Vic Hill: Dirt Racing’s Greatest Motor Builder

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Herm & Schrader – "Vic Hill: Dirt Racing’s Greatest Motor Builder"

Date: March 19, 2026
Hosts: Kenny Wallace, Ken Schrader (Schrader not present in this episode)
Guest: Vic Hill
Produced By: SiriusXM, Dirty Mo Media

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Episode Overview

This episode takes listeners on the wild, unfiltered journey of Vic Hill, widely recognized as dirt racing's preeminent engine builder. Through Kenny Wallace's trademark animated style, the conversation covers Vic’s path from a Tennessee kid with racing dreams, through the trenches of NASCAR engine shops and crew roles, to his emergence as an innovator in dirt late model powerplants, and finally to racetrack promoter and the creator of Thrill TV.

True to the show’s ethos, expect humor, honesty, and plenty of “back when” tales from racing’s golden eras, all seasoned with lessons on grit, technical mastery, and unapologetic Midwestern hard-headedness.

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Major Discussion Points and Insights

1. Upbringing and Early Racing Aspirations

• Vic Hill’s roots are in Knoxville & Sevierville, Tennessee, with no family ties to racing – his grandfather was a hospital chief of staff, and he was “supposed” to become a doctor ([04:10]).
  • “I was supposed to be a doctor…maybe a doctor of engines.” – Vic Hill ([04:24])
• Became a self-proclaimed “redneck athlete,” excelling in high school sports while hot rodding and developing an interest in engines.
• Vic moved to North Carolina at 18 to pursue a racing career, showing gumption by showing up daily at Childress Racing shop hoping for work ([05:34]).

2. Breaking Into NASCAR & Early Career

• Paid his dues at Richard Childress Racing, starting in cylinder head work ([05:50]).

• Key mentors included Bob Guerrell, who gave Vic his first break in the sport ([06:12]).

• Described how he began racing himself, building his first engines and driving in street stock divisions.

• Moved between several teams, including stints with Cale Yarborough’s operation, and has several stories about being fired, rehired, and the culture of “revolving door” employment in NASCAR shops ([09:44]).

  • “It’s not you; we want this other guy…but the only way he’ll come is if you leave.” – Vic Hill, on NASCAR team politics ([09:45])

• Poignant story of learning and competing against more advanced shops, chasing elusive 700 horsepower benchmarks ([23:09]).

3. Crew Chief Antics & Tales from the Pits

• Laughter-filled recollections working with legendary drivers like Dick Trickle, serving as crew chief and pit crew with ragtag friends ([12:31-16:49]).
  • “I've got my high school buddies as a pit crew. This was a catastrophe. We qualified 15th…” – Vic Hill ([13:39])
• Memorable pit stop mistake at Bristol – tires falling off due to radio miscommunication, becoming an ESPN blooper highlight ([14:49]).

4. Departure from NASCAR – Back to Tennessee and Engine Building

• After further stints with teams as cylinder head expert, Vic returned to Tennessee as the opportunity arose to work for Larry Clark’s Custom Race Engines and eventually launched Vic Hill Race Engines ([24:35-26:34]).
  • “Every time they fired me, I just learned more somewhere else. Self-education.” ([25:45])
• Built on his NASCAR knowledge, began porting and developing parts for dirt late model racing.
• Detailed anecdotes about how he developed winning manifolds, including for Kyle Petty’s Daytona pole-winning car ([26:34-27:35]).

5. Founding His Own Business & The Mike Fryer Acquisition

• Vic gained the backing to launch his own engine shop after success and detailed his partnership deal with Volunteer Chevrolet ([32:01]).
• Bought out respected builder Mike Fryer, inheriting both equipment and—and humorously—Fryer’s famous toupees in the company’s cabinets ([33:10]).
  • “When I got the cabinets, you’d open up and there were toupees in all of them.” – Vic Hill ([33:17])

6. Revolutionizing Dirt Late Model Engine Design

• Vic tells how he originated the modern “dirt super late model engine” – innovating the aluminum block, big cubic inch, high-flowing design now common in the sport ([38:48-41:15]).
  • “Did you design what is known as the dirt super late motor today? …That was me.” – Vic Hill ([38:48])
• Discusses collaborating with LSM Engineering and Vic Edelbrock to develop blocks and cylinder heads that dominated the sport, first for Scott Bloomquist ([40:03-41:06]).
• Explained the unique porting and intake properties of these engines, and how his design outperformed both Ford and Chevrolet in their traditional RPM ranges ([42:09-42:51]).

7. Return to Roots: Bulls Gap Speedway & Thrill TV

• Vic details how he took over management/operation of the iconic Bulls Gap (Volunteer) Speedway, just two miles from his shop ([45:28-46:11]).
• Originally began by assisting the Levins but went on to lease and improve the facility, even operating the equipment personally ([47:45]).
• Epic “Kyle Larson Night”: Peak audience turnout when telecasting with Flow; the biggest ratings in Flow history ([48:25]).
  • “Larson’s quick time, knocking the wall down all the way around the top.” – Vic Hill ([48:18])

- Business Realization: The Importance of “TV Money”

• Vic explains how streaming rights are critical to making events profitable and sustainable, leading to his launch of Thrill TV—his own subscription platform ([49:24-52:59]).
  • “What I figured out in this business is the television part of this business… To pay the drivers what they need, there aren’t enough seats in these venues. You have to have TV to compensate for that.” – Vic Hill ([49:24])

8. Thrill TV and New Ventures

• Thrill TV will air Bulls Gap’s crown jewel event, The Gauntlet—a four-night spectacular with escalating purses and a $100,000 bonus ([60:44]).
• Vic is launching an Engine Sweepstakes: a subscriber-supported contest where users can watch an engine built start-to-finish, then enter to win it—designed to drive engagement, education, and support for the track ([55:02]).
  • “If you buy a one year subscription to Thrill TV…you can watch us build this engine through the summer, and we’re going to give it away in August.” – Vic Hill ([55:56])

9. Vic on Social Media and Mentorship

• Vic’s open, hands-on approach—sharing videos and real advice—has expanded his reach and influence in the industry ([57:18-59:59]).
  • “I’ve always enjoyed helping people in this industry…it’s just my nature. I try to help people and give them enjoyment.” – Vic Hill ([57:57])
• Shares a story of helping a Minnesota racer fix chronic overheating, which led to his first big sponsorship—a testament to “paying it forward.” ([58:35-59:28])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On racing dreams:
  • “Everybody wanted to be Dale Earnhardt. Rusty Wallace—get in line!” – Kenny Wallace ([05:36])
• On hard-earned progress:
  • “Long story short, you’re a badass, Vic. You are a badass.” – Kenny Wallace ([10:39])
• On industry evolution:
  • “You kids have it good…You have the aluminum bits all in your body. Back then…it was just grinding and grinding.” – Kenny Wallace ([10:22])
• On pit road chaos:
  • “Tires fall off of it before he gets into turn one. Just a bunch of redneck kids, really.” – Vic Hill ([14:55])
• On why he innovates:
  • “You are Andy Petrie. You’re a thinker. You’re a leader. You don’t know at this time you’re a leader working for people, but this is part of your journey. I’m with you.” – Kenny Wallace ([24:11])
• On business and TV:
  • “The only way you can pay the drivers and the venue is TV. There aren’t enough seats. You’ve got to have television to compensate for that.” – Vic Hill ([49:23])
• On paying it forward:
  • “If you don’t know, you just don’t know. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about…but it is funny when people don’t know. Let me help you, and now they know.” – Kenny Wallace ([59:59])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Vic’s Upbringing & Getting Into Racing – [02:23] – [05:34]
• First NASCAR Jobs, Transition to Racing & Engine-Building – [05:34] – [12:10]
• Pit Crew Antics with Dick Trickle – [12:31] – [16:49]
• Return to Tennessee, Custom Race Engines, Starting Vic Hill Engines – [24:24] – [33:32]
• Innovating the Dirt Late Model Engine – [38:48] – [43:12]
• The Bulls Gap & Thrill TV Era – [45:28] – [53:47]
• Launching The Engine Sweepstakes – [55:02] – [56:34]
• Social Media, Sponsorship, and Mentoring Stories – [57:18] – [59:28]
• The Gauntlet Four-Day Event & Finale – [60:44] – [62:11]

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Final Thoughts

This episode is a celebration of hard-won success through curiosity, relentless work, and a love of the sport—whether in the engine room, behind the wheel, or running the show at the dirt track. Vic Hill’s story is equal parts inspirational guide for dream-chasers and master class on adapting, innovating, and staying true to your community.

