BILL HITCHCOX 2005 INDUCTEE

Preceded by his older brothers Al and Cliff as a race driver, Bill Hitchcox began his own involvement at the age of twelve when he first slid behind the wheel of a “Bug Stinger” GoKart as a member of the Capital City GoKart Club.

Advancing to Western’s Claimer class in a 1957 Ford in 1975, he ended the season in third spot in points which included winning the Ted Birtwhistle Memorial trophy and being voted Rookie of the Year. Competing in the newly-formed Hobby Stock class in a 1956 Ford the following year, he won twelve main events which secured him the Corby Cup along with the Northwest Insurance Agencies and Championship race trophies, all of which assured his being crowned as the Season Points Champion.

Bill took another step up in 1977 to the Super Stock class in a 1969 Ford Falcon where he placed seventh in points for the season. For 1978 and 1979 he competed in the Northwest Open Competition Super Stock series, gaining numerous top five finishes and then ran the NASCAR Northwest Late Model series from 1980 until 1983 which included his winning at six different tracks along with two top five finishes in 1980 and becoming the first Rookie of the Year to win the overall Northwest Championship with six main event victories in 1981. He was also crowned the Yakima Speedway Champion. Bill then repeated as Northwest Champion with five main event wins in 1982, the first Canadian and only the second driver ever to win back-to-back season championships.

He ran a limited number of races in the Late Model Stock series in 1983,but also competed in three USAC CanAm Super Modified races, winning his first race in the open wheelers followed by a sixth and a ninth placing him fourth overall in the Olympia Challenge series. Bill campaigned on the NASCAR Winston West circuit in 1984 placing third in his first outing at Monroe, Washington. He also ran Winston West in 1985 and 1986 before becoming a crew member on Ron Ward’s NASCAR Southwest operation along with fellow Victorian and crew chief Ron Bradbury where the team won the 1987 Madera California Speedway Championship. Running the Northwest Pro Stock series in 1988 and 1989 in which he won both Fall Classic races in Yakima, Bill then entered the NASCAR Northwest tour in 1990 and 1991. He then switched to the NASCAR Late Model Stock series in Yakima in 1992 and 1993, entering only three events in ’92 in which he won once and then capturing the Mid-Season Championship in ’93.

Moving to Kannapolis in North Carolina, Bill continued as a driver running in the Big Ten Late Model Sportsman division at Concord, North Carolina in 1994 and 1995 winning his first race, a one hundred lapper, and then qualifying on the pole for his next event where he finished second. Following a move to Concord where he worked as a CNC Machinist, Bill then raced for a time in the two hundred lap events there, always finishing in the top ten before stepping away in racing retirement.