ROUGEMONT — Former track champions Ronald Hill and Terry Dease are both in a good mood as Orange County Speedway Late Model stock car races resume with the Coca-Cola 355 this Saturday, May 17, at 7 p.m.

They have vastly different reasons for their optimism.

Hill overcame a poor qualifying effort and dodged a big wreck on the way to a runner-up finish in the April 12 season opener. Meanwhile, Dease finished last in that same race when a “five dollar part” failed and forced him to park his car.

“I think we’re all ready to get back after it,” said Hill, 2006 champion of the TAG-OUT Late Model division. “I know bad luck can strike anytime, so we’re going to enjoy this good start as long as it lasts.”

Hill credited his crew for “the right adjustments” during the 150-lap opener. “We were way too tight in the corners. They got it loosened up and I just saved the car until the end of the race.”

Defending champion Dease said a busted rotor button on his car “may have been a blessing in disguise. It could have been a lot of things far worse, like cooking an entire engine or something.”

He added: “There was a big wreck (caused by David Triplett’s engine failure) and it took out some good cars. I could have been right in the middle of that. I’m really thankful it was only a five-dollar part. I’m ready to go racing again.”

News that the track will add a 150-lap race for the TAG-OUT Late Models on September 13 brought a big smile to Dease’s face.

“That gives me one more race to make up the bad one,” he reasoned.

The main event of the Coca-Cola 355 will be 150 laps for the TAG-OUT Late Models. Other races scheduled include the .375-mile track’s Limited Sportsman, Trailers of the East Coast Grand Stock and Pure Stock classes, plus visitors from the Southern Ground Pounders and Allison Legacy series.