For anyone who cares about the culture and evolution of grassroots racing, this is an essential listen—or, with this summary, an essential read.

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(For race schedules & sweepstakes details, visit The Thrill TV and Bulls Gap Raceway online. Hear more stories from Herm & Schrader wherever Dirty Mo Media podcasts are found.)

Transcript

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[Kenny Wallace]

welcome back to Kenny Conversation. Brought to you by i55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway park right here, just 15 minutes from my house in Pey, Missouri. And remember, we race every Saturday night on Dirt. And boy, speaking of dirt, he's done it all. The magician of motor building, my new dear friend, Vic Hill. Vic, how you doing buddy?

[Vic Hill]

I'm good, I'm good other than the snow outside.

[Kenny Wallace]

Hey, hey listen, that's something fun to talk about. Now I'm learning how to pronounce this name. Is that Mossheim, Tennessee?

[Vic Hill]

That's, yeah, Moshe. I've, I've heard it pronounced Marsheim, Mossheim. A lot of different things I say, and I've heard it machine. So yeah, I can spell it for people.

[Kenny Wallace]

Yeah, I saw that. And I thought, boy, as country as Tennessee is, I don't expect to see like a German name. But yeah, Mosheim, Tennessee.

[Vic Hill]

Huh, huh, huh. I actually live in Greenville. You know, my engine shop is in Mossheim and I live in Greenville, which is the big, the big city compared to Mossam.

[Kenny Wallace]

We are going to celebrate your career. We're going to talk about it all. And the great thing about Kenny conversation is we don't have to go in perfect order and.

[Vic Hill]

Right.

[Kenny Wallace]

So. Yeah. You ready to go?

[Vic Hill]

I'm ready.

[Kenny Wallace]

All right. I, I first I gotta say this, and this is a compliment. You remind me of Andy Petrie, the great NASCAR crew chief. Yeah, well, you and, you and Andy have the exact same mannerisms. I guess I'm a study of people. You guys are both, let me see. Here's what I say about you and Andy Petrie. Your mannerisms are alike. You both are race car drivers. You're not afraid to do anything. You will do anything. And you're innovative minded. Tell me about your upbringing a little bit. I know you're from Pigeon Forge. Andy is right there, you know, down the road from you. Where, where were you born? How did you get going?

[Vic Hill]

I was actually born in Knoxville, Tennessee, right down the road and grew up in Sevierville. And really like, my grandfather was chief of staff at Fort Sanders Hospital, Dr. Victor Hill.

[Peloton/IXL Announcer]

Wow.

[Vic Hill]

And I was supposed to be a doctor, so I ended up not being a doctor, maybe a doctor of engines or other things. I just never had a desire. And honestly, the racing part of it, growing up, my family didn't, they weren't involved in racing at all. Like Bulls Gap, the track I'm working with now, I didn't even know it was there. I just saw racing on television, Richard Petty and David Pearson and all those people there, and was just fascinated. So in high school, you know, I was kind of a gearhead. I was what you call a redneck athlete. You know, I ran track around the mile in like 450. I had the pole vault record, did all that kind of stuff, played basketball, but I just hot rodded around. And when I graduated, you know, the only resumes I had when I showed up over there in North Carolina was working at a go kart track or a Water slide or something like that. And I went to Childresses. Ricky Rudd was actually driving when I first showed up over there. And my dad's the one that told me, said, look, if you, if you're not going to ut, if you're not going to college to be a doctor and you, you're dead, you know, headstrong. On, on being in the NASCAR world or racing. And I wanted to be Dale Earnhardt, you know, I mean, I wanted to be a race car driver. I didn't.

[Kenny Wallace]

Hold on, Vic.

[Vic Hill]

Hold on.

[Kenny Wallace]

You're not on an island by yourself. We, we all wanted to be Dale Earnhardt. Okay? So, yeah, don't, don't be, don't be hard on yourself. Everybody wanted to be Dale Earnhardt. Rusty Wallace, get in line.

[Vic Hill]

Yeah, yeah, exactly. Exactly. You know, I drove over there. This is no Kenny with 500 bucks and a 70 model Maverick. I mean, I was broke as a joke. Yeah. And got a room and at a. At the boarding house for the School of the Arts in downtown Winston salem. Cost me $100 a month. And you had a, a bed, a TV, a chair, a phone, and you shared a bathroom with somebody that went to college there. So I would go to Childress's every day. And I'm 18 years old, wanting a job, wanting a job. And like I said, my resume wasn't anything other than go kart tracks and water slides and things like that. So finally Bob Guerrell came out. I guess Childer said, this kid's hounding the out of me and came out and said, hey, I got some kids here all the time. And so Bob takes me back there and at that time, you know, it was way different than it is now, but the shop is just a little teeny thing. And so he kind of took me under his wing and started showing me how to do things. And my first jobs were angle milling cylinder heads or water checking. So just simple, simple things. And Bob ended up going on his own and doing. Had a cylinder head business and I went with him and it was in Madison, North Carolina. And this is when I got my first start in racing was there was a kids there and they, their dad owned the gas station and the brother raced, raced a street stock at 311. And I met them and I won't go into the whole story how all the meeting. But anyway, we got together and they said, if you'll build an engine, we'll build a car if you want to race. And I'm like, oh, hell yeah. Off we go. Bob got madder Than hell. Called it a dempster dumpster on wheels. You can't be racing that. You'll get hurt. You know, you're too talented, doing these cylinder heads and all. Anyway, I started racing that thing and started winning. I mean, winning all the time. And like I said, it was a. You know, back then it was camaros with a big block or whatever. But anyway, did that for a few years and then went back to childresses with Earnhardt in 86 and 87. And at that time, I had one opportunity that kind of slipped away, and I. I don't know why, but I was working at childresses and they came to me and said, you remember Bobby Wallach?

[Kenny Wallace]

Oh, yeah. Bobby wallach. Oh, yeah. I was a crew. Remember, I was a cup Crew Chief in 1984. These are my days. I was cup crew chief for Joe rutman in the Levi Garrett car. You and I are very similar.

[Vic Hill]

Oh, yeah. So anyway, I go down there and. And supposedly. So they said, this is your last day working here. You're going to wawacks. You're going to help him through the summer, and at the end of the year, you're going to run north wilkesboro. Okay?

[Kenny Wallace]

Hell, yeah.

[Vic Hill]

I blaze down there and I help Bobby, and you know the little truck he had? Hell, I drove that thing to michigan's and poconos and did all this. But how? I made my money. Bobby didn't pay me, but I did cylinder heads for different teams and made my money out of Bobby's shop. So I did that all summer. It's getting closer to the wilkesboro deal, and I don't hear anything happening as far as me driving. And when it first started, I talked to Richard and, yeah, we're going to do this and that. And long story short, it didn't. It didn't happen. So I thought, now what I'm going to do. So I called Bob, and he's still. You know, he's at childresses. And I said, am I getting a job back there? Or whatever? I said. And he's, well, after atlanta, because Atlanta was the last race back then. Well, I couldn't wait till after Atlanta. Well, I'd done a set of cylinder heads for Cale yarborough. Well, they wanted to hire me and be the main cylinder head guy. So I'm like, oh, hell yeah. Double my money. And went down there and worked with kale. The year he retired, him and Dale Jarrett split driving and worked there for a year. They came in, Funny story. They came in and fired me.

[Kenny Wallace]

Welcome to nascar.

