Tue, May 26, 10:37 PM Eddie Hill, The legend continues ...

Courtesy of Bob Brown

JOLIET, Ill. - When most people reach their 60s, they want to slow down. Eddie Hill, the 62-year-old pilot of the Pennzoil Top Fuel Dragster, only wants to go faster. "I want to set the speed record again," Hill said of his desire to drive at over 323 mph. "I also want to set the elapsed time record again and win another championship. And I believe that we have the car to take us there."

Hill squashed any thought of easing off the throttle last season when he hired renowned crew chief and speed merchant Dan Olson. The two legends combined their 90 years of racing experience and began to build a Dragster that will help everyone on Team Pennzoil realize their dream of being No. 1. As the 1998 season progresses, it appears that the pieces are quickly falling into place.

The Nuclear Banana, as Hill's dragster is affectionately called, has run fast enough in the first eight races of the season to qualify for every elimination session. In half of those races including three of the last four events, Hill has had enough speed to put the Pennzoil machine in the top half of the 16-car field. Showing consistency and improvement each race, Hill has carded new career-best mph marks in each of the last two races. He also reset his personal elapsed time record with a lightening-strike pass of 4.625 seconds at the latest NHRA national event in Englishtown, N.J.

"We're running better every weekend," Hill said. "Dan has this car in the best shape of any that I've ever driven, bar none." That is an impressive statement considering that Hill's professional drag racing career started in 1955. "There have been absolutely zero preparation or tune-up defects and we are doing minimal damage to the car each week," Hill said. "As a driver, it's impossible to gauge how important it is to know your car is as close to perfect as it can be."

The reliable set-up Hill enjoys at each race has placed him comfortably in the eight-man field of the season-long Big Bud Shootout standings which awards points to the fastest Top Fuel qualifiers at each event. Hill has been a part of the event 10 times in the last 11 years and is second all-time in number of appearances.

The only thing missing in 1998 is a win, something Hill readily accepts as his fault. "I need to get my driving sorted out," Hill said. "The car has been there, my reaction times haven't been. But I'm working on it harder than I ever have before. I've made more test runs with my practice tree between races this year than I had in the last four years combined. And my practice tree reaction time averages continue to improve. Now at every race, we have a good chance to win. All I have to do now is make it happen."



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