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Reading: Hillary Will preview

Former gymnast Hillary Will heads to Reading hoping to bring home drag racing "gold" READING, Pa., (Aug. 13, 2008) -- Hillary Will, driver of the 8,000-horsepower KB Racing, LLC Top Fuel dragster, will compete this weekend, Aug. 14-17, in the ...

Published: Aug 14, 2008, 4:45 PM

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Former gymnast Hillary Will heads to Reading hoping to bring home drag racing "gold"

READING, Pa., (Aug. 13, 2008) -- Hillary Will, driver of the 8,000-horsepower KB Racing, LLC Top Fuel dragster, will compete this weekend, Aug. 14-17, in the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Pa., but she sees some similarities to what she does in her Earth-rumbling, nitro-fueled racing machine with that other big competition that is taking place on the other side of the world from the Keystone State.

Hillary was a gymnast throughout her childhood and competed as a springboard diver in college at Wheaton College in Norton, Mass. She still avidly follows both of those sports in her spare time, and she is a big fan of the Summer Olympics currently underway in Beijing, China.

"Michael Phelps, who it looks like is going to win gold in every race he swims in, trains near where I live in Ann Arbor [Michigan]. I drive by where he trains almost every day," Will, a 28-year old native of Fortuna, Calif., said. "I've really enjoyed watching all of the Olympic events that have taken place so far, but the swimming competitions remind me most of what we do in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. They swim in individual lanes and their races are often decided by only thousandths of a second. It's very exciting, just like our sport.

"The Olympics are so inspiring. I've wanted to be a racer for as long as I remember, but I'm sure I had some daydreams about winning an Olympic gold medal in gymnastics when I was still active in it. Every time we leave to go to a race, Tammy (Oberhofer, Kalitta Motorsports Office Manager) tells us to bring home one of those little gold men. Hopefully we can get a "Wally" (trophy) this weekend in Reading and bring home the NHRA equivalent of a gold medal."

Will is currently in 7th place in POWERade championship points.

-credit: km/kbr

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