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Tornado Alley – Two Laps Short!
(Bill W) June 26, 2008 – Billy Alley has been involved in some terrific racing action in 2008 and Saturday night at Knoxville Raceway, he was in the middle of it again. For the fourth consecutive 410 feature race at the famous half-mile, the lead changed hands in