Flat Rock Speedway

By | Brandon White | www.arcaracing.com | March 18, 2025

The quote “big things have small beginnings” from the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia could best summarize the career of Timmy Hill.

Born in the small town of Port Tobacco, Maryland, he has spent the last 15 years building connections within the NASCAR garage by taking any ride available. His perseverance eventually opened the door for him to start his own NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team, Hill Motorsports.

Now in its seventh year, the team is embarking on a new venture, a full-time campaign in the ARCA Menards Series East starting Saturday at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida. Preparing for the East Series opener has been enthralling-but-arduous for Hill, who believes his small team can find plenty of success against the bigger organizations.

“It’s been a fun project so far,” he said. “We had to go the route of building a brand-new car for . That’s something we haven’t done before with our Truck Series stuff, but it’s been a fun experience so far.

“We’re a very small staffed team with myself and two very talented guys, and we take a lot of pride in this car.”

Hill’s hands-on approach to motorsports stems from his father Jerry, an independent competitor who participated in several NASCAR and ARCA Menards Series events from the 1980s through the mid-2000s.

Jerry made sure to pass down his rigorous work ethic to Timmy, who quickly acquired knowledge from changing oil and tires to setting up his own equipment. As Timmy Hill’s passion for racing grew, he knew the best avenue would be to test himself against other talented young drivers in the Southeast.

The first major stop on Hill’s racing journey was the Allison Legacy Series. After gradually gaining experience in that division, he established himself as an efficient driver during his third year in 2009, when he secured the championship by amassing nine victories across 19 starts.

Since the Allison Legacy Series ran in conjunction with the USAR Pro Cup Series at the time, Hill’s accomplishment garnered plenty of notoriety amongst those in the industry. The platform also provided him plenty of fundamentals about racing he could carry into the top levels of NASCAR.

“That car was fun to drive,” Hill said. “They were underpowered race cars that ran on half-mile tracks, so they were big momentum cars. I felt like that really transitioned into NASCAR, because a lot of the intermediate tracks we go to are momentum-based. We put a lot of effort into [the 2009 season], so it was a huge accomplishment, and we were really proud of it.”

One of the first team owners to recognize Hill’s talent was Rick Ware, who signed him to a development deal for the 2010 season. After scoring three top 10s across the ARCA platform with Ware’s program, Hill advanced into the NASCAR Xfinity Series full-time the following year starting with Phoenix Raceway, the second event on the calendar.

A 29^th place finish that day served as the foundation for what became a sustainable career through all three of NASCAR’s top divisions. Hill’s reliability as a composed-and-clean driver kept earning him opportunities to drive for programs like Ware, Go FAS Racing and MBM Motorsports, among others.

While Hill enjoyed gaining experience from so many different teams and cars, he gradually became more interested in returning to his blue-collar roots. He achieved that goal in 2019, when he formed Hill Motorsports alongside his brother Tyler. The team carries the No. 56 Jerry utilized during his time as a competitor.

“The only way I felt like I could steer my own career was to start my own race team,” Timmy Hill said. “It brought me back to how I grew up racing where I felt like I was very hands-on and knew everything there was to know about race cars, how to get to the track and everything that goes along with it.”

Initially, Hill’s becoming an owner-driver was a laborious process. He needed to learn how to get tires to the track and assemble pit crew for a given weekend, all while trying to stay reasonably competitive with a tight budget against seasoned organizations with deeper pockets.

Despite the obstacles, it did not take long for Hill Motorsports to reach a significant milestone in the Truck Series. During the second event at Martinsville Speedway in 2019, several late restarts helped Hill navigate his way toward the front of the field, resulting in Hill Motorsports’ first top-five finish in the program’s fifth race.

Nearly two years later, Hill Motorsports nearly reached the top of the Truck Series pedestal at Talladega Superspeedway, this time with Tyler behind the wheel.

In a frantic overtime finish, Tyler found himself third coming to the checkered flag as John Hunter Nemechek and Tate Fogleman battled for the lead. After Nemechek was turned by Fogleman, Tyler attempted to dive to the inside but hit Fogleman’s back bumper, sending both spinning toward the infield.

Fogleman was credited with the victory while Tyler settled for second.

Witnessing the chaotic sequence from atop the Hill Motorsports pit box was a surreal experience for Timmy. Relentless dedication had been exerted toward building the program from the ground up, which is why Timmy was elated over seeing his brother nearly park one of their trucks in Talladega’s Victory Lane.

“That was a cool day,” Timmy Hill said. “I thought had a really good shot being side-by-side for the lead but came up half a truck short. To see that is always rewarding, because most people don’t see all the behind-the-scenes work it takes to get to the track.

“I wish we could have gotten [the win], but it was rewarding, nonetheless.”

The finite budget at Hill Motorsports prevents the program from consistently tallying more top-five runs like those earned at Talladega and Martinsville, yet Hill is proud of the progress made since 2019. Expanding into the ARCA Menards Series platform is what he considers the next logical step in his plan for the team.

Timmy would love to see Hill Motorsports enter the Xfinity Series one day; he initially intended to make that jump in 2025 before shifting his focus to the East Series. Once everyone learns how to optimize the performance of their new car, Hill believes an East Series championship can be a feasible goal.

With the only full-time crew members being crew chief Terry Elmore and James Marks, Hill does not expect anything to come easy in the East Series. He believes the best avenue to success involves Hill Motorsports controlling its own fate and acquiring as much knowledge as possible.

“You have to maximize every race,” Hill said. “You can’t make mistakes, so for starters, we have to make sure we don’t get caught up in any kind of mishaps. There’s talented individuals [in the East Series] that will race hard and go for wins. We’ve been able to do a lot in the Truck Series, but we’re still a small team.

“It’s just myself and two guys in the shop, so it’s going to take a lot of work.”

Hill is no stranger to accomplishing a lot with a little. His steadfast resolve and determination are two key factors behind a career that has taken him from racing short tracks in the southeast to being a successful NASCAR team owner.

A big challenge awaits Hill with a small-but-hectic East Series schedule, one he is ready to approach both head-on and hands-on.

For the third year in a row, Flat Rock Speedway is set to host the ARCA Menards East Series and the Dutch Boy 150 at the Motor City Speedway in the first night race of the 2025 season!

NASCAR rising stars Connor Zilisch and William Sawalich have taken checkered flags in this event since the series return in 2022.

See the likes of Timmy, Joe Gibbs Racing's Max Reaves, and the stars of the ARCA Menards Series East tour take on the famed ¼ mile as Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota vie for bragging rights in the Motor City’s Speedway. The DTS Drive Train Specialists Street Stocks and a 100-lap Churchill Transport ARCA Factory Stock 500 Series event will take the helm on this evening of racing.

Tickets for this night of racing are available now! Click the link below to learn more.

ARCA Menards Series East Dutch Boy 150, Street Stock, Factory Stock 500 Series

May 17, 2025 - 07:00 PM EDT

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