Abilene Upstart ‘Randy Hill Racing’ Racing Into NASCAR

Young Team Owner Learning From Some Of Racing’s Biggest Legends

POSTED: 6:41 pm CDT July 19, 2011UPDATED: 7:08 pm CDT July 19, 2011

ABILENE, Texas — Abilene Business owner Randy Hill is only 43, and about to become the newest owner of a Nascar team.The owner of Randy Hill Racing has big goals as he makes the transition from the ARCA circuit to the Nationwide circuit next month.

“This was something that was a new adventure, and I see great potential in it,” said Hill.When Hill set out to become a racing team owner, he was quickly welcomed by the big wigs at Nascar.”We were invited to the Daytona 500 and meet with executives. When we walked in, they gave me an application to be a team owner. Nascar said, we’re always looking for new teams. And we’re also looking for young people interested in the sport,” Hill said.

After meeting with the organization, he set out to learn more about the sport, and came along one of the most famous faces in all of racing. Hill recently had the chance to meet Richard Petty, and walked away with a very powerful ally.”Why don’t you come across the street and meet Richard petty? And I walk over, and there’s the king,” Hill said. “About two hours later, I’m back at my hotel and I get a call, and this guy says, the king told me to call you and tell you. Anything you need, we’d be glad to help you.”

Since then, Hill decided to venture down the ownership road as sole financier. He says it costs roughly $60-thousand to fund a team every race week. His ambition to own a Sprint Cup team would require $30 Million a year.When it came to a driver, Hill didn’t have to look too far. Thanks to a friend with connections, he met Casey Roderick, a young driver with some chops behind the wheel.”Casey walks over and starts talking to me. Right then, when I first met him, I turned (to Ken) and said, that’s the guy right there.” Hill also spoke highly of the 18 year-old’s racing career. “Casey’s background has been everything from go-karts to Bandaleros, to Legend Cars. He’s won some championships in go-karts and Bandaleros,” Hill said.His team will spend three more races on the ARCA circuit before moving up to the Nationwide Series on August 13th at Watkins Glen. He expects to race Nationwide at the Pocono shortly after, and then hopefully at Texas Motor Speedway.

How great is NASCAR?

There is no other sport in the world where a 20-year-old part-time participant can show up and win the biggest race in the sport. That’s exactly what happened this part weekend at the Daytona 500.  Trevor Bayne is living proof that in NASCAR anyone can chase down the American dream:

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/02/21/2078477/bayne-remains-in-dream-state-after.html

As this article notes:

“Trevor Bayne winning Sunday’s Daytona 500 became the biggest Cinderella Story in the history of NASCAR. But for the driver who just turned 20 years old on Saturday, it’s still hard to imagine that the glass slipper fits. Bayne, who is running a part-time schedule in the Sprint Cup Series this year, pulled off the biggest upset in the 53-year history of the Daytona 500, though an argument can be made that Derrike Cope’s victory in the 1990 race was more stunning. As the youngest Daytona 500 champion, Bayne has become an overnight sensation not only in the motorsports community, but in the world of sports as well.”

Now that’s what I call the American Dream! Unbelievable…only in NASCAR…the greatest sport in the world!

NASCAR is the greatest sport in the world. But don’t take my word for it:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/blog/from_the_marbles/post/The-most-attended-sporting-events-in-the-country?urn=nascar-243650

A couple of weeks ago, much was made about the Super Bowl hosting 100,000 people. That made it the second largest Super Bowl ever. Pretty impressive, right? It is until it is compared to NASCAR’s numbers.

This weekend the Daytona 500 will host more than 250,000 people! That’s two and a half times the size of the Super Bowl. And that is even more proof that NASCAR really is the American pastime.

This week we continue our series on the Daytona 500 and why it’s the greatest race in the world.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the most tragic day in NASCAR history. In February 2001, Dale Earnhardt was killed on the last turn of the last lap of the Daytona 500. Losing the 7-time Winston Cup winner left a huge hole in this sport. Earnhardt was the last great NASCAR superstar.

