Bruce Hill (racing driver)

Bruce Hill
Bruce Hill
Born	July 9, 1949; Topeka, Kansas, U.S.
Died	May 14, 2017 (aged 67); Topeka, Kansas, U.S.
Cause of death	Esophageal cancer
Achievements	1975 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Rookie of the Year
NASCAR Cup Series career
	100 races run over 8 years
Best finish	16th (1975)
First race	1974 Los Angeles Times 500 (Ontario)
Last race	1981 Champion Spark Plug 400 (Michigan)
	Statistics current as of January 27, 2011.

Bruce Hill (July 9, 1949 – May 14, 2017) was an American stock car racing driver from Topeka, Kansas. He competed in the Winston Cup Series, ARCA, and in the NASCAR West Series. He also competed in late model races around his hometown later in life.

Personal life

Hill was born on July 9, 1949, in Topeka, Kansas, and graduated from Shawnee Heights High School.^[1] He resided in and around the Topeka metropolitan area his later years of life, raising American Quarter Horses.^[2] Hill died on May 14, 2017, due to issues with esophageal cancer.^[3]

NASCAR career

In 1974, Hill began racing in NASCAR in the Winston Cup Series and the NASCAR West Series. He only competed in one race in both series the same year.^[4] The race in 1974 was the only race Hill would run in the West series.^[5]

One year later, Hill won the Rookie of the Year award in the Winston Cup Series.^[6] During that season, he competed in all but four of the season's 30 races. Among his highlights were top-five finishes at Rockingham Motor Speedway, Darlington Raceway and Dover International Speedway.^[7] Still running as an independent driver, Hill returned to the series again in 1976, competing in 22 events, which he recorded only four top-ten finishes and finished 23rd in the standings.^[8] In 1977, Hill was able to record four top-tens and a 29th-place finish in points after participating in 16 events.^[9] During the following year, he only participated in 14 events, and recorded two top-tens with a 32nd-place finish in the point standings, but benefited form teaming up with Harry Clary to field cars.^[10]

For 1979, Hill teamed up with fellow owner-driver Walter Ballard for a limited slate of events. He finished 34th in points after running seven races.^[11] Continuing to race for Ballard in 1980, he finished 50th in points, and only competed in six races.^[12] In his final year in the Winston Cup Series, he competed in eight races and finished 43rd in points.^[13] Also in 1981, he participated in a NASCAR Late Model Sportsman race at Darlington Raceway.^[14]

Other racing

While competing in the Winston Cup Series, he also participated in the ARCA Racing Series as well as in USAC.^[14] In 2002, Hill participated in a Late model race at Thunderhill Speedway in Mayetta, Kansas.^[15]

In 2016 it was announced that A.J. Allmendinger would run a throwback scheme based on Hill's 1977 car for the annual throwback race at Darlington Raceway.^[2]

Motorsports results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	NWCC	Pts	Ref
1974	Hill Racing	47W	Chevy	RSD	DAY	RCH	CAR	BRI	ATL	DAR	NWS	MAR	TAL	NSV	DOV	CLT	RSD	MCH	DAY	BRI	NSV	ATL	POC	TAL	MCH	DAR	RCH	DOV	NWS	MAR	CLT	CAR	ONT 13		101st	1.575	^[4]
1975		47		RSD	DAY 32	RCH 11	CAR 5	BRI	ATL 23	NWS 16	DAR 15	MAR	TAL 47	NSV 23	DOV 8	CLT 18	RSD	MCH 30	DAY 7	NSV 13	POC 8	TAL 31	MCH 8	DAR 5	DOV 5	NWS 10	MAR 25	CLT 27	RCH 8	CAR 6	BRI 10	ATL 13	ONT 26		16th	3002	^[7]
1976		47		RSD	DAY 36	CAR 22	RCH	BRI			DAR DNQ	MAR 7	TAL 8	NSV 23	DOV 39	CLT 37	RSD	MCH 25	DAY 25	NSV 27	POC 29	TAL 32	MCH 19	BRI	DAR 22	RCH	DOV 36	MAR 30	NWS	CLT 34	CAR 35	ATL 11	ONT 10		23rd	1995	^[8]
1976	Ballard Racing	30	Chevy						ATL 18	NWS	DAR 10																								23rd	1995	^[8]
1977	Hill Racing	47	Chevy	RSD	DAY 25	RCH	CAR 36	ATL 10	NWS	DAR 10	BRI	MAR 7	TAL 27	NSV	DOV 35	CLT 31	RSD	MCH 32	DAY 30	NSV	POC	TAL 35	MCH 13	BRI	DAR 9	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT 41	CAR 26	ATL 15	ONT		29th	1213	^[9]
1978	Harry Clary	05	Olds	RSD	DAY DNQ	RCH	CAR	ATL 9	BRI	DAR	NWS	MAR	TAL 36	DOV 19	CLT 10	NSV 25	RSD	MCH 29	DAY 40	NSV 14	POC 17	TAL 35	MCH 34	BRI	DAR 40	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT 13	CAR	ATL 36	ONT DNQ		32nd	1214	^[10]
1979	Ballard Racing	50	Olds	RSD	DAY 19	CAR	RCH	ATL 15	NWS	BRI	DAR	MAR	TAL DNQ	NSV	DOV								TAL 16	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	CLT	NWS	CAR	ATL	ONT 15	34th	594	^[11]
1979			Buick													CLT 24	TWS 15	RSD	MCH	DAY 41	NSV	POC													34th	594	^[11]
1980			Olds	RSD	DAY 33	RCH	CAR	ATL 27	BRI	DAR	NWS	MAR	TAL 36	NSV	DOV	CLT 38	TWS	RSD	MCH	DAY 35	NSV	POC	TAL 41	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	NWS	MAR	CLT	CAR	ATL	ONT	50th	348	^[12]
1981	Nelson Malloch	7	Buick	RSD	DAY 39	RCH	CAR																												43rd	596	^[16]
	Hill Racing	7	Buick					ATL 23
	Hill Racing	50	Buick						BRI 26	NWS	DAR	MAR	TAL 28	NSV	DOV	CLT 41	TWS	RSD	MCH	DAY 16	NSV	POC	TAL 30	MCH 33	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	ATL DNQ	RSD

Daytona 500

Year	Team	Manufacturer	Start	Finish
1975	Hill Racing	Chevrolet	20	32
1976			33	36
1977			18	25
1978	Harry Clary	Oldsmobile	DNQ
1979	Ballard Racing	Chevrolet	17	19
1980	Ballard Racing	Oldsmobile	35	33
1981	Nelson Malloch	Buick	24	39

References

External links

Bruce Hill statistics at Racing-Reference.info

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

Search