CASA GRANDE, Ariz. — Most 15-year-olds aren’t racing head-to-head and winning against the nation’s best 360 sprint car drivers.
But Levi Hillier isn’t like most 15-year-olds.
The native of Burlington, Wash., made a statement Sunday night at Central Arizona Raceway with first career American Sprint Car Series feature win, leading all 30 circuits around the three-eighths-mile oval and banking the $6,000 prize in the finale of the inaugural Sonoran Clash.
Hillier became the second-youngest feature winner in series history, falling shy of only Ryan Timms, who set the mark in May of 2021 at Missouri’s Lake Ozark Speedway at the age of 14.
“This is awesome,” Hillier said. “Hats off to this entire Rudeen Racing team. Kevin and Monika, they believe in me so much, it’s pretty awesome. I’ve got great backing with my guys — my dad and Tyler, Justin and DJ — they’ve been working their butts off. I’m just… out of words. It’s pretty surreal.”
From the drop of the green flag, Hillier was the driver to beat. He jumped out to a lead of over a second-and-a-half on the field less than 10 laps in and, without much hesitation, jumped into lapped traffic with the gap closing behind him.
Closing that gap was six-time series champion Sam Hafertepe Jr. and Hillier’s Rudeen Racing teammate, Justin Peck. Peck, who had won two of the first three races of the Sonoran Clash, was able to slip by Hafertepe on the bottom out of Turn 2 on Lap 17 and immediately set his sights on his teammate out front.
But try as he may, Peck was unable to get close enough to make the pass. With four laps left, Hillier stumbled slightly getting by a lapped car in Turn 2, opening the door for Peck, who closed right to the rear bumper of the No. 26r. But that lapped car held his line on the bottom going into Turn 3, forcing Peck to check-up and allowing Hillier to scamper away in the closing laps.
Hillier crossed the finish line with a gap of over one second on Peck to cap what was a caution-free race that took only nine minutes and 26 seconds to complete.
Hafertepe finished third — good enough to net him the Sonoran Clash points championship and a $4,000 bonus check, courtesy of Avanti Windows & Doors. Though he was unable to break through to victory lane, he recorded finishes of third, fourth, second and third in the four-race stretch, and maintains the lead in the overall championship standings by 40 over Matt Covington.
“It was reasonable; we wanted to be in position to win some of these races,” Hafertepe said. “I think our Dash draws could’ve been better, maybe help us win some of them. We were lacking just a couple of the nights, and that just puts you behind the eight-ball. Even tonight, we were lacking a little bit. Last night we were pretty good and Saturday night last week, we were pretty good.
“All in all, we have nothing to hang our heads about. We learned a lot this week, and to be running this good early in the season means good things going forward.”
Seth Bergman finished a season-best fourth, while Kyler Johnson rounded out the top five.
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 26R-Levi Hillier[1]; 2. 26-Justin Peck[7]; 3. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[4]; 4. 23-Seth Bergman[2]; 5. 45X-Kyler Johnson[5]; 6. 17GP-Hank Davis[11]; 7. 34-Sterling Cling[10]; 8. 2-Whit Gastineau[14]; 9. 77X-Alex Hill[3]; 10. 95-Matt Covington[6]; 11. 16G-Austyn Gossel[9]; 12. 15-Nick Parker[13]; 13. 11J-Wyatt Miller[8]; 14. 88R-Ryder Laplante[15]; 15. 29K-Levi Kuntz[21]; 16. 31BW-Braxton Weger[16]; 17. 01-Carson McCarl[18]; 18. 2B-Garrett Benson[17]; 19. 88C-Brogan Carder[20]; 20. 42-Caleb Saiz[19]; 21. 88-Terry Easum[22]; 22. 17W-JJ Hickle[12]; 23. 3-Cole Schroeder[23]