Take a look at this clip from a documentary about the day Dale died:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiNnHsSdwnA

Dale is gone but will never be forgotten. It remains for the rest of us to continue to build the sport that he lived and died for.

Since our announcement last month at Dallas Christian School and our announcement this week at Abilene Christian School, people have asked about how the iPad might work in the classroom. Take a look at this link:

http://teacher.ocps.net/groups/ipodsintheclassroom/

This website lists the various apps that are available and describes what all they can do. Want to help kids learn basic math? There is an app for it. Want help building lesson plans for elementary school social studies? There is an app for that, too. Want to teach languages? There is an app for that as well.

The iPad is literally a library of endless resources all right in front of the child on a computer screen. That’s why we’ve made this investment and that’s why we can’t wait to see the dividends in the future as our kids emerge better educated and better prepared for the workplace of tomorrow.

Abilene Christian Schools Launch Connect@ACS initiative
School to give iPads to 40 teachers and, by Fall 2011, to all high school students

It’s the start of a new era at Abilene Christian Schools. As part of the school’s Connect@ACS initiative, 40 Apple iPads will soon be in the hands of all staff on the ACS campus. In a ceremony this morning, the devices were distributed and faculty will begin collaborating and training with experts from Abilene Christian University to craft lesson plans that will incorporate use of the units in the classroom.

“This initiative will prepare our students for the intersection of learning while giving them tools to use that will equip them for the future,” says Craig Fisher, president of Abilene Christian Schools. “We are diving into an area that will take our students and our faculty – our entire school – fully into the 21st century, and we’re ready to make use of the most cutting-edge tools the market has to offer.”

The iPads are a gift from entrepreneur and long-time ACS supporter Randy Hill. Hill, who is also the father of an ACS student, believes Apple’s tablet device has the potential to revolutionize how teachers teach as well as how their students access their course work, notes and raw data from the Internet. Hill previously funded a similar project, ChargerTech, at Dallas Christian School.

“We can’t keep teaching kids the way I was taught and the way many adults learned their reading, writing and arithmetic, let alone giving them that instruction in the way it was delivered a century ago,” says Hill, who has just been named by Gov. Rick Perry to serve on the board of the state’s Emerging Technology Fund. “I’m thrilled to help ACS accomplish its goal of becoming a more innovative institution that can get these students ready for the jobs of the future – many of which don’t even exist right now. And I’m thrilled to do with Apple, which is a company that is always using new technology to solve old challenges.”

Plans call for all of Abilene Christian High School students to receive their own iPads in August 2011, at the start of the school year. iPad carts will be available across campus for use by students in PK-middle school as well.

Abilene Christian Schools’ partnership with ACU will give faculty access to the latest research and training in the ever-expanding world of mobile learning technology.

“We look forward to supporting the Connect@ACS initiative,” says Dr. Billie McConnell, director of ACU’s K-12 Digital Learning Institute. “Schools need to be developing their students’ critical thinking, communication and problem-solving skills. Making use of the latest digital tools is one of the most important ways they can accomplish their mission.

“At ACU, our students and faculty are immersed in the day-in-day-out process of adapting this technology to the classroom, and we’re succeeding. We look forward to sharing our experience with ACS,” says McConnell.

Hill’s company, APT Advanced Trailer, revolutionized the American peanut industry with its patented semi-trailer that procures (dries) and transports peanuts and various other agricultural products. In 2007 an Advanced Trailer was used to dry woodchips by researchers at the Herty Advanced Materials Development Center in Savannah, Ga. Since that time Advanced Trailer has provided funding and or equipment to a number of universities and companies for biomass and crop residue drying research. In 2009, Advanced Trailer announced that the University of Idaho had been selected as the recipient for funding related to biomass drying research. On Dec. 8, 2010, Hill received national headlines for funding the ChargerTech initiative at Dallas Christian School in Mesquite, Texas. The nation’s first K-12 school to implement use of Apple iPads in the classroom.