[Vic Hill]

Yeah, yeah. It's not you. We want to get this other guy, but the only way he'll come is this guy comes and all this. I'm like, okay, whatever. And back then, you know, you're porting heads by hand. That's not CNC machines. So you're. Yeah, I've had carpal tunnel surgery on both.

[Kenny Wallace]

But anyway, do you ever hear Sigh Earnhardt?

[Vic Hill]

You ever heard of Sirenhardt at Kales?

[Kenny Wallace]

Yeah. So sigh. He was our cylinder head guy there at Ben Benfield Racing. Was, you know, the Levi Garrett team. Yes. I just want to slow the conversation down and remind everybody the CNC machines today, as they say. You kids have it good.

[Vic Hill]

Yeah, yeah, you do.

[Kenny Wallace]

You have the aluminum bits all in your body.

[Vic Hill]

Oh, yeah, yeah. You do one port now and they can digitize and go on with it. Back then, I can't remember how many hours it was, Kenny, but God, it was just grinding and grinding and grinding.

[Kenny Wallace]

But long story short, you're a badass, Vic. You are a badass.

[Vic Hill]

You really are. But we. So anyway, back to the. The Kale deal. They fired me and I leave. And so I just went up to Eminem, blocking head, little place up there in Madison, started doing cylinder heads for different teams. And how did all this evolve? It was. It was a month or two and Keith Russell was the head injury builder down there, called me and said, vic, we need a set of heads. I said, for me. I said, what? I mean, how the hell are you going to explain that to Kale? Because I said, I'll tell you right now, they're going to be high. And Joe Patel, hvh, did a lot of cylinder heads for a lot of teams and they were good. Well, his, I think the Porter set of heads from him or get a set was like 3,600 bucks, which was a gazillion dollars.

[Kenny Wallace]

Yeah.

[Vic Hill]

So I said, it's going to be as high as HVH or higher. He said, I don't care. And I said, well, when Kelly Harbour is writing a check to Victor, go. Why in the hell we fire this guy when he's making $700 a week? Anyway, long story short, did that go back? They hired me back, wanted me back down there. So I go back and I was there actually with Trickle Dick Trickle, my hero. Yep. And when Trickle left, he went. And Ken Allen I Crew Chieftain, Allen's cars out of Shelby. Ever heard his name? Who? Okay, yes. So you know, Rodney Combs drove his car some. Glotzbach drove his car some in Arca well, I was the crew chief on that thing. Yeah. When I worked at Kale's even. So anyway, when Dick got released.

[Kenny Wallace]

Your story is so dynamic. Hold on, I want to slow this down a little bit. I want everybody to know. This is Vic Hill, everybody. One of the most famous, probably the best dirt racing engine builder of all time. And this is how. This is before he became a great engine builder. Okay, keep going.

[Vic Hill]

Anyway, well, I told Ken, I said, I said, ken, I said, right now Dick does not have a job. And I said, if you want to go to a short track, because we'd go to some of the cup races, Darlington and stuff like that, where they barely had a field of cars and run around the back. Right. Well, we got Dick up there. He said, well, do you know him? I said, well, yeah. So I called him and Trickle comes up there and he waddles around there, you know, smoking his cigarette and he's like, man, this guy's got a lot of stuff. I said, yeah, and it was good. Most of it came from Childress. So we set up a deal and we were going to Bristol, Wilkesboro and Martinsville. Well, Dick Trickle didn't need a crew chief, you know what I mean? He's going to do whatever. He's going to do the car, do his own stuff. Right? Right. So I build an engine just out of the. That he had there to go test at Bristol. So we go test and prototype was going to build the engine we were going to run in the Cup. Deal.

[Kenny Wallace]

Ron, Neil.

[Vic Hill]

Yes.

[Kenny Wallace]

So we're going to be.

[Vic Hill]

Vic puts together this blah, blah, blah, just an engine. We go test and, and I forgot, was it Hopkins was the car builder, whoever.

[Kenny Wallace]

Ronnie Hopkins.

[Vic Hill]

Yes, he was with us. And so Dick, they talked and we tested and tested. Well, they're going to change. They're going to change the front clip on this thing or whatever. They're going to cut it off and change some front end parts. I'm like, okay, whatever. So we get back and Dick says, I don't think we'll be able to. I don't think that I can get an engine runs any better than that one. And I said, dick, this is not new stuff. So prototypes supposed to get the engine. They don't get it to us. So we go to Bristol. I've got my high school buddies as a pit crew. This was a catastrophe. We qualified 15. We qualified 15th, though. Everybody's like, he's happier than hell. We go and he is going to make all the calls on the pit stops and this was on ESPN for a long time. This, this whole fiasco. He's going to make all the calls over the radio. If two tires, four tires, or whatever he wants. Well, whatever. I can't remember how far along in the race it was, but he comes down pit road, there's caution, four tires. And at that time, you had someone zip the left side tires off and you're over there changing. I changed front tires and I can't remember.

[Kenny Wallace]

I can only imagine where this story is going right now. These are loose.

[Vic Hill]

So we jump over and actually my brother's the one that was on the left side wheels. He jumps over, zips him off. I take the right front off while I come around with the rear tire guy screw, I don't know, dropped lugs, whatever happened. So it was slower. Well, I come running around the car. I've got mine on when it drops. Dick hand on the radio is like two tires only. Well, I'm on the radio going, the lugs are off. The lugs are off. Well, he never let off the button. The PIP crews in front of us were trying to stop him. No, off he goes. Tires fall off of it before he gets into turn one. We're, you know, on the front or the back straightaway, actually, and we'd go dragging out there with jacks and, you know, just a bunch of redneck kids, really. And NASCAR's having a fit. You can't leave your pit and do that. So anyway, we ended up. I forgot where we finished now, like 20 something. So after that, you're going like this. Buddy Parrot came up and helped us all get organized on the pit stop together. We went to Wilkesboro. Wilkesboro was a. It was one of those almost a hero deal. He ran in the top five the whole day. I'm pretty sure Darrell Waltrip won the race. It was him and Jimmy Spencer that were kind of dominant in that race that year. But Dick just said, I'm going to run as hard as I need to run. You guys don't panic. All I need to know is if. If they're coming around to lap me or getting close, I'll speed up. And he did that all day, stayed in lead lap, barely. And he said, with 100 to go, tell me. And so on so forth. And lap 25, I'm going to go. Well, by lap 25, we were in fourth or fifth, and we're going to run probably third, honest to God. And, oh, swerving. Irvin came in. Ernie came in there. I don't, I can't Remember if he had pitted or whatever the tire situation was going on, but he came in and crashed himself, us and Dale Jerry

[Kenny Wallace]

on pit road or in the race?

[Vic Hill]

In the race, every. Oh, yeah, like, 20 to go. So anyway, we fixed the thing, went to Martinsville, qualified 12th. And by the way, Kenny, the same engine that we tested with is in this car through all. Then we go to Wilkesboro or I mean to Martinsville, and He qualified, like, 12th. And, you know, it crashed out of the car. And it was the next week, so none of us had any sleep. Worked our ass. I've got there Dick qualifies 12th or 13th pretty damn good. And he said, all right, everybody go home, go to bed, get some rest. Because nobody had any rest. So we did.

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[Kenny Wallace]

The only thing missing in this conversation right now is a beer. And we should be at a bar.

[Vic Hill]

Yeah, yeah. You had to have the cigarette lighter in the car for him, all that.

[Kenny Wallace]

I want to run that motor again. My boy put some rings in it,

[Vic Hill]

but it ended up breaking. So we're running. We were running in the, you know, top 15, top 10, and it broke the crank bolt on the front of it. Well, after that, prototype's gonna get us an engine. Well, we're gonna go to the. What. What the. The deal at Charlotte.

[Kenny Wallace]

Yeah, the All Star Race. The All Star Race 600 open.

