George Hill

Chicago, Ill.—Chicago area stock car champion George Hill, 69, passed away in Florida on April 15.

Hill got involved in racing at Raceway Park near Blue Island, becoming a crew member for a number of drivers, including Raceway front runner Bill Cornwall. By the mid 1960s, Hill was regular competitor himself, competing at Raceway Park in the track’s Amateur division, wheeling Norm Read’s ‘54 Buick in 1965 and 1966. 1966 saw Hill win seven Amateur features races in the big Buick with the division being abolished by Mid Season. He even wheeled the heavy machine in some open-competition events at Illiana Motor Speedway in Schererville, Ind.

A ’63 Chevy and a ’64 Ford were some of Hill’s first late model cars with Hill bringing out a ’66 Chevelle in 1968. Hill drove the Chevelle through the 1969 season, enjoying moderate success. 1970 would be the turning point of Hill’s racing career.

Teaming up with mechanic/car builder Rich Kuhn, Hill purchased a ’65 Chevelle that Kuhn had put together for 1960 Raceway Park champion Harry Simonsen to drive. Because of business interests, Simonsen decided to “semi retire” from racing with Simonsen selling the car to Hill. Never having won a feature race before in late model action, Hill got off to quick start at Raceway Park and won a total of 17 main events during the ’70 campaign and grabbed track championship honors at the “World’s Busiest Track.”

With his title-winning mount reskinned to a ’71 Buick Skylark, Hill begin racing a little “here and there” in 1971 -testing his skills at tracks like the Grundy County Speedway in Morris, Santa Fe Speedway near Willow Springs, and Illiana, in addition to Raceway Park, where he finished 10th in the points with one feature win. He was seventh in the points at Grundy during the track’s first season. By 1973, Hill became pretty much a regular at Santa Fe, competing on the speedway’s quarter-mile and half-mile dirt ovals.

Hill was ranked seventh at Santa Fe in 1975, eighth in 1976 and 15th in 1977 as he won several feature races over the years on the Santa Fe clay. 1972 saw Hill score a 100-lap victory on the dirt at Eastern Illinois Raceway in Danville, Ill.

Back to the pavement, Hill competed at numerous Midwest tracks into the late 1970s, competing on a somewhat regular basis at the Berlin Speedway in Michigan. He finished eighth in the Grundy late model standings in 1978. Some competition in ARTGO Racing and American Speed Association action rounded out Hill’s paved track career.

Pretty much retiring from driving, Hill formed Hill Enterprises, becoming a dealer for Howe Racing Enterprises. Chassis setups and parts sales kept Hill busy for a number of years.

Becoming a carpenter for various Chicago area trade shows, Hill relocated to the Florida, where he had lived for number of years.

Hill is survived by his wife, Joyce (Kuhn), two sons, Josh and Zach, and one grandchild.

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Stan Kalwasinski