Didn’t have to.
I first met Hillary at The NHRA world finals at Pomona in 1999, She was there with a group that G.M. Performance Parts brought to the races , She was a G.M Media Arts scholar, and part of their educate the future generation program . I believe that she was 16 and a sophomore at a high end collage, a real brain to say the least.
Melanie Troxiall and I were doing one of the motivational career speaking events that weekend, and she was part of their escort along with Alba Colon of G.M racing. I was on the G.M. racing program, and they called me to come over and help with the group. We let all of them sit in the car and explained the way things worked. When it was Hillary’s turn she set in my D/ED and told me that she was going to drive a race car some day, and I was impressed with her complete certainty that one day she would drive. A year later I was going to a NHRA divisional race in Vegas to try and chase points,
I was on a roll and had a good chance of a great finish in the world ranking in comp that year. G.M called and asked if they could as a reward for a stellar year; send one of their scholarship students out to the races, asking me to evaluate her ability to be a team player, explaining that they were spending a great deal on money on her. In addition, wanted to make sure it was in their best interest.
Her parents dropped her off at the Gate at The STRIP IN VEGAS, She was as talkative as I am and so just wanting to drive the car, I was again shocked at her drive and tenacity. I was sure this girl was going to be some body some day. We had a rough weekend, I missed a gear and dinged a valve on the little V6 it didn’t like the 10,800 high side chip to much. Hillary Proved to be as hard a worker as anyone on the grounds even as hard a worker on a race car as Crewgirl We set about to tear the top end off my V 6 Chevy and she inadvertently took a bath in Royal Purple lite 11 racing oil , when she removed the oil pump line while laying under the dragster. She was a mess, covered from head to toe and we were starting to gather a crowd. Hillary kept on working, she was a real real gear head, and is not afraid of a little dirt. I’m sure she will get there soon enough
