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Tornado Alley – Another Strong Run!
(Bill W) August 28, 2008 – Billy Alley had another strong run and his best qualifying effort of the year at the Knoxville Raceway last Saturday night. The Lincoln, Nebraska driver ended up driving from row six to fourth in the main event. With this weekend's Season Championship scheduled to go off at Knoxville, Billy hopes to retain his second place status in the point standings.
Going out mid-pack in qualifying, Billy was one of six cars to drive under the fifteen second bracket, recording the second quick time of the night. The draw for invert didn't go well though. "We finally timed well," says Billy. "That's the best lap we've turned all year, and then we got a twelve invert for the feature! That's where the luck stopped, I guess."
It was evident in the heats, that Billy had one of the faster cars assembled, as he surged from outside row three to a second place finish, roaring by Jake Peters and John VanDenBerg in his event. The steep feature invert of twelve was made even tougher by track conditions. Though the track was plenty wide, it was fast all over in the 20 lapper, making everyone fast, and slowing forward progress.
Billy would battle fellow sixth row starter, Danny Lasoski, the whole way. By lap eight, he was ninth and feeling good. He surged by three cars including Lasoski into the sixth spot, but it was erased when Travis Cram flipped in turn two. "We got by the 'Dude' and (Davey) Heskin in turns one and two, and then VanDenBerg in three and four," Billy explains. "Then the red came out and it was all for nothing."
Restarting ninth, the SA Racing #22's progress was steady but slow the last twelve laps. "As the race went on, we got worse," says Billy. "We were fast, but not as good as the beginning to middle of the race. Lasoski is a hard guy to pass…I think he has mirrors. He's one of the best. Passing him once was good, but passing him twice, you're not going to see very often."
Two more restarts allowed for some gain, and Billy ended up with a respectable finish. "We were able to climb to fourth, and that shows with some breaks we could have run further up," he says. "Without that red that cost us three spots…who knows how high we could have gone? Restarting ninth there, instead of sixth was a big deal. Lasoski would have been three cars behind me, and that would have helped. I think we may have had a shot at second from there."
Billy has a 205 point cushion over the third place machine of Mark Dobmeier in the race for second in the 410 standings. "We just need to race our race, and the point thing will take care of itself. I can remember in 2006 (410) and 2003 (360) going into the last week, there were some sleepless nights before Season Championship Night, but we were still able to win the titles. I'm much more relaxed this time around! We pretty much just have to show up and race like we have all season."
Crisis Intervention Services of MarionCounty
One of the best things to happen this week occurred in Pella. "Crisis Intervention Services of Marion County got their money from our auction, and they were excited, so that was one of the highlights of our week," says Billy. The Skyler Williams designed wing side panel that was on the 410 sprint car August 2, was auctioned off during the Nationals. McLain Motorsports of Mount Ayr, Iowa, had the winning bid of $360.
New T-Shirts!
Check out Billy's new T-Shirts designed by GRAFX 2 A Tee! Get them at the trailer, or e-mail Billy to order!
Hoseheads Radio
If you are too far from Knoxville to make it on race night at Knoxville, 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) in Des Moines. He's looking forward to talking about racing…and other things with Hatfield and McCoy.
Down the Alley
Bill W asks: You bought a new bow after winning the Jackson Nationals. What have you been doing to get ready for deer season in Nebraska?
Billy answers: I've been practicing with the bow (Matthews DXT) every day. I've also been working with my dogs for bird season. I've put up three new Big Game Treestands (The Boss) this summer, and now I've got around 15 of them ready to go. It's like my racing, I don't do anything halfway, it's full speed ahead! I've just been trimming trees and getting ready. I actually fell out of a cedar tree this week while I was trimming. Good thing it was a cedar, because I hit every limb on the way down and that helped! I've got two bucks spotted that are nice already, and would look good on my wall.
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 isn't far off his 2006 championship pace, which is impressive on two fronts. First, he is working with a first year team, and secondly, the level of competition has been ramped up from front to back in 2008. Barring a Saturday rainout, both seasons will have included 17 point races (no points during Nationals). In 2006, he averaged 171.5 points a night, while his 2008 average is not far behind (154.1). In both seasons, he recorded two wins (a win Saturday would make it three in '08). He had 11 top fives in '06, compared to nine so far this season, and 14 top tens in '06 compared to 10 this year. His Nationals finishes were much better this year (4th in prelim, 14th in finale) than in 2006 (13th and 20th).
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.
(Daniel Beard Photo)
Bill W MediaMonroe, IAUSA[email protected]
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