Last month we announced funding for an initiative to provide iPads for teachers at Dallas Christian School. Today, we’re announcing a similar initiative at Abilene Christian School.

We do so for two reasons. First, we believe in Christian education. We believe we need it and we believe it can make a difference in the life of a child.

Second, we believe technology is the key to unlocking the future. If teachers have iPads, teachers will teach better and children will learn more.

I’ll have more to say about this topic throughout the week. So stay tuned!

The announcement our company made this week was done in Idaho. But its impact is much bigger than one state.

As this article notes, our nation faces an energy crisis:

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/01/how-oil-could-kill-the-recovery/68933/

With so much of our oil coming from the Middle East and with India and China increasing the global demand on oil, the pain at the pump might get a lot worse a lot sooner than you think:

“If you thought $4 gasoline was bad, wait a year. Americans will pay $5 for a gallon of gasoline by 2012 as global demand grows faster than oil producers’ supply, predicted John Hofmeister, the former president of Shell Oil and current head of Citizens for Affordable Energy. Without a significant investment in alternative energy sources, we’re on a collision course with ‘blackouts, brownouts, gas lines, [and] rationing.’”

Isn’t now the time to start a real effort to produce renewable energy? It is and we are at the University of Idaho.

Gas prices are heading up again:

http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2011/01/04/04greenwire-as-high-gas-prices-loom-new-congress-faces-pres-3445.html

That’s why we need to find new sources of energy…and that’s why the announcement this week at the University of Idaho is so important. The seed money that our company has given to the university will help fund important research on biomass, which creates energy by essentially burning wood chips.

In a few weeks, the university will have another announcement that will show that our company’s involvement with this issue is just getting started!

Donation Drives New Direction

of Bioenergy Research at

University of Idaho

Monday, January 3

Written by Alecia Hoene

MOSCOW, Idaho – A $25,000 donation from Texas entrepreneur Randy Hill and his company, APT Advanced Trailer and Equipment LP, to the University of Idaho has funded research focused on converting woody biomass to energy.

The gift has allowed the university to install a pilot-scale pyrolysis unit at its steam plant. Pyrolysis is a type of incineration that uses almost no oxygen. When applied to an organic material like wood, pyrolysis yields biofuel plus a small amount of charcoal.

Armando McDonald, professor of wood chemistry and wood composites, researches pyrolysis of woody biomass to create bio-oil.

“This involves thermally cracking the wood to break it down into smaller molecules,” said McDonald. “The process yields about 60 percent bio-oil; 20 percent syngas, a gas mixture that is then used to fuel the operation; and about 20 percent char that can be used as a soil amendment.”

McDonald said the value of bioenergy methods like pyrolysis resides in the usability of all products generated. Such processes have the potential to generate substantial amounts of clean energy with little to no waste.

Hill also donated a biomass drying trailer and funding to install it at the university steam plant, and funding to formalize bioenergy and bioproducts efforts at the University of Idaho. In June 2010, the university received a proposal from Hill outlining a vision for the University of Idaho to establish a national level bioenergy research center. In that proposal, Hill committed to this and a number of other research projects and more than $700,000 in future licensing revenues benefiting the university’s bioenergy research. In August 2010, the university committed to the vision. University officials expect to make an announcement in the next two weeks.

“We are improving biomass drying equipment for faster drying equals less fuel, less cost and fewer carbon emissions. We see the University of Idaho as the go to place for innovative research in the future of bioenergy,” said Hill.

University of Idaho Sustainability Director Darin Saul sees research on woody biomass utilization as part of a larger bioenergy and bioproducts effort focused on regionally important feed stocks, including manure, oil seeds and food processing waste.

