The Thunder on the Hill series returns to Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville, Pa., for its 32nd season this year. It’s a diverse assortment of races.
The Thunder on the Hill series returns to Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville, Pa., for its 32nd season this year. It dates back to 1990, when URC champion Dave Kelly approached URC official Bob Miller with the idea to promote a 410 sprint car event.
Miller and Kelly‘s conversations led to a meeting with Grandview Speedway owners Bruce and Theresa Rogers, who had the perfect facility for such an event.
The show would run in August of 1990 as a standalone 410 sprint car show. They discussed the challenges of such a show, as well as the rewards if that first race was successful.
With Grandview‘s tight and tricky third-mile oval, there was some question if the Central Pennsylvania sprint car drivers would support the show. The team put together an attractive purse that they knew the drivers could not pass up. If the drivers show up, the fans will too, they said. Now they just needed a name to separate it from the rest.
Grandview Speedway is in a rare location for a dirt track. The entire facility is perched on top of a hill. If you park down across the street in the neighbors‘ fields, you have a major uphill hike to get to the track.
With the cars thundering around the tight third-mile surface, there was the name for the new event: Thunder on the Hill.
The show was a success, even after dealing with bad weather for most of the day. Steve Smith parked his Black Bandit No. 19 in the Grandview victory lane, collecting the $5,000 winner‘s share. And, a capacity crowd had come out to see Central Pennsylvania‘s best drivers pilot their sprints around Grandview Speedway.
Over 31 years, there have been 140 Thunder on the Hill events, with the total payout sitting at nearly $5 million. The all-time Thunder on the Hill feature winner list is a who‘s who of dirt tracking racing‘s local and national stars.
Billy Pauch is at the top of the winner‘s list, with 11 wins. Two are non-winged and nine are winged sprint car wins. Lance Dewease is right behind him with 10.
Thunder on the Hill grew into more than just a one-time 410 sprint car show. The single race expanded to an event that attracted the top drivers, divisions, and series in the country. Those divisions and series include the World of Outlaws, CRA, SCRA, USAC, the All Stars, ARDC, KARS, URC and MASS.
All this came at a time when midweek racing events were not as popular as they are today.
The NAPA Auto Parts Thunder on the Hill Racing Series schedule is set for this year, with a line-up of events showcasing the 32nd season at Grandview Speedway.
The Thunder Series will open on Thursday, April 22 with the USAC National Sprint Car Series. Sunday, May 30 is a modified show. On Tuesday, June 15 is the Jesse Hockett Classic, featuring the Eastern Storm tour for the USAC sprints.
On Tuesday, June 29, Pennsylvania Sprint Speedweek returns, paying $10,000 to the winner. This event is in the memory of local sprint car great, and former Thunder on the Hill champion, Greg Hodnett.
The USAC midgets are back on Tuesday, Aug. 3. The midgets are perfect for the high-banked third-mile Grandview oval. Thursday, Aug. 26 sees the All Stars on top of the hill, with the season finale on Saturday, Oct. 16 featuring modifieds.
You can‘t go wrong attending a Thunder on the Hill show. The racing is always good on the third-mile track and the food at Grandview Speedway is always good as well.
I‘ve spent many nights sitting on the roof of the grader in the infield trying to provide photos and live updates from Thunder shows, well before anyone ever knew what social media would be.
Bob Miller does an excellent job of promoting and running his shows, and it‘s nice to see he has had success for 32 years.