[Vic Hill]

The open. Yeah, yeah. The All Star Races first. So we. We get all this fixed. Same deal. Just work our butts. Awful. Prototype doesn't have the engine there. So I take this same. The engine that the. That was left out of the engine. The crank bolt broke. Off, new crank, all this stuff, get it together, go to Charlotte to test with this thing. And again, no sleep. I'm talking working like a dog. Get there. We practice, test the first day, you know, you have to practice a lot back then, but the first day of qualifying or whatever it was prototypes, engines there. We had to go to the airport and pick it up. We go the airport, pick this thing up, bring it to the track, bust our ass, put it in, blows up the first lap. So now we've gotta build something that's gonna run this whole time. So I go back what year was.

[Kenny Wallace]

What year you think that was?

[Vic Hill]

That was probably 80, 89.

[Kenny Wallace]

Okay.

[Vic Hill]

Yeah, well, I had an issue with Melissa, so 80. Golly.

[Kenny Wallace]

Ron was grinding his own cranks at one time. Had an oiling issue. I broke. I blew up right away. And he. Ten years later, he told Rusty, I started grinding my own cranks and. Yeah, but hey, listen, I just want to remind everybody. Don't, don't you know, if Bob Pierce was listening to this conversation right now that, you know, our, our lives are very long. Once again, I'm reminding everybody you're listening to Vic Hill, the greatest dirt racing motor builder of all time. And this is his journey. We're still in North Carolina. We are not even a motor builder, really.

[Vic Hill]

No, no, we're just a cylinder head guy.

[Kenny Wallace]

Keep going.

[Vic Hill]

Yeah. So anyway, we get finished with this whole deal. We made this, you know, we went through the whole, the, the prelim race or whatever that. The. Yeah, what do they call it?

[Kenny Wallace]

Yeah, the All Star Open. You won it, then you went into the All Star race.

[Vic Hill]

Yeah, yeah. So we go through all this other stuff and the All Star race didn't do worth a damn. So we get there, The Coca Cola 600, I think is the one that's right after it. We make the race. Yeah. And ran in the, you know, we ran the whole damn deal, but ran in the back. And after that I told Ken because we didn't have any help, honest to God. This was like a no money. It said number 34, dick trickle, and it was just Ken's money. So I said, ken, you're killing me. I mean. And I, I said, I can't do it anymore. I mean, I love it, but I can't do all this right now.

[Kenny Wallace]

So I'm eating at Bojangles every morning.

[Vic Hill]

Yeah, if you get to stop and eat. Back then it wasn't like get there at 8 o'.

[FanDuel Announcer]

Clock.

[Vic Hill]

It was like, who's gonna be the earliest at the dodge area? At 6 in the morning or 5:30. But anyway, at that time, Mark Conquest and from Alaska. Yeah. Okay. Mark was working.

[Kenny Wallace]

Wow.

[Vic Hill]

At Bahari. Kenny Wilson was the head engine builder at that time. Yeah, they called me and they said, we need some help in the cylinder head department. We want you to come and Bill Engel is a crew chief. We want you to change front tires. We want you to be the engine guy at the racetrack. And I said, no, I want to race my dirt car on the weekends, but I will come and do cylinder heads and all that stuff. So I went to work there for two years. This was in 90 to 92 with Michael Waltrip and all that. And it was fun place to work for sure. And I Conquest ended up whatever with the engine building deal. I'm not going to get all into that. But Ron Puryer ended up being the head engine builder.

[Kenny Wallace]

Oh, Ron. A.J. foitzel motor builder.

[Vic Hill]

Yes, sir. So Ron. Ron and I now are like best friends because this will go on to this full circle in life that we're in. So Ron becomes the head engine builder. And back then, you know, they're saying, oh, they can make 700 horsepower and we'd make about 680. Well, that's about all. And Rusty.

[Kenny Wallace]

Rusty won the championship on 680 with Harold Elliott.

[Vic Hill]

Yeah. Yeah, 680. Felix and Hendrick were big buddies and Hendrik would tell him, they're making 700 and had Felix all just tore all the helm. And I knew half the people that work down there and I said, they're not making 700 US. That's just jacked up bullshit. And he came in. Actually, I was dynoing an engine one day and I just leaned over on the superflow. You just turn a little knob and it put 20 in that thing. And I ran that thing 700. And he said, he shook his head. He goes, they're not doing it that way. And so back to Ron. Ron's going to. He's looking for 700 horsepower and all this. And he came back to me. I'm grinding the heads. And he said, you know, what do you think on the cylinder heads on this thing? I said, Dude, I'm 680. I don't know. I've done everything I know how to do. Long story short, we didn't mesh very well when we met. Here it goes again. I got fired. Yeah. And I wasn't mad. You know, NASCAR is like a revolving door, and I really didn't want to work for a team. I like doing just different team stuff.

[Kenny Wallace]

So let me. Let me say this. This goes with your mannerisms. You're. You're an Andy Petrie. You're a thinker. You're a leader.

[Vic Hill]

Yeah.

[Kenny Wallace]

You don't know at this time you're a leader working for people, but this is part of your journey. I'm with you.

[Vic Hill]

Yeah. Yeah. So anyway, I'll leave there and how I ended up back in Tennessee. So I leave, Leave there. I'm just doing cylinder heads for different teams and racing my dirt car. Right.

[Kenny Wallace]

Yeah.

[Vic Hill]

Happy as a clown.

[Kenny Wallace]

Sound like me.

[Vic Hill]

Yeah. Yeah. And so I come back home to see the family and all that for Thanksgiving in 92 or 3, whatever it was. And Larry Clark, that owned custom race engines, was in Knoxville. My brother at the time was going to ut. Okay. He farted around over there a little bit, and he went back to college. He ended up. He was a spine specialist and all this stuff. Anyway, I come into town, he was working part time for Larry while he was in college, and he said, I want you to meet Larry. So I go over there again. Everybody's porting by hand, and. And Larry, they had a set of heads they were working on, and I'm in my regular, you know, not work clothes. And he started talking, and he said, we're working on these heads back here, and the exhaust port won't move any air and this and that. Will you look at them? I said, sure. And I go back and look. He said, think you can fix that? I said, yeah. I mean, in a flash, I can see what's wrong with it. So I go in there with a grinder. It didn't take me five minutes on this one little port. Throw it on the flow bench. He goes. He said, this thing's better than anything we buy. And I went, well, I said, I've got to see everything that everybody does, too, because I work for all the teams. He said, have you ever considered your

[Kenny Wallace]

advantage right there when they fired you? You said, thank you. Now I'm gonna go find out what these guys are doing.

[Vic Hill]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Self education. But so anyway, he said, have you ever considered moving back to Tennessee? I said, no. And he said, why not? And I said, because I run a dirt car at 311 and over there, and I've got a group of guys and I don't know a damn soul over here that races to even have for help or anything. He said, well, if I found a group that you could race with, would you consider it and come back, come to work for me? I Said, sure. So he did. So off I come back to Tennessee. And now at that time in Larry's shop, I was doing all right. The manifold that Kyle Petty sat on the pole with In 1993, I did the whole thing. I did the whole thing there.

[Kenny Wallace]

That car had a funny sound. Mellow yellow. It went down to straight. Quick time. It was the headers or you. You did good.

[Vic Hill]

Well, what was funny about that is, is I really. I was just working for $500 a week. And you were.

[Kenny Wallace]

Paid you. They were paying you.

[Vic Hill]

I was finally. Finally,

[Kenny Wallace]

I got my first paycheck in 1984, and they handed it to me. I was like, this is unbelievable.

[Vic Hill]

But now we. I did. So the little top, you know, we had the tubes and all that kind of. Right. Well, I had one that worked really well. Yeah. But the guy that machined the tubes and all the stuff was in North Carolina. So I was having him make that and Lanny Barnes, which shoulders is. But he was there then, and they. They brought whatever they were going to have him machine. And we were friends because we're the same age. And he called me and said, hey, you mind if we try that top on. On one of our manifolds, see if it's any better? Me being a dumbass said, oh, sure. Hell, it doesn't matter. It was 8 horsepower better.

