Hillary Will, driver of the Get Screened America A/Fuel Dragster, blasted her way into the final round of Top Alcohol Dragster at what has been called the most difficult Divisional race of the season, the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, Pacific Division, Short Line Express Gambler Showdown. En route to her runner-up finish, Will crushed the World Championship dreams of not one but two stalwarts in the Alcohol ranks behind the wheel of her Tom Conway-owned and tuned dragster.
 
Will qualified number one in a field 21 drivers vying for one of the top eight spots, delivering a 5.359-second pass at 263.56 mph. In the first round of eliminations, she sent local Vegas driver and event title sponsor Duane Shields to his trailer early and ended his title bid with a 5.463 at 259.01 to Shields' 5.671 at 231.56. In round two, she ended the title hopes of Jim Whiteley, sending him packing with a 5.339 263.98 to a 5.391 at 264.49. That win assured TAD driver Bill Reichert a repeat as World Champion.

Hillary Will, driver of the Get Screened America A/Fuel Dragster, blasted her way into the final round of Top Alcohol Dragster at what has been called the most difficult Divisional race of the season, the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, Pacific Division, Short Line Express Gambler Showdown. En route to her runner-up finish, Will crushed the World Championship dreams of not one but two stalwarts in the Alcohol ranks behind the wheel of her Tom Conway-owned and tuned dragster.
 
Will qualified number one in a field 21 drivers vying for one of the top eight spots, delivering a 5.359-second pass at 263.56 mph. In the first round of eliminations, she sent local Vegas driver and event title sponsor Duane Shields to his trailer early and ended his title bid with a 5.463 at 259.01 to Shields' 5.671 at 231.56. In round two, she ended the title hopes of Jim Whiteley, sending him packing with a 5.339 263.98 to a 5.391 at 264.49. That win assured TAD driver Bill Reichert a repeat as World Champion.
 
The final was an all-Conway affair, pitting father against son in a battle of the crew chiefs: Will's crew chief and car-owner Tom Conway against his son Shane Conway, the crew chief for Michael Manners. Will took a large starting-line advantage over Manners but had to watch him drive away as her car overpowered the track and smoked the tires, giving him the win.
 
"It felt so good to see the win-light come on this weekend, I'd forgotten how good that feels," Will said. "Tom gave me a great car all weekend long, and except for that final, we had great laps down the track every shot.  I'm not sure why we smoked the tires on that last run, but I've got confidence that Tom will take a look at all of the data and keep our momentum going heading into Pomona next weekend.
 
"This race is almost legendary because all of the big-hitters come here to warm up for Pomona. And since it's an eight-car field, it's that much harder to qualify than at a national event where there's a 16-car field. To be number one in this crowd and make it all the way into the finals for Get Screened America, that says a whole lot about Tom Conway and his operation. I couldn't be happier.
 
"It was a great weekend, and I'm so excited to have gone this far.  A great rebound, for sure from not even qualifying at the Nationals last weekend.  Now, we'll rest-up and hit it hard in Pomona," Will said.

Advertisement