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Tornado Alley – Catch-up Ball!
(Bill W) July 31, 2008 – It's been a strong year at Knoxville Raceway for Lincoln, Nebraska's Billy Alley. Consistency and a pair of wins at the famed half-mile oval have put the 2006 track champion in second place in the standings. The strong finishes came to a halt on Saturday, however, as motor problems sidelined the SA Racing #22 just a lap from the checkered flag. Championship hopes were dashed a bit with the misfortune, but that won't stop "Tornado" from storming back during what will be a busy week in which he will perform double duty.
Coming out late in time trials was a detriment last Saturday, and the result was an 11th quick effort. "We really didn't have that bad a lap for as late as we came out," says Billy. "There was still water on the bottom and it was slick right above it. Some guys hit the grease who qualified earlier, or else they probably would have beaten me. It showed me that this car can qualify with a late pill, and that's good to know going into the Nationals. The track slowed down quite a bit."
Billy raced to a strong third place finish in his heat race. "Our time got us into the invert," he says. "I had a fast race car in that heat race. The fast way was low in one and two and high in three and four. It was humming."
The 20-lap feature saw Billy lining up inside of row six. He started picking his way forward. "I just made some mistakes and did some dumb stuff early on," he remembers. "Once I calmed down, things went well. I need to slow down a bit. I have a fast race car, but I need to let it work. When I try to make things happen, it goes bad. I was cut off a few times, but that was my own fault too."
Billy found himself running sixth when the gasket on the oil filter blew off and all heck broke loose. The result was a DNF, but Billy's cushion in second place in the point standings was enough to keep him there heading into the last three races, but he is just thinking about winning races heading into the most important time of year. "The motor blowing up was not a good deal," he says. "We hurt it pretty bad, and we had just got it back. We're getting the motor back from Wesmar that we're running Nationals with. We wanted to run this one anyway. We're going to miss a couple of races away from Knoxville that I wanted to run, but we have to concentrate on the Nationals now."
The two-time 360 Nationals champion is looking forward to being the first three-time winner. He will qualify tonight for Saturday's finale. "We're ready to rock!" he exclaims. "We'd like to grab another one of these 360 Nationals. When you win one of those you feel like everyone else is playing 'catch-up ball'!"
Congrats to Skyler Williams!
Skyler Williams from Melcher-Dallas, Iowa is the winner of the kid's top wing coloring contest and he will be greeted on the front stretch Saturday night, August 2. His design will be used on the 410 sprint car this Saturday night at Knoxville! One side panel of Skyler's design will be going to him as the other side board will be auctioned off for charity. The money will be going to Crisis Intervention Services of Marion County (www.cismc.org). We will have a trailer set up underneath the front stretch grandstands during Nationals. Make sure to check it out and bid to win the side board.
New Scheme for Both Nationals!
Look for a new look for the SA Racing #22 for both the 360 and 410 Natonals!
New T-Shirts!
Check out Billy's new T-Shirts designed by GRAFX 2 A Tee. GRAFX 2 A Tee will be SA Racing's main sponsor during the Nationals!
Look Out, Billy Returns to the Booth!
Billy will be making a return appearance to the www.HoseheadsRadio.com booth this Friday night for 360 Nationals preliminary action. The broadcast will begin at 7:30 p.m. CST, so if you can't make it to Knoxville, check it out!
Hoseheads Radio
If you are too far from Knoxville to make it on Saturday night, Billy's races will be on the internet at www.HoseheadsRadio.com all season long! Join "Hot" Rod Pattison and Bill W for all the action starting at 7:30 p.m. CST. SA Racing is a proud partner of Hoseheads Radio this season!
Billy on the Radio
Billy is making morning appearances all race season long on KJJY (92.5 FM). He's looking forward to talking about racing…and other things with Hatfield and McCoy.
Down the Alley
Ric in Bloomington, MN asks: I assume you'll be performing double duty on Saturday night. How do you keep your edge when you are concentrating on a points situation with the 410 and another 360 Nationals title with the 360?
Billy answers: We just have to run "All Killer, No Filler" in both classes. I'm not too worried about points now…we blew up last week, I'm not into the points anymore. I don't think we can win it this time around, so if a guy can't win it, he shouldn't worry about the points now. Now it's just "Win!" every time you hit the track.
Got a question for Billy? Send it to us at [email protected], and we may answer it in this section! Put "? for Billy" in your subject line.
Alley's Anecdotes
Billy has competed in five 360 Nationals in three different cars (Alley 22 '03-'05, 1m in '06, 55 in '07). He has qualified for the prelim A main all five times. He has scored three prelim wins, four prelim top 5's, four prelim top 10's and four championship finales in a row ('03-'06). Billy won his two 360 Nationals title in '04 and '05 and is the only driver to lead start to finish in two finals. He is second to Dave Hesmer (54) in feature laps led with 50. He has registered at least a top ten finish in every finale competed in!
Tornado Alley
"Tornado Alley" is an up close look at the past, present and future of 2006 Knoxville Raceway track champion, Billy Alley. To receive "Tornado Alley", send an e-mail to [email protected] with "Alley" in the subject line.
Billy and SA Racing would like to thank Delta Oil, Sterling Physical Therapy, Bolz Farms, Aeroquip, Awesome Racewear, The Buckles Brothers, Buss Excavating, JEI Chassis, McLain Motorsports, Schmit Automotive, Wesmar Racing Engines, Red Devil, Brakes, Pro Shocks, Fuel Safe, C&R Radiator, Vortex Wings, Sander Engineering, K&N Filters , Harris Decals, Toad Valley Golf Course, Speedway Motors, Featherlite Inc., Autometer, D'Agostiono Racing, Monarch's Restaurant, Volvo, Hoosier Tires.
Billy "reaped" a win in the 2005 360 Nationals. He's shown here with 2nd place driver Gary Wright (L) and 3rd place finisher Brian Brown (R) (Dave Hill Photo)
Bill W MediaMonroe, IAUSA[email protected]
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