[Kenny Wallace]

Oh, that's 2. That's 2. 10. We figured 3. 3 horsepower was 1 10th at Daytona.

[Vic Hill]

Yeah. So then they said, will you do the whole manifold? Well, back then, like I said, it's by hand. I took with the plate manifolds by hand 11 pounds of aluminum out of this thing with a diagram. Wow, £11. I did one. Well, they put it on there. It picked up like four or five more. And they're like, can you do another one? I said, no. I said, I'm done. It was like the week before Daytona. Said, it's the only one you get. And this was the last time I was crew chief on any of that stuff. I was crew chief for Ken again. And I can't remember who was in the ARCA race. So I go down there and this Kyle Petty sits on the pole. And I think he should have won the race, but he. Bobby Hill and him, Bobby Hillen Jr. Got caught up laughing. I don't know what the hell happened. But, yeah, that was the last deal. I say the last. When I was kind of really involved. Well, let's roll on to my engine business, you know, start my own business. Now I'm racing every week at Bulls Gap And I'm beating.

[Kenny Wallace]

Okay, look, look, I tell you what. Come up for a little bit. You're awesome.

[Vic Hill]

You're like me.

[Kenny Wallace]

You've gone 26 minutes and have not come up for air yet.

[Vic Hill]

Oh, yeah, I know.

[Kenny Wallace]

You know, isn't this incredible? We would have to do three shows to fit in. What we really want to fit. Your. Your journey is unbelievable. And I want to. Any conversation is also about, you know, like, why are you the way you are? And it sounds to me like you had doctors in your family.

[Vic Hill]

I did, yeah. That's why you're.

[Kenny Wallace]

You're an innovator. You're trying to. You know, so this is things. You know, it's kind of like, why is AJ Foyt the way he is? You know, why is. Why is Bobby pierced the way he is?

[Vic Hill]

What?

[Kenny Wallace]

Because of his dad. So. So who is it in your family? Just a small break right here. We'll go back.

[Vic Hill]

But yeah.

[Kenny Wallace]

Who are you like, in your family? Mom, dad, Who?

[Vic Hill]

Every one of them. Wow. I mean, for my grandfather on both sides, honestly, like, my other grandfather, he was like a state trooper. They country but had gardens and I mean, all this. And then I got the other grandfather as a doctor, and my dad actually just sold real estate, stuff like that. My mom had a regular job, work for my uncle at the dentist office. And, you know, I was just. I don't know. I've always. Kenny, that's one thing I've always done since I was a little kid is I. I really do monitor people and just their mannerisms and what they do.

[Kenny Wallace]

You got. You got perspective.

[Vic Hill]

Yeah, yeah. Of what they are. The good, bad, whatever. We've all got good and bad. Right. And I've just tried to weigh that out and line my life with the best of what they can do. Okay, everyone that influenced me in my life.

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[Kenny Wallace]

That was a small break right there, everybody. Now we know why Vic is the way he is. I, like, I'm a police officer, but yet I grow food.

[Vic Hill]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Kenny Wallace]

That's really awesome. Okay, so now we're back to Tennessee. But keep in mind, everyone, he's a race car driver at heart, same as me. Kenny Wallace and Vic Hill are race car drivers, but I got to do the TV because it pays good. Vic's got to do this NASCAR thing so we can run his dirt car.

[Vic Hill]

Yeah.

[Kenny Wallace]

Okay. We went to NASCAR land. Now we're back. Okay, go again.

[Peloton/IXL Announcer]

All right.

[Kenny Wallace]

So we're back.

[Vic Hill]

And I worked for Larry for a few years. One started winning races. Well, people wanted me to build their engines. Yes. And I left Larry's and went on my own and basically volunteer Chevrolet. Wow. Gary Helton owned this place, and he raced pavement. He. He like Frankie grills cars. He had a whole engine shop. And Robbie White was there, and they just built his engine. So I went to them and I said, I'll give you 50% of what I make, everything if I can just use this facility. They're like, sure. Well, I made good money, but I got so busy, I couldn't keep up with anything. Like, Jason, my main guy that's been with me since I started, was working under the hood of cars there and came back one night and said, do you need any help? I'm like, oh, hell.

[Kenny Wallace]

Oh, dirty old, dirty diesel mechanic. You fixed him right up.

[Vic Hill]

He's all polished up now. This guy's taking it.

[Kenny Wallace]

Is his hands clean now?

[Vic Hill]

Hell, yeah. He's taking the ball and run with it. I can tell you. I love it. But anyway, we. We did that for about a year, and then I bought out Mike Fryer. You remember that name?

[Kenny Wallace]

Oh, my God, yes.

[Vic Hill]

I bought my friar's business out because

[Kenny Wallace]

I loved his toupee. He checked the time and every cabinets.

[Vic Hill]

When I got. When I. When I got the cabinets, you'd open up, and there were two pays in all of them.

[Kenny Wallace]

Oh, my God. I loved him. He was so nice to me.

[Vic Hill]

He.

[Kenny Wallace]

He'd work on L.D. ottener's car and.

[Vic Hill]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So we bought all that stuff and started my engine business.

[Kenny Wallace]

That's amazing. His two paes fell out of a ca.

[Vic Hill]

Yes, yes. Loved him, but it was. So anyway, that just evolved from there, and I'm still racing, you know, my Main goal still was racing, but I'm running late models now. Yeah. But I wasn't going to run back then. It was habitat for any of that because I had a business that was going. Jason worked. There were three of us total.

[Kenny Wallace]

Yeah.

[Vic Hill]

And I kept my race car in the building. And back there where the dyno is now is where I assembled the engines. And I mean, it's. The whole dynamics changed a bunch. But anyway, so move forward a little bit. Back into the cup stuff. Remember I told you the full circle with ron Peryr?

[Kenny Wallace]

Yeah.

[Vic Hill]

2002. I'd done cylinder heads and stuff in the past for McClures, but never met Larry. Didn't know any of them. Just mail them the heads and here you go and whatever. Well, Ron called me and said, vic, he said, we're having some trouble in the cylinder head department up here. I want you to come up and look at this. And so I did. And not to mention any names, I just said, look, the two guys you got in here aren't doing that good.

[Kenny Wallace]

I mean, they would buy you clean that up.

[Vic Hill]

I did clean that up really good. So Ron's like, what are you thinking? I said, ron, I'm telling you, the way things are now, I said, I can do the cylinder head program. I come up here two days a week and have yourself. Have you run full of cylinder head. And they're, oh, there's no way it takes these guys two weeks, I said to do one set of heads. On redoing a set, they didn't even port. I said, that's because they're not doing. Anyway. So I go up there and help them with what they had. Well, then I did a set of cylinder heads.

[Kenny Wallace]

Is that bahari?

[Vic Hill]

No, Morgan McClure Kodak.

[Kenny Wallace]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay.

[Vic Hill]

They're right up. See, I'm back in Tennessee. They drug me back up there. And so I did a set of heads. Like the 4 Kodak car. Would that be that it was actually the Kodak. Yeah.

[Kenny Wallace]

Okay.

[Vic Hill]

If Kodak. And then whatever and whatever. So it was Caterpillar then.

[Kenny Wallace]

Okay.

[Vic Hill]

With Ward Burton.

[Kenny Wallace]

Okay.

[Vic Hill]

So I'm doing. They said, we'll do it. Do a set of heads. And I said, okay. So I do a set of sp.2 heads. That's what the engine was then.

[Kenny Wallace]

Man, What a name. SB2.

