ALGER, Wash. — At the age of 14 and almost 3 months, Levi Hillier pulled off what many strive for but never achieve – winning the sprint car features in two different divisions at Skagit Speedway on the same night.
The first victory of the night came in the Sportsman Sprint division, where Levi had a relatively easy go of things, leading all 25 laps of the feature unchallenged for the win. The victory was his third of the year in the Sportsman Sprint division.
Jesson Jacobson and Steve Parker dueled for second and third place with Jacobson coming out on top. Parker set quick time and won his heat race. Hillier won heat two with Kai Dixon winning heat three.
The follow-up feature for Hillier upped the level of difficulty, as he started on the front row next to the always fast Trey Starks. Hillier would get the jump going into turn one, with Starks pursuing him around the low groove. Starks took a look multiple times to the low side of both sets of corners but never found the forward drive to pull even with Hillier, as Hillier used the high side to maintain his lead while the pair raced into traffic.
A close call with a slower car forced Hillier to slam the door on the low groove in turn three hard around lap 10, but that’s as close as Starks could eventually get. Despite having one of the Northwest’s best no further than three car lengths back of him for the majority of the main, it was Hillier coming out on top for his second win of the night and his first in the 360 division aboard the Rudeen Racing sprint car.
With the victory, Hillier became the second youngest 360 winner in track history behind Colby Thornhill’s win at 14 years and 1 month in 2020. Starks and Cam Smith rounded out the podium. Smith was fast time on the night, while heat wins went to Starks, Hillier, Jesse Schlotfeldt and Colton Heath.
The Skagit Aggregates IMCA Modifieds were back in action on Saturday night and it was Jeff Westergard racing to his second win of the season. Ben Gunderson had led since lap two but under caution on lap 16, he lost air pressure in his right front tire and had to head to the pits to change it. Westergard, who had battled from deep up to second place, inherited the lead and went the rest of the way for the win.
James Bundy took second while Gunderson raced his way back up the field for third. Westergard won his heat race, with Rick Smith winning the other heat.