PR-MISSION- Hillary Will wrap up

MISSION, B.C. -- Hillary Will captured her first career NHRA Division Six victory Sunday at Mission Raceway Park when the 25-year-old Northern California native defeated rival Steve Federlin in the final round of the Lucas Oil Summer Nationals.
Will, who qualified her Girl Power Racing dragster in the No. 3 position with a 5.539 second, 264.47 mph effort, bested Kevin Brown and Joey Severance before knocking off Federlin in the money round. She used a dominate tune-up from crew chief Bucky Austin to record low elapsed time and top speed of each round of eliminations. Austin also earned the win in the Top Alcohol Funny Car division at the Lucas Oil Summer Nationals.

'I'm so excited for our entire team," Will said. 'We've had a good race car all season long, but we've just had a few gremlins that kept popping up at the past few races. Bucky (Austin) gave me a great race car and everything came together. This is a big win for our Girl Power team."

Will opened final eliminations at the NHRA Division Six event by driving her blown alcohol dragster to the win over Kevin Brown. The Girl Power Racing rail recorded a pass of 5.466 at 269.21, while Brown's A/FD suffered mechanical problems and coasted to a run of 14.696 at 81.02.

Will, who is competing in her first full season in the TAD category, continued to work her way through the eight-car field when she edged Severance in the second round. The rising TAD star used a pass of 5.507 at 265.40 to score the narrow victory over Severance, who recorded a run of 5.655 at 254.88. Will's 5.507-second E.T. earned her lane choice in the final round against Federlin, who has been the hottest driver in the TAD class having scored wins at Seattle and Sonoma, Calif. the past two weeks.

In the final round, Will used a tune-up from Austin to power her black-and-yellow dragster to a performance of 5.517 at 265.40 to earn the win light, overcoming Federlin's slight starting-line advantage. Federlin recorded a pass of 5.664 at 250.97. The victory earned Will her second career NHRA 'Wally" trophy. She collected her first career victory at the Summitracing.com Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in April.

'Anytime you can beat Steve (Federlin), you know you've accomplished something," Will said. 'They're a great team. He's had the best car in the class the past month, so it was great to finally knock him off. He's had my number for some time and that was important for me to prove to myself that I can beat him."

The Girl Power Racing team will next compete at the NHRA Division Six event in Billings (Mont.) Motorsports Park, August 19-21.