[Vic Hill]

Yeah. This is funny because Ron, I knew there's a different level of pricing from NASCAR to dirt. Right. I mean, it's just this the way it is. So I called Ron and I said, ron, I don't really want to screw myself or screw you. What do I charge for these things? And when he told me, I went, holy, okay. I said, that's good. And he's like, yeah. So we bring them up and run them. And they ran better than anything they had. Oh, hell. Well, now I'm doing the heads and redoing. And so Larry and I became good friends and I test drove their cars like they'd go to Arizona. And that's boring as hell. You've probably been out there years ago. The five. Yeah. And you're out there running 800 miles a day in that thing around there. But anyway, did that for a few years and Larry actually wanted me to move my business up there, and I said, no. I said, I love this dirt world. I like helping you guys, but I'm not going to get that involved. I said, I'll just. As long as you're doing this, I'll do what I can do for you, but I'm going to stay here with my, my dirt family. So anyway, when they shut down, I just continued on with. With the dirt deal. And now, you know, we're doing New York modifieds. We do some modified engines. We do stramities and a few of them with soda engines. The super engines were pretty versatile on a lot, but we don't. I say we don't overwhelm ourselves. Sometimes I do get us in some trouble, get more than we need to do, but we all, we manage.

[Kenny Wallace]

What a story.

[Vic Hill]

And we haven't got to the racetrack.

[Kenny Wallace]

No, no, no. Yeah, right. And we're almost, we're almost done. We can only go 45 minutes. Yeah. Kenny, conversation. I haven't got a question in yet.

[Vic Hill]

You asked the question. Yeah, you did. And then I just go, yeah, but you know what?

[Kenny Wallace]

I got to tell you, that was wonderful. I mean, that, that, that was so incredible because I know everybody's got that story. I remember when you were telling that story. I could feel myself in it because those were the days. So now you're back in Tennessee. Vic Hill, race engines. You know, you are. I, I deem you, you know, you're known for your championship winning race engines. You are the world of outlaw engine builder of the year. So that, that story you just told, now, now we, you know, we take and compress it. And here you are, you're relaxed, you're your own man. You make your own money. You don't, you know, there's suppliers, but now they need you. So this motor. Okay, everybody, we're kind of changing subjects. We got Vic back. Back in Tennessee. Did. And this is a. This is a pretty tough question, but I got to ask it. Did you design what is known as the dirt super late motor today? That look, that aluminum block that we did that, man, when I look at that motor, I'm like, this thing's crazy looking. Was that you?

[Vic Hill]

That was me. And what we did, this was back when I was helping McClure. And they were. They were between the R99 engine cylinder head package and RO7. Well, they went with R07. And when I had done some work on those cylinder heads, I thought, boy, that that would be the next level in dirt racing. That's a 4 or 500 bore spacing block.

[Kenny Wallace]

Wow.

[Vic Hill]

So, long story short, Bloomquist back then had Bob Miller sponsoring him. And I was just talking about it. I said, man, this. I said, now it'd be expensive as hell. And he said, what are you talking about? I said, well, the first one, there's no block. It would have to be a billet block that we'd have to design around this for a dirt engine to be a 440, 460 and all that cubic inch. And Bob said, do it. I went, oh, well, this is in 2002 or three. We didn't run the first one until 2006. But by the time I got it finished, I built a 440 and a 460 and a 480. Who helped you design this block? I mean, it was between. It was lsm. So we. We took the cylinder head and sent. And had pistons designed. We sent the cylinder head and said, make the block for this cylinder.

[Kenny Wallace]

Who is this company?

[Vic Hill]

Lsm. They used to do a lot of. Of cup stuff and everything. And they could design a lot of things. Billets.

[Kenny Wallace]

That's amazing to me. But okay, so I get it all

[Vic Hill]

when I get the very first one of these things finished. Now GM had quit producing this head.

[Kenny Wallace]

Yeah.

[Vic Hill]

And they had like 29 cylinder heads. I bought every one of them.

[Kenny Wallace]

Oh, my God.

[Vic Hill]

I was friends with Vic. I was friends with Vic Edelbrock back then, personally.

[Kenny Wallace]

That's.

[Vic Hill]

So I got them as when I knew I was going to build this and continue to do it. I got them to do the cylinder head for me to cast it. And so in the meantime, I'm trying to get Dart or Brodex or someone to do this block where it's halfway affordable. They're not there. Nothing to do with. No, no, no, we're not doing that. Well, finally, Bloomer, when I put that in his car. He. He pulverized them. He won the dream that year and all that. And so that was the talk of the town. Well, it took him three years for anyone to build a 4 or 500 bore spacing engine because they didn't have a cylinder head for it.

[Kenny Wallace]

Was that the year bloomer said, that's a tennessee ass whipping?

[Vic Hill]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Kenny Wallace]

He killed it. Killed him.

[Vic Hill]

So he. Anyway, it finally turned where they. They started doing my blocks. And now we get all our. Our blocks from brodex. Those guys have been really good to us. And, you know, we've. We've moved some things as far as, like the. The camshaft in that thing. It's not a regular. It's not anybody's camshaft as far as where the lobes are. Everything. We've straightened the valve train up, the oiling. We. Even in the broad x block, We've changed the way the. The priority feed is. And I'm gonna go through a lot of this when I do this engine giveaway. We're gonna build one of these things from the ground up and. And show people what we're doing, how we're building this. And it's.

[Kenny Wallace]

Stay tuned, everybody. Vic's gonna announce an engine sweepstakes in about five minutes here, Depending how long he goes. Yeah, I'm excited to hear about this engine sweepstakes. But keep. This motor is just. When I first saw one of these motors, I just. I was in amazement. It just stands out on its own. It is a dirt racing motor.

[Vic Hill]

Yeah. And it's designed. You know, Even the original SP2 in this thing was designed for a carburetor, not necessarily fuel injection. Because everything from. From where the carburetor sits on this thing to the back of the valve on every port is pretty much straight to the valve where a Ford. You've got. Everything's in one direction. Right. So it comes out of the carburetor and the air comes in, and two are happy, and then two have to make a U turn. Well, in this thing, it's like two go this way and two go this way. Beautiful. So everything's straight. And that's why they. They run on the top like a ford and they run on the bottom like a chevrolet. That's what I've told everybody. They're kind of a. Both of them because, you know, a dirt racer's dream.

[Kenny Wallace]

A dream of mine. Give me torque and I just keep it up on the bars. I'll get a rest.

[Vic Hill]

That's it. That's it. But and you know, we constantly are tweaking or moving some stuff and it's probably a year away, but there's going to be another thing coming and everybody's going to go, he's done it again.

[Kenny Wallace]

Well, on an engine. Yeah. Another break, everybody. Let's take a breath. And what I wanted to get out of Vic right there was when you look at these dirt racing motors, the man that made these, these beasts that you're looking at him right there. And those aluminum blocks, they just. I remember maybe 10 years ago, I was like, wow, that is. And it was your motor.

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There are countless reasons to learn a new language. Whether you have an upcoming trip planned or you simply want to learn a new skill. Rosetta Stone breaks down your new language into bite sized pieces and focuses on speaking practice or real conversations. Rosetta Stone's true accent feature even helps you perfect your pronunciation. I mean pronunciation. Visit Rosetta Stone.com today. Rosetta Stone, how languages learned.

[Kenny Wallace]

Okay, so now, now we're going to do. You know, this is what happens when, when I've got an hour.

[Vic Hill]

Yeah.

[Kenny Wallace]

There's a lot in your life that we can't talk about. And that is for another Kenny conversation. So we know you're a great motorbuilder. You are Vic Hill. We know that you are a great race car driver, but you are like Roger Penske. You had to give up, you know, I mean, you still race. You're still a badass. I'm giving you your due. We know how awesome you are. But, but, but like Roger Penske, you got to take care of business, right? Roger Penske was a great NASCAR cup driver, but he, but he had to quit racing because he had to take care of Penske. You know, it's incredible business. Now, now here we are, Fast forward. You got the motor company going and now we're fast forwarding massively.

[Vic Hill]

Yeah.

[Kenny Wallace]

Because of time constraint. Everyone. You said there's a racetrack two miles from Vic Hill. Race engines, Bulls Gap, the legendary. I mean legendary Bulls Gap sits in a whole high banked. Tell me how in the hell did you get a hold of? Bulls Gap, Tennessee, and you run it, and it is beautiful. Just take me that way.

[Vic Hill]

Okay.

