Bobby Hillin, Jr.

Infobox NASCAR driver


Name = Robert K. Hillin Jr.
Birthdate = birth date and age|1964|6|5
Birthplace = flagicon|USA Midland, Texas
Best_Cup_Pos = 9th - 1986 (Winston Cup)
Cup_Wins = 1
Cup_Top_Tens = 43
First_Cup_Race = 1982 Northwestern Bank 400 (North Wilkesboro)
First_Cup_Win = 1986 Talladega 500 (Talladega)
Last_Cup_Win = 1986 Talladega 500 (Talladega)
Last_Cup_Race = 2000 goracing.com 500 (Bristol)
Years_In_Cup = 17
Total_Cup_Races = 334
First_Busch_Race = 1986 All Pro 300 (Charlotte)
First_Busch_Win = 1988 Budweiser 200 (Dover)
Last_Busch_Win = 1989 GM Parts 300 Nazareth)
Last_Busch_Race = 2000 Kroger 200 (ORP
Years_In_Busch = 12
Total_Busch_Race = 113
Updated_On = February 13, 2008

Bobby Hillin, Jr. (born June 5 1964 in Midland, Texas), is an American stock car racecar driver. He was the original "Young Gun" before the term was popular. Hillin's love for racing began when he was a young boy watching his father's USAC Sprint and Indy cars race across the Midwest. At the age of 13, after a short period of racing go-karts and motorcross, Hillin drove his first race car in Abilene, Texas. Two years later, Hillin won 17 out of 22 featured races to become the track Champion at his hometown track of Odessa, Texas. In the early years, Hillin had aspirations of racing Indy and Formula One, but after attending the Buck Baker Driving School at the age of 16, Hillin was hooked on NASCAR.

With the help of sponsorship from his Grandfather, Hillin teamed with legendary crew chief Harry Hyde and entered his first Winston Cup race in 1982. This would give Hillin the distinction of becoming the youngest driver in 25 years to enter and compete in a Winston Cup event since Cale Yarbrough. Hillin competed in 5 events that year and then returned to finish his senior year at Midland High School.

The next year, before High School Graduation, Hillin moved to North Carolina full time to pursue his career. "I would knock on doors and dial for dollars until I could get enough money to race the next race." quoted Hillin. That year Hillin would meet Bill Stavola which would launch his career with the formation of Stavola Brothers Racing.

In 1985, Hillin became the youngest driver to ever qualify any type car on a closed course circuit over 200 mph. The next year, Hillin became the youngest driver to win a Modern Era NASCAR event, and the youngest driver to win on a Superspeedway with his win at Talladega at the age of 22. This is a record that would stand for over 19 years.

Hillin would later make the statement about his win, "I really needed more help and coaching from other drivers, but after my win, I was cocky and did not want any help, and the other drivers really did not want to help me beat them anyway, so I kind of fell out on a little island all by myself." Hillin went on to race for the Stavola Brothers for the next six years with little success. During his tenure with this team, Hillin and a friend, Ted Conder, convinced Felix Sabates to start a Busch Grand National Team. They won races in each of their first two-years with wins at Dover and Nazareth, PA. Having justified his existence, Hillin put his full focus back in Winston Cup trying to become a winner again at the top level. In spite of almost winning the Daytona 500 and three other races in 1990, Hillin and the Stavola Brothers decided to split ways at seasons end. Hillin had become discouraged with owners who lived and worked so far from the race team. "The sport was becoming so popular and competitive, you could not compete with owners who were on-site every day making decisions that would move their team forward while you were waiting on third hand information and trying to discern what to do." Hillin gave the Stavola Brothers an ultimatum; one of the brothers would have to move to North Carolina from New Jersey and run the race team, or Hillin was moving on. The Stavolas did not budge and that ended a driver-owner relationship that most believed would never end.

In the years that followed Hillin would race for Dick Moroso (giving Moroso his best Daytona 500 finish of 7th in a backup car), Junie Donleavy, Bill Elliott, and Jasper Motorsports. After being released from Jasper, Hillin started his own Busch Grand National team with partners including five (5) major league baseball players. This team was marginally successful with a few top 5 finishes before Hillin made the decision to retire early and move back to his home state of Texas to go into business. Hillin quoted his reason for retiring, "I was becoming frustrated with not winning, and I knew I did not want to hang on and race for several more years and then have nothing to show for it, I was ready to move on and have a chance to start another life in business."He has three children.

Return to NASCAR

On September 27, 2008, after not racing for 8 years Bobby returned to NASCAR in the Nationwide series at Kansas Speedway. Hillin drove the #81 for Randy MacDonald Motorsports.

Accomplishments

*2001 - Started Texas ReExcavation, a Non-Destructive Industrial Vacuum Excavation Company to serve the growing demand for safer excavation and Sub Surface Utility Engineering.
*1998/2000 - Owned and operated Bobby Hillin Racing, a Busch Grand National Series race team with 5 Major League Baseball players as partners. (Best finish: 2nd, Dover, DE).
*1993/1997 - Drove for Donlevey Racing, Bill Elliott Motorsports, and Jasper Motorsports in the Winston Cup Series.
*1993 - His first son, Luke, was born. He would later have a daughter, Stephanie, and another son, Robert Joseph.
*1993 - Relief driver for the late Davey Allison in the Robert Yates owned Ford Thunderbird. Qualified 3rd, finished 3rd, placing Allison back into the season Winston Cup points lead.
*1989 - Winner, NASCAR Busch Grand National Race: Nazareth, PA.
*1988 - Winner, NASCAR Busch Grand National Race: Dover, DE.
*1988 - Winner, Sears Die Hard Challenge. Completing the most miles of competition during the Winston Cup Season.
*1987 - Elected President of the Unocal Darlington Record Club.
*1987 - Surpassed the million-dollar career earnings mark, becoming the youngest driver in NASCAR history to accomplish this feat.
*1986 - At the age of 22, became the youngest driver in the modern era of Winston Cup racing to win a race and the youngest ever to win on a superspeedway.
*1985 - Became the youngest driver in history to qualify a stock car over 200 mph.
*1983 - NASCAR Winston Cup Series: 11th - World 600 Charlotte Motor Speedway. Day after his high school graduation.
*1982 - Ran five (5) Winston cup races before his senior year of high school.
*1981 - Track champion, Odessa Speedbowl - 17 featured wins.

References

*"Winston Cup Media Guide", 1982 - 2001

External links

* [http://racing-reference.info/driver?id=hillibo01 Bobby's career stats]