“Each feed stock has its own needs, byproducts and waste streams,” said Saul. “With this approach, we keep going cradle-to-cradle until each waste stream is turned into energy or a commercial byproduct. The goal is no waste, only energy and value-added products.”

McDonald, Saul and the bioenergy and bioproducts working group plan to collaborate with private sector partners to address identified bottlenecks in bioenergy/bioproducts industry development.

For more information about the university’s sustainability efforts, contact the University of Idaho Sustainability Center at uisc@uidaho.edu or visit www.uidaho.edu/sustainability.

About the University of Idaho
Founded in 1889, the University of Idaho is the state’s land-grant institution and its principal graduate education and research university, bringing insight and innovation to the state, the nation and the world. University researchers attract nearly $100 million in research grants and contracts each year. The University of Idaho is the only institution in the state to earn the prestigious Carnegie Foundation classification for high research activity. The student population of 12,302 includes first-generation college students and ethnically diverse scholars, who select from more than 130 degree options in the colleges of Agricultural and Life Sciences; Art and Architecture; Business and Economics; Education; Engineering; Law; Letters, Arts and Social Sciences; Natural Resources; and Science. The university also is charged with the statewide mission for medical education through the WWAMI program. The university combines the strength of a large university with the intimacy of small learning communities and focuses on helping students to succeed and become leaders. For more information, visit www.uidaho.edu.

About Randy Hill
Randy Hill is president and chief executive officer of APT Advanced Trailer and Equipment LP, a company whose invention revolutionized the American peanut industry by developing semi-trailers that procure (dry) and transport peanuts and various other agricultural products. In 2007 an Advanced Trailer was used to dry woodchips by researchers at the Herty Advanced Materials Development Center in Savannah, Ga. Since that time Advanced Trailer has provided funding and or equipment to a number of universities and companies for biomass and crop residue drying research. In 2009, Advanced Trailer announced that the University of Idaho had been selected as the recipient for funding related to biomass drying research. On Dec. 8, 2010, Hill received national headlines for funding the ChargerTech initiative at Dallas Christian School in Mesquite, Texas. The nation’s first K-12 school to implement use of Apple iPads in the classroom. www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/news.html?d=208736

Today we continue our series on the patent process by talking about the most important part: a new idea.

http://www.drybiomass.com/dvdorder/

As the video above demonstrates, biomass has the power to change energy policy in our country and in our world. But there is a catch: we haven’t had a way to dry the moisture out of the wood chips that fuel biomass.

Until now. The Advanced Trailer has the ability to dry, store and transport the wood chips and thereby make the dream of a biomass future that much closer to reality. That’s why it’s such great news that the Advanced Trailer has its own patent. Now we can market our trailer with the official sanction of the US government without any fear of losing our intellectual property. Our only goal is to change energy policy in this country. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do.

Receiving a patent for the Advanced Trailer was the culmination of a long journey. How does the patent process work?

http://www.patentit4u.com/How%20the%20patent%20process%20works.htm

Essentially, once an inventor comes up with an idea, he or she can then take the idea to the US Patent Office and try and get protection for his or her design:

“Each patent application includes a specification, any necessary drawings, an oath or declaration, and U.S. Government filing fees. Each patent application is afforded a date of filing that is the date on which the specification, drawings and at least one claim is received in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (U.S. PTO). The filing date is important for establishing a date of invention with the U.S. PTO.”

The basic policy is to encourage innovators to come up with new ideas. And the way to encourage them is to preserve their investment and their idea with legal protection.

I’m honored that the Advanced Trailer now has a patent. We’ll talk more about what that means in the next couple of days.

Advanced Trailer Awarded U.S. Patent No. 7,779,556

For Revolutionary Semi Trailer that Dries Agricultural Products

ABILENE, TEXAS—The US Patent and Trademark Office Tuesday granted a patent for the Advanced Trailer, a product of APT Advanced Trailer & Equipment LP in Abilene, Texas. The Advanced Trailer is the only semi-trailer that has a unique drying system that can dry, store and transport peanuts and other agricultural products. This patent confirms their exclusive status as the nation’s leader in agricultural crop drying.