[Kenny Wallace]

So through the years,

[Vic Hill]

I showed up over there, like I said, in the late 90s, well, I've won more championships and more races than anyone in the history of that track. And it's two miles from me, so. So we've. I've got a lot of test laps around it.

[Kenny Wallace]

Right.

[Vic Hill]

Because it's two miles from me. I love this. Yeah. So Joe and Phyllis Levin bought it in 99 or 2000. And I mean, we had a great relationship. I mean, a couple of years there, I'd won so much. Joe came up and said, you're stinking up my shows. You need to go somewhere else and race.

[Kenny Wallace]

But anyway, pay me to leave.

[Vic Hill]

Yeah. So anyway, I'd help Joe and Phyllis through the years, you know, not just racing. I'm talking about helping promote or doing whatever. Hell, I'd go over and help Joe work on the track. And so, long story short, they sold the track. The guy bankrupted. This is four. Four and a half years ago. Five years ago. Well, that year was a year, I guess it was four years ago. Larson's racing dirt cars. You know, he's a hot commodity. And flow and all the. All the stuff. Well, they wanted to have a race the week of Bristol at Volunteer.

[Kenny Wallace]

I got it right here.

[Vic Hill]

I didn't.

[Kenny Wallace]

I didn't realize you were going to go there that quick, but go ahead.

[Vic Hill]

Yep. So they. So I'm like, well, I called. So I finally called Phyllis and I said, phyllis, these people are blowing me up. Well, Joe and Phyllis want that place to be a dirt track. You know what I mean? Financially, they're okay. They're fine. So they're not just selling it to a truck stop or any of that. So back up a little bit. She says, vic, tell him you own it. I can't deal with it when. Oh. So I call him and what's the dealer? Yeah, the first. So I don't even know what I'm getting myself into. So we make this deal to where they're going to just rent the track, but I've got to get it all ready and run the race as if it's mine.

[Kenny Wallace]

Well, the.

[Vic Hill]

The road graders blow. Everything over there is just junk. So I spent all this money, get it going, and the race turned out great. And I started. I mean, the very first time I went on the track with a grader, believe it or not, around the road grader and all that over there But I knew where it needed some help, you know, as far as to make it racier. So I did. I did a deal there. I just put a big cushion up there. And, you know, Larson was the first one I told Rumley. I said, there's a cushion up there. And these people aren't used to that because normally you had to chop right across the bottom. And sure enough, Larson's quick time knocking the wall down all the way around the top.

[Kenny Wallace]

Let me say this. I have to do this. Yeah, I remember your track with Michael Rigsby, who owns Flow.

[Vic Hill]

Yep.

[Peloton/IXL Announcer]

It.

[Kenny Wallace]

And we were going to have. This is like 2023. We are going to have Kyle Larson night. And everybody. I'm just zoning in on this night. This night is bigger than big. You have Kyle Larson there. 2023. I think it is the highest rating in Flow history. Okay, go ahead.

[Vic Hill]

So it was successful. Well, now everyone in the.

[Kenny Wallace]

The.

[Vic Hill]

The local guys, man, you've got to help us. So that year, I think I ran four races at that track. Well, then the next year they're wanting me to do more. So I do. I just slow. I kind of crawl, walk, run with the thing. I bought a different road grader. I did some things just to help the facility.

[Kenny Wallace]

And.

[Vic Hill]

And to be honest with you, it. If I had to pay Joe and Phyllis a lease, it'd be upside down like a clown on money. But I didn't have to do that. So I've worked on the track and I've worked on things. Well, now people are. They love the racetrack. I mean, even the racers talk about it. Davenports and everybody. You got a few that don't like it because it's so fast, I guess.

[Kenny Wallace]

But.

[Vic Hill]

But anyway, moving on. What I figured out in this business is the television part of this business. We need. Because a lot of these venues to pay the drivers what they need to be paid and the venues what they need to be paid. There aren't enough. There aren't enough seats to seat enough people at a lot of these places to pay that. Right, Right. So you need television to compensate for that. Well and float. They come in, they give us X amount. The outlaws will come in and give us X amount. And then it's up to us to make the money. And at the end of the day, they're successful, but they're not successful enough on a. On a. Not El Dora. I'm talking about our regular racetrack. Yep. To improve and to make the changes, you need to change and upgrade. So you got to have your. What I've done with the Thrill TV is I got to have one nut a year. I mean, I've had the algorithm.

[Kenny Wallace]

Everybody, hold on. Here we go. He's Kenny Wallace. He just switched subjects on us. Okay, so you're looking at the man that runs Bulls Gap Raceway. The world of outlaw late models just ran there. Mike Marler ran through the middle, qualified on the fence. Great race track. But now what you're saying is you're starting Thrill TV because you're. You're. You're. You're. You know, you're the Thrill.

[Vic Hill]

Right. Right.

[Kenny Wallace]

Thrill TV now. All right, let's zone in on this new TV that's going to help this track be successful. Tell me about this.

[Vic Hill]

Okay. It's. It's all right. So the Thrill tv, basically, I get so many questions and calls on different things. How to winterize an engine or how to change valve springs to do that. So I've been on. And then even though there's episodes on there with me talking to Bob Grail or there's episodes on me working on the Right. Different things there. And. And all our weekly shows are on the Thrill tv. Okay, what we're doing with that is we are going to. So we've had that. Like I said, we've had the Outlaw race. We've got the Flow race. We're doing our own race that doesn't compete with Flow or Lucas or Dirt Vision or Outlaw. So all these guys are able to come to this racetrack where the fans want to see them or televising it ourself, which we've. I've done it one time before. It was pretty. It was successful without any advertising, but we're putting up. I mean, it's about $370,000. So it's a pretty. It's a big purse for this golf race. Big one. So, like I said, the Thrill tv, I feel like with as successful as the track is, and then the television we can produce, it will generate enough money for your annual money maker to make the track sustain and stay there for as long as we want it to stay there.

[Kenny Wallace]

I. I find you like a mad scientist. You know, one. One thing's not good enough for you. I. You know, somebody said, what's wrong with you, Kenny Wallace? I said, I'm crazy.

[Vic Hill]

Gail. I get this.

[Kenny Wallace]

Stay out of my way. You know, because for 50. You know, I'm 62, Vic. But for 55 years, everybody told me I'm crazy. And I finally said, you know what? I'm just gonna go with it. I'm Crazy. Stay out of my way. You're crazy, Vic. You're a mad scientist. You're incredible. Your journey in NASCAR was unbelievable. You make your, you know, they say life, you know, is full circle. And here you come back home, you make all your money. Now you're helping the sport. So there you go. Everybody say that TV one more time. Then we're going to go to the engine sweepstake, right?

[Vic Hill]

The Thrill tv.

[Kenny Wallace]

Thrill tv. And. And this is going to help this racetrack say, stay sustainable because we all know the only. Everybody goes, oh, I love dart racing. I said, it's, it's, it's. It's in the stinker. Everybody loses money. The only ones that make money is Eldora, Knoxville, the World Finals Oswald. We all know that.

[Vic Hill]

Y.

[Kenny Wallace]

So listen to what Vic said, everybody. And that's the only way Im. Say them old modifieds. Them old modifieds. That's ImcaTV Flow Dirt Vision.

[Vic Hill]

Yeah.

[Kenny Wallace]

Please help Vic and. Okay, switching subjects. We're gonna end like this, everybody. I am gonna make my way to Bulls Gap because I gotta run that. I don't know when Vic and I will stay.

[Vic Hill]

We run modifieds there.

[Kenny Wallace]

You run mo Modifieds, modifies there. Hell, I'll run. Hey, I'll run a late model. I started in late models. You know, CJ gave me a late model. I won the Prelude to the Dream. Then I won Cleveland, Tennessee against Ronnie Johnson one night. And I said, get me out of these damn things. I was spending $5,000 a night on. On my. On my super late model.

[Vic Hill]

Yeah, well, so you can. You can get in this thing. All we gotta do is change the number.

[Kenny Wallace]

Yeah, I. I saw the Newport Nightmare running that thing and had a little bad luck.

