 6. Dustin Shaver #7-Morristown, TN 7. Robbie Jones #29-Rogersville, TN 8. Everett Cobb #13-Mohawk, TN 9. Rick Fillers #21-Greeneville, TN 10. Roger Hunter #711-Mars Hill, NC 11. Chris Long #75-Rogersville, TN 12. Jesse Wilder #79-Bulls Gap, TN 13. Jim Canning Jr. #31-Jonesborough, TN 14. Shorty Ledford #41-Newport, TN 15. Robbie Woods #16-Kingsport, TN 16. Mike Hodges #m2-Morristown, TN 17. Emory Harvey Jr. #74-Greeneville, TN 18. Chuck Johnson #17-Bulls Gap, TN 19. Chris Gregg #9-Newport, TN 20. David Shelton #7-Marshall, NC 21. Ralph Mills #1B-Greeneville, TN 22. Shannon Davidson #5-Mooresburg, TN 23. Ray Jarnigan #31j-Thorn Hill, TN Did Not Pass Post Race Inspection: Phillip Nichols #33-Kyles Ford, TN Did Not Start: Patrick Flannery #38-Greeneville, TN; Terry Cobb #14-Morristown, TN; Dennis Metcalf #55-Marshall, NC “CENTURY 21 MASENGILL-MCCRARY REALTORS” MINI STOCK (20 laps) 1. Joey Allen #A00-Newport, TN 2. Shawn Henry #B00-Newport, TN 3. Allen Carrier #B1-Bluff City, TN 4. Brent Hensley #70-Russellville, TN 5. Chuck McMahan #99-Newport, TN 6. Cheyenne Kite #9-Newport, TN 7. Toby Jones #66-Marion, VA 8. Kevin Atwell #95-Rural Retreat, VA 9. Chad Jeffers #38-Blountville, TN 10. Scotty Thornton #T15-Newport, TN 11. Kenny Absher #11-Kingsport, TN Did Not Start: Ernie Stubblefield #21-Morristown, TN