Outlaw 10.5 racing icon Mike "the Hitman" Hill will likely be out of competition unless an eleventh hour reprieve provides the necessary funding to compete in ADRL competition. The team was close to signing a new sponsorship which would have allowed their participation, but that deal has fallen through just weeks before the season-opener in Houston, Tex.

A third place finisher within the ADRL’s Extreme 10.5 division, Hill faces of the unenviable challenge of seeking major backing in an already stressed economy.

Outlaw 10.5 racing icon Mike "the Hitman" Hill will likely be out of competition unless an eleventh hour reprieve provides the necessary funding to compete in ADRL competition. The team was close to signing a new sponsorship which would have allowed their participation, but that deal has fallen through just weeks before the season-opener in Houston, Tex.

A third place finisher within the ADRL’s Extreme 10.5 division, Hill faces of the unenviable challenge of seeking major backing in an already stressed economy.

"After all our preparations, we are very disappointed,” Hill said in a prepared statement issued on Friday. “In the current economic situation, it’s understandably hard.  But learning this so late in the game has left us with little time to find a replacement, and will force us to watch from the sidelines."

After a 2008 highlighted by a win at the ADRL Georgia Drags, and the top title in Pro Street for the Orlando World Street Nationals in 2008, Hill had already established a strong 2009 with a win at the Winter Street Nationals in Bradenton, Fla.

Hill said the liklihood is strong that he will make select appearances in 2009, and some of the small events, but regrets he can't make all of the ADRL races this season.