DAYTONA BEACH, Florida (February 25, 2012) – – One year ago yesterday, Randy Hill, a serial entrepreneur was invited to a meeting with NASCAR to discuss his dream and envision to start a NASCAR Nationwide Series team. This might not seem out of the ordinary for the executives at NASCAR but as the great Paul Harvey has often said, “you need to know the rest of the story.”
43-year old Hill had never ever watched a NASCAR race on television until November 2009 when some friends invited to him to Texas Motor Speedway (TMS) for the fall NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Not only was Hill hooked, he immediately started developing his business strategy and within a few short weeks of his first race and now 24 months later, Randy Hill Racing (RHR) is set for their biggest NASCAR start ever by competing in today’s DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.
While in Daytona, Hill had the distinct pleasure of meeting former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) driver Ken Ragan who introduced him to Lawrenceville, Georgia native Casey Roderick who catapulted himself into the limelight across the nation with over 25 wins between the INEX Legend Car Series and various Late Model events throughout the country. Hill overwhelmed by the maturity and drive from Roderick’s passion without hesitation asked the now 19-year old to become the driving force behind Randy Hill Racing.
Together, the duo competed in three ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards events where the team glistened into the spotlight with speed and presence before raising the bar and inching up into the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Starts at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International, Dover (Del.) International Speedway and Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway had RHR looking for bigger and better things in 2012.
The first weekend of the season hasn’t started so hot for the rookie team, but always in racing, there’s light at the end of the tunnel. With a motor failure just two laps after the first practice session on Thursday morning, the team led by crew chief Paul Andrews and car chief David Ingram quickly formulated a plan to get a back-up motor in the No. 08 Randy Hill Racing Ford Mustang to prepare for Friday’s qualifications.
Roderick was the seventh car to handle Daytona’s 2.5-mile superspeedway on Friday afternoon and after jumping to the top of the board, the team would anxiously have to wait for a few more competitors to qualify before being assured a starting position. Four cars later, the wait was over, Randy Hill Racing and Roderick had locked themselves into the Nationwide’s annual DRIVE4COPD 300 with the 32nd fastest speed overall in a stout field of 50 teams.
Daytona’s known for making dreams come true. Last night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) season-opener proved that. That furthermore gives the team motivation to potentially pull off another Cinderella story when the NASCAR Nationwide Series takes the green flag shortly after 1:30 p.m. today on ESPN.
The DRIVE4COPD 300 (120 laps / 300 miles) is the first of 33 events on the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule. The field will take the green flag on Saturday, February 25th just after 1:00 p.m. with live coverage on ESPN, the Motor Racing Network (Radio) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Satellite Radio, Channel 90). Pre-race coverage of the anticipated thriller is tentatively scheduled to lift off at 12:30 p.m. also on ESPN.
For more on Randy Hill Racing, please visit randyhillracing.com.
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