"My dad had street stocks, sportsmens... they kind of had a combined class back then. My dad was a multi-track champion. We were fortunate enough at that age... my dad had two cars, and he let me drive one while he drove the other", Hillard said. "I won a teen race when I was 13, and I started driving in regular competition when I was 14 the following year. We won the track championship at Farmer City that year".

"This is my fifth year. 1997 was our last year in the (open-wheel) modifieds. We won the UMP National Championship deal in it. That year we had... well it'd be tough to top that year. We won the track championships at Farmer City, Fairbury, and Vermilion County. Then we won the Illinois State Championship and the National title as well. So it was a phenomenal year"

"It was a good year. I mean we had a lot of fun and we did okay on the money deal, and we just got out on the road and enjoyed ourselves. We never won a feature, but we were competitive every night. (Steve) Barnett never won either until right there towards the end. We about pulled one off a couple of times, but I didn't feel bad running second to Steve (Barnett) because he has so much experience over me. It was a big disappointment by losing it because of the tire battle. We had a big tire battle going on between Hoosier and American Racing Tire. Ultimately we lost the championship because a tire went flat, but it had a whole in it so it was no fault of the tire, we just picked up something on the racetrack. The other crusher was that it happened here at home (Danville's Vermilion Co. Speedway)".

"We won opening night at Farmer City, and that's our only win so far, but we've been real competitive every night out. Right now the major difference is the engine program. We've switched from Hixson Engines to Gaerte Race Engines out of Rochester, IN, and Joe (Gaerte) and all the people up there are just fantastic to deal with. The engines are, I hesitate to say better, because we never had any engine trouble with Butch's (Hixson) engines, and I like Butch, he's a good guy, but Gaerte's engines have just got so much more horsepower and they're so much more driver friendly. They're easy to drive".

"Well the people who actually owned the engines last year, decided that they wanted to get out. Doug's not in the best of health, so he decided he wanted to get out and just go and watch and not have the worries of having to pay the bills if something broke. So we went looking for a deal, and Roger Friedman, who owns Dyer Rod's, knew I was looking for a deal, so he told me I should go talk with Joe Gaerte and that they had a program going, so that's what I did. It worked out that ourselves and Wendall Wallace are doing the Gaerte deal, and at this point I couldn't be any happier. Their just fantastic people who really know what they're doing".

"Our other sponsors, we got several who have been with us for quite a while now. We got The Deadhorse Lounge - Nelson Video - F/S Fuel 24 - Dyer Rod's - BRT Racks - Sunoco Fuels - Petit's BP Fuel Stores - PFM Race Fuels & Race Metals - R.A. Benson Motorsports - UB Machine - Tatman's Towing. The Tatman's Towing deal, that's more 'cause I have no choice but to put Bill (Nelson) on the car because he's the co-owner (along with Hillard). He's my best friend, and he said wherever you go, I go. So that's the way our friendship is, and that's the way our arrangement is with the race car. He does what he can to help us, and quite honestly, a lot of the sponsors on the car he's went out and gotten. I'm not real good at talking about a lot of stuff, and Bill's got the gift of gab, so he goes out and hustles and gets us the sponsors. He just a great guy. There's only one other sponsor I need to mention, we got Bert transmissions and Larry Redinus, his nickname is "Budda", everyone knows him by "Budda". He supplies us with all our transmissions and bell housings. He's done a lot of other things for me other than just transmissions and bell housings, and he's just one we can always count on".

"Well, that's my biggest beef with the Northern Allstars. It's not anything to do with the product. I mean the tire companies, they both have good products... don't get me wrong. I think American Race Tire has got a better product in some events. It's kind of like once you get so big you get complacent, and I think that's what Hoosier has done, and quite honestly, they know that guys have to run them. Whereas, American Race Tires, they're out hustling and busting their butts trying to get things rolling, and they've came up with a better product, and that's some of the things we worked on last year".

"With Northern Allstars, Tony Rose, Dayton Enterprises, American Race Tires, however you want to word it. They sponsored NALMS from the very first year of existence, and then last year they just dropped American Race Tires from their program without any warning, without consulting with them, without offering them a choice. It's just the way it went down, it's just the way it happened. That's what really bothers me".

"Exactly. It was kind of like kicking them in the crotch. It was a REAL low blow, because originally they wanted to do it at the banquet. It was Terry Young from Hoosier that recommended they not do it, because he knew that it would just start a ruckus. I think we're all professional enough to know that wouldn't have happened, but it sure would have made for an uncomfortable evening I know that. I just have a bad taste in my mouth with Mr. Linville himself, and that's the only person because he the sole decision maker".

"Well we're really not going to commit to any one series, we're going to try and just hit and miss, try to make some money, get some more exposure, get out and see what we can do. We'll definitely go to both events at Eldora - The Dream & The World 100 - we may be at the Show-Me 100, and then we may show up at a few of the UDTRA races. I'd kind of like to get my feet wet running with those guys. We'll be running a couple Renegade DirtCar events. We'll most likely be at Kankakee next Monday (May 13th) when UDTRA comes to Kankakee. There's a lot of races we can go to and hopefully make the show. I don't know, we'll just try and see what we can do".

"I kind of like this place (Vermilion Co. Speedway). Danville is 3/8th's, I kind of like the 3/8th's stuff the best, and the slicker it gets the better off. I don't really like the slick, but it's easier on equipment and you really have to finesse. The guys with the biggest engine and the best tires, basically I mean if you got a whole lot of horsepower and new tires on your car, and you can even get it close to hooked up, you can be fast in the mud. Because all you really have to do is kind of point it and hammer down. But in the dry slick you really got to finesse the car. I mean the best there is, Billy Moyer, Scott Bloomquist, Bob Pierce, you name it, you could go on down the list, but those guys shine when the track gets slick. So if I'm ever going to be someone in this sport that's where I need to be good, and that's what we work on".

"Yeah, we got everything fixed. It ended up we just bent a spindle and tore up a wheel. The reason it happened is just the driver ran out of talent. I just charged the corner too hard and hit the wall".

"I would have to say the biggest influence is my father, Alex. He gave me my start, and he's always there to tell me what I've done wrong... when I've done good".

"I used to, but right now I don't know that I've got anyone I go to. If I've got a question I need to know about the race car, I go to MasterSbilt. If I've got one about the engines, I go to Gaerte. If I've got a question about the car I'll ask my dad (Alex), or Aaron Jones. Aaron's been with me for the last 8 years. Then we've got John Olson and Richard Fitzgerald, and usually if I'm running the wrong line I can come in and ask one of those guys and they'll tell me. My wife keeps lap times. Every lap we run, she's got on a stopwatch, if she's able to go, because our girls are at the age now where they can go and do some sporting events. They're into soccer and softball, so it makes it tough on me when she's not there because I can go ask her, was the top faster? Was the bottom faster? How'd I look in the middle? And she can tell me because she's right on the money with the stop watch".