[Vic Hill]

Yeah. You know, I had an open house

[Kenny Wallace]

up here during the Dome in December and just shocked me. I looked and we had too many people, and there he was, Jimmy Owens in Newport Nightmare. He's my hero because. Because he came from the Modifieds. And everybody that runs Modifieds, that's. That's their guy. Jimmy Owens is their God because. Because he came from modifieds. 3 time ump champion to your man. We love the Newport Nightmare. Okay, tell me about these engine sweepstakes. You're a brilliant man. You've got the Thrill tv. Now you got another idea what we're

[Vic Hill]

going to do to incorporate a little bit of more fun with the Thrill tv. The Thrill TV is, you know, I've done little segments. Hell, I've done them on Facebook about different things. We do the engines and so on and so forth. So there's a lot of interest in it. So what we're going to do is we're, we are going to build and film building from the time I take the block out of the box, a complete engine, a complete ROX engine, go through the whole build, cylinder heads, everything. We do this thing, the dyno, running it on the dyno and when we get done, we're going to give it away.

[Kenny Wallace]

Oh my God. Now listen, I hear you but let me debull this a little bit.

[Vic Hill]

Yeah, yeah.

[Kenny Wallace]

This is, this is your, this is your baby, you're assuming. So somebody just wins it. You don't get to give it to who you want. They're not gonna take it apart and check all your secrets out and everything.

[Vic Hill]

No, no, what we're gonna do is, is if you buy, here's the thing about it too, it just brings interest to the racetrack and everything that I'm involved with. If you buy a one year subscription to the Thrill TV which has got all our weekly racing, it's got the Gauntlet, all four nights of that, it's got all the little documentaries I've done of changing valve springs and doing this and it's gonna have all this building, you can watch us build this engine through the summer and we're going to give it away in August. So a one year subscription, you're talking 225 bucks. But it's for the whole year to watch everything that we're doing on the Thrill tv.

[Kenny Wallace]

So one thing that I admire about you is you're not afraid. You know, listen, I don't compare anybody to me but I'm a big fan of yours on social media. You, you, you work out, you, you stay strong, you're by yourself, you just take the little camera, put it down there and go, hey look, I'm. And, and I believe that's a good message. You know, we don't have to drink, we don't have to smoke. Take care of your body. You, you have, you know, acclimated yourself to social media because we, you know, we, we like a newspaper here and there but that, you know, everybody goes to lunch again on their phone. Tell me about your, your newfound passion. Social media has been good for you.

[Vic Hill]

Well, I just enjoy, you know, you can talk to people in the industry as far as, even the engine business or me racing or whatever from the, from the, you know, I worked on cars and worked on everybody's cars going back even in the cup stuff and the ARCA stuff and I've helped Everybody been crew chief and all that. So in my racing career, I have helped numerous people that didn't have one of my engines, didn't have this or that. And people would say, oh, he's just trying to get your business. It's just my nature. I try to help people and give them enjoyment. Whether any other social media. I didn't realize people would like it as much as they do on just simple things. To me and Crystal side of you.

[Kenny Wallace]

Another side of you.

[Vic Hill]

Yeah. And I've just, you know, I've always enjoyed helping people in this industry. Whether it's what, it doesn't matter. Even with their cars, you know, hell through my career in the dirt stuff, I've done a little bit everything from front end stuff to, to building shocks and helping different people and God's getting, you know, whatever screwed up and hell, one of my first sponsors years ago, he kept, I mean every week he would overheat and overheat. And I could tell from talking to him he wasn't from Tennessee, right? Minnesota. Minnesota. Oh no.

[Kenny Wallace]

Don't you know? Yeah. Oh, I love, I love talking like that. Yeah. So.

[Vic Hill]

But this got overheat every week and I'm like, man, it's a pain ass. Every week this guy's blowing water out. So one night and it's hotter than hell in the middle of the summer and he's overheating and I go over and, and I looked in the car and I looked at the fan and stuff and I said, you're not from around here, are you? He goes, no. I said, where are you from? He's in Minnesota. And I said, you probably run methanol there and all this other stuff. And I was, yeah. I said, well, that right there won't work down here. He said, can you fix it? I said, yeah. And I went and got a fan all this put on his car and he ran the whole race and didn't overheat. Well, that winter he literally, he was my first big sponsor. DLO was my first sponsor and he's my friend and we run all over the country together. But this guy was just out of the blue, he called me, said, hey, I want to sponsor you the next year. I was like, no. And so. Okay. And it was a, you know, he gave me ten grand. Hellfire. About passed out.

[Kenny Wallace]

Yeah. Because you, you solve somebody. Isn't it amazing in life? And it goes back and like this Vic, you, you are mad scientists. You are an incredible human being. I celebrate you because you're, you're a problem. Solver. And one thing I learned about life. If you don't know, you just don't know. It's nothing to be embarrassed about, right? But it is funny, right? When people don't know, you're like, oh my God, you don't know that. Here, let me, let me help you. And now they know it.

[Vic Hill]

And now, like I said, my wife gives me hell. Krista gives me hell all the time.

[Kenny Wallace]

She, I'm like that.

[Vic Hill]

Simple as hell. And she goes, no, it's not. It's simple to you. I said, okay, I'll tell them.

[Kenny Wallace]

Well, I want to celebrate you, Vic. I want to thank you so much. Like I said, there's three more shows and. Listen up everybody. Vic Hill race engines. Bulls Gap Raceway. Bulls Gap, Tennessee. He does it all. Go talk to him and check out his videos.

[Vic Hill]

Yep, check out the Thrill tv.

[Kenny Wallace]

The Thrill tv, everybody. What do we got? What's a next big race coming up? Or what do you got?

[Vic Hill]

The Gauntlet. The Gauntlet, that's our four day event that we're televising on. The Thrill tv. But that's the one that you know, if you, if you buy the whole year, you can buy just that race if you want to. It's like 125 bucks for all four of them. Like normal deal. Like $30 or 39, whatever it is. But we've got a, you know, it's a Tuesday night, 7500 wins, only 30 laps short because that's enough. And it's 40 laps Wednesday night. 10,000 win. We're off on Thursday. I'll have to work on the track a little bit. Yeah, we've got the Corey Stevenson Band. That guy can sing his ass off. What do you hear? This guy. But anyway, and play guitar like crazy. He's going to be there Thursday. We're having a fan day fan fest. We're going to have crafts and food and whatever. And then we'll have the band about 6 o' clock to whenever we want to quit. And then Friday night 20,000 win. Saturday night 30,000 win. But the kicker is if you win any one of these three now you have to compete in all of them or try to. But if you win any one of the first three and the last one, you get a hundred thousand dollar bonus. Just one of them. So I think that's got a lot of people excited. I mean it had me excited. If I wasn't putting it on, I'd be racing in it. But I'm not.

[Kenny Wallace]

Do you do that yourself? Do you ins yourself or do you do K insurance? Lloyds of London.

[Vic Hill]

You just do it. I just did it. I just do it.

[Kenny Wallace]

Interesting. Insurance. We gotta stop.

[Vic Hill]

Insurance insurance on that because it's so doable. Would be $50,000 for the, you know, whatever. Yeah.

[Kenny Wallace]

Okay, everybody, listen up. We know we could go forever. Just like we did Mark Richards from. From Rocket Chassis. I love dirt racing, as you can tell everyone. Check him out. And remember, if you're driving down the road, you can see Vic Hill's pretty little face on, you know, the Kenny Wallace YouTube show. If you want to listen and drive down the road, Dale Jr's Dirty Mo Media podcast. Until the next Kenny conversation, we'll see you next time, everybody. Goodbye.

[Vic Hill]

Check out Dirty Mo Media on Twitter,

[Kenny Wallace]

Facebook, TikTok and Instagram.

[Grainger Announcer]

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[Vic Hill]

We only met a month ago. Angie, the one you trust to find the ones you trust. Find pros for all your home [e-mail]

[FanDuel Announcer]

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[Vic Hill]

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