“This patent comes at a great time of opportunity for Advanced Trailer, our intellectual property and the industries we serve,” said Randy Hill, President & CEO of APT Advanced Trailer & Equipment LP. “This will enable Advanced Trailer to further our presence in the peanut industry and agricultural crop drying. Advanced Trailer is now prepared to aggressively move forward as we expand and diversify into the renewable and bio-energy markets.”

In addition, Hill announced that his company has entered into a new financial agreement with Regions Bank in Atlanta, Georgia.

“We are proud to provide financing for Advanced Trailer because we believe this product can revolutionize America,” said Billy Cannon of Regions Bank.  “We are investing heavily in the agricultural economy and we believe that Randy will now be able to take his Advanced Trailer and transform the biomass market as well.”

APT Advanced Trailer and Equipment LP is best known for its trailers which are used to procure (dry) agricultural products. Advanced Trailer has more than 3000 drying trailers currently in service in all 10 U.S. peanut producing states across America. Recently Advanced Trailer has gained national recognition for their ongoing bio-energy research which uses their trailers to remove moisture from wood biomass products. Over the past two years Advanced Trailer has funded a number of both State University and private sector research for biomass related projects. Currently over 100 power plants in the U.S. burn biomass to create energy.  For more information about Advanced Trailer please visit www.advancedtrailer.com

This week the Biomass Conference and Expo is offering 275 exhibits and 100 speakers. And what will each one have in common? Each one will be a glimpse into the future.

For example, the section of the expo devoted to wood chips has special exhibits and presentations on how biomass can be generated using:

* Sawmill waste

* Logging waste

* Pulp and/or paper mill waste

* Newsprint milling waste

* Paperboard milling waste

* Forestry waste (forest thinnings, etc.)

* C&D

* Urban and yard waste

Biomass is going to change our country. In fact, in many ways, it already has. For more information about biomass and about this expo, log onto:

http://www.biomassconference.com/ema/DisplayPage.aspx?pageId=About

PRESS RELEASE

October 12, 2009

RANDY HILL RELEASES NEW VIDEO SHOWCASING THE POWER OF THE ADVANCED TRAILER FOR BIOMASS

Exclusive video details the progress and potential of trailer in drying, storing and transporting biomass material

ABILENE, TX—Texas Entrepreneur Randy Hill today released a new video that shows the history of his Advanced Trailer for Biomass and how it has the unique ability to dry, store and transport the wood chips that fuel biomass. This video proves that the Advanced Trailer is the solution to handling the wood chips that are needed to create biomass.

“We have always known that biomass works” Hill said. “But we haven’t known how to store, dry and transport the wood chips that fuel it.  Now we do.  Since we announced the project at the University of Idaho to experiment with the trailer, we have been flooded with inquires about how the Advanced Trailer works and what it looks like. This video will be a valuable tool in discovering how the trailer can work for you.”

The video is available exclusively at Advanced Trailer. Call 325-676-8585 to order one today.
ABOUT RANDY W. HILL: Randy W. Hill is a Texas entrepreneur who is best known for his endeavors in real estate and transportation. He now serves as president and chief executive officer of APT Advanced Trailer and Equipment LP, as well as president and chief executive of a number of privately held real estate holding companies. Hill is credited with the discovery of using semi trailers to procure and dry various agricultural products. In April 2009, Hill announced plans to provide research funding and equipment to the University of Idaho to explore the use of the Advanced Drying Trailer to remove moisture from wood chips that are used to fuel the university’s biomass steam boiler plant in Moscow, Idaho. More recently, he announced plans to provide researching funding and equipment to Iowa State University to dry corn residue. For further information please contact Advanced Trailer at 1-800-860-1360 or on their web site at www.advancedtrailer.com