Hill Wins Jeffers Midwest Pro Mod Series Opener Words by Bret Kepner Photos by Bret Kepner and Jeff Burk 4/19/05

Jim Wiens’ outrageous turbo smallblock Camaro proves that, when it comes to Outlaw Pro Mod racing, the burnout is half the show (Bret Kepner photo).

Madison, IL---Bill “The Thrill” Hill hasn’t dominated an event since his Pro Street days, but nonstop testing and determination and a superior performance earned him and his team mates a convincing victory in the first event of the 2005 Jeffers Pro Cars Midwest Pro Modified Series at Gateway International Raceway last weekend. Moreover, the hometown favorite’s ‘53 Corvette scored the win for a variety of local sponsors, ranging from the event’s title-rights holder to arguably the most popular product icon in the St. Louis area, Budweiser.

(Jeff Burk photo)

Hill, who lives less than ten miles from GIR, had used the track for testing at almost every opportunity during 2005 in preparation for the JMPMS rules revisions which included, among other items, permitting 29% overdrive on supercharged entries. A veteran of every niche of blown doorslammer racing from Pro Street to Nitro Coupes to the AMS Pro Modified tour, Hill and his crew, (including son and crew chief Josh, Don Itinger, Jay Yanuzzi, and Tom Liberty), finally tamed the Budweiser-backed ‘53 Corvette during the second qualifying session of the event.

Crew chief Josh Hill (left) and team members Don Itinger and Jay Yanuzzi accept the adulation of the highly partisan Anheuser-Busch customers after the final round

The fact that Hill’s machine is a product of local race car builder Larry Jeffers’ chassis shop was not lost on the crowd, who witnessed yet another wildly diverse selection of nitrous oxide-aided, supercharged, turbocharged, and naturally aspirated doorslammers. Hill finally secured the pole position in the final qualifying period on a tricky 120-degree track surface with a time of 4.22/171.60). It was his first run in more than a dozen attempts that did not feature violent tire shake.