When what was then known as Grand National Scene relocated to Concord, N.C., from its Alabama roots in 1981, it was housed in what had been a small country grocery store.
When I first walked through the door to begin my task as its new executive editor, the first thought that crossed my mind was, “What have I done?”
At my former job with the Roanoke Times, I had grown accustomed to a three-story building with computers (a first for newspapers), modern furniture and all the amenities – including company cars.
Now I was going to have to work in a musty, old wooden building at a metal desk with a Royal typewriter, and there was only one restroom.
Given its location and former status, it wasn’t unusual for folks to drop in unannounced once and a while and ask things like, “Can I get a six-pack of Pepsi?” “Where are the milk and eggs?” or “Got any chewing tobacco?”
One day in early 1982, the front door opened yet again, and a teenager walked in.
“Hello!” he said loudly. “I’m Bobby Hillin Jr.!”
“When are we going to lock for that door?” I asked myself. “Kid probably wants to get some chocolate milk.”
However, another person followed the kid into the building, and suffice it to say I was very surprised.
It was long-time crew chief Harry Hyde, well-known and well-respected in the NASCAR world. He was very successful and had spent years with Nord Krauskopf’s K&K Insurance team, winning a championship in 1970 with driver Bobby Isaac.
And he wasn’t looking for chocolate milk.
Hyde explained that he was hired to assist Hillin as he began his Grand National career. The young man had promise, Hyde said, and he felt he could help him.
Turns out Hillin Jr. had an extensive racing background. Born in Midland, Texas, he had grown up watching his father’s team, Longhorn Racing, compete in USAC Sprint Car and IndyCar events.
The younger Hillin started racing at 13 and won the track championship at Odessa Speedbowl in Texas, then attended the Buck Baker Driving School at 16.
His grandfather (and, likely, also his father) had formed a NASCAR Cup Series team to accommodate him and had the good sense to acquire Hyde, a knowledgeable veteran who could serve well as a mentor.
It was Hyde who determined it would be good for young Hillin to meet as many members of the NASCAR media as he could. Hence, the drop-in at Scene.
Hillin was only 17 years old and not out of high school. Still, he left home to live in North Carolina and agreed to take correspondence courses to complete his education.
“My grandfather told me he could sponsor me one more year of short track racing,” Hillin, now 61, said. “Harry Hyde told us that he thought I could run NASCAR.
“We were going to run five short track races in 1982. However, we ran North Wilkesboro [Speedway], Pocono [Raceway], Michigan [International Speedway], Daytona [International Speedway], and Talladega [Superspeedway] – all great short tracks, right?”
Racing for a father or grandfather isn’t anything new in NASCAR. It’s been part of the sport since its pioneer days.
But some of the offspring who get behind the wheel are indeed somewhat arrogant and cocky. Often, they have been considered spoiled brats.
Not Hillin. He was outgoing, friendly, and even polite.
“That boy’s mama raised him up right,” my friend Tom Higgins, motorsports writer for the Charlotte Observer, said more than once.
Hillin spent the next two full seasons driving for a team of which his father was listed as owner. They were not productive, but they led to a good opportunity.
In 1985, the fledgling Stavola Brothers Racing team hired Hillin as its driver. It also hired the oft-traveled – yet skillful and respected – Jake Elder as his crew chief. Elder had groomed champions Darrell Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt early in their careers.
In 1986, Stavola became a two-car operation when it hired the inestimable Bobby Allison, who remained a teammate until he sustained career-ending injuries in a crash at Pocono on June 19, 1988.
On July 27, 1986, Hillin reached the high-water mark of his career. He won the Talladega 500 at Talladega Superspeedway for his first career victory.
He became one of several drivers to record their first career win at the 2.66-mile track. Among them were Dave Marcis, Dick Brooks, Lennie Pond and Ron Bouchard at the time.
Hillin won after a duel with Tim Richmond and Rusty Wallace. He kept the lead at the start of the final lap, which was marked by a multicar melee.
“I was super pumped and excited to win,” Hillin said. “This race was very fast and very hot. We won because in the days before restrictor plates, if you wanted to run fast in the draft – you could.
“I was looking more out my rear window than I was out my front on those last laps, And I was getting a lot of coaching over the radio. They kept telling me I could do it. And I did.”
After Talladega, at 22 years, one month and 22 days of age, Hillin became the third-youngest driver to win a Cup race.
The 1986 season was his best with one victory, four top-five finishes and 14 top 10s. He finished ninth in points.
Hillin departed the Stavola team after the 1990 season. Word circulated that he was fired. Not so.
“After we won Talladega, our team started building their own cars from the ground up.,” Hillin Jr. said. “The geometry was not right, but we kept at it for a few more years. That caused me lose confidence.
“By the time 1990 rolled around, we had good cars and almost won a few races, but there was a lot of frustration on all sides.”
Hillin determined that the solution to the problems was to have one of the Stavolas leave New Jersey and relocate to North Carolina, where he could more closely supervise team operations.
“They did not want to do that, so I left,” Hillin Jr. said. “Stavola put it as if I were fired. That was not the case. It was totally my decision to leave.
“I wish I had not done that, but it is what it is.”
While he continued to compete, Hillin did so on a full schedule just once, in 1993 with Junie Donlavey’s team.
He ran his last race at Bristol Motor Speedway in August 2000. He was 36 years old and had made 334 starts in 17 years of NASCAR competition.
Hillin and his wife Jamie have three grown children. In the past, he has owned and sold several businesses and today owns industrial property in Houston.
Maybe he sometimes wishes his NASCAR career had lasted longer or been more successful.
But then, he has been duly recorded in the NASCAR record book as the winner of a Cup race. He is a member of an elite minority.
Which, of course, would not be the case had he come into that converted country grocery and asked for chocolate milk.
Steve Waid has been in journalism since 1972, when he began his newspaper career at the Martinsville (Va.) Bulletin. He has spent over 40 years in motorsports journalism, first with the Roanoke Times-World News and later as publisher and vice president for NASCAR Scene and NASCAR Illustrated.
Steve has won numerous state sports writing awards and several more from the National Motorsports Press Association for his motorsports coverage, feature and column writing. For several years, Steve was a regular on “NASCAR This Morning” on FOX Sports Net and he is the co-author, with Tom Higgins, of the biography “Junior Johnson: Brave In Life.”
In January 2014, Steve was inducted into the NMPA Hall of Fame. And in 2019 he was presented the Squier-Hall Award by the NASCAR Hall of Fame for lifetime excellence in motorsports journalism. In addition to writing for Frontstretch, Steve is also the co-host of The Scene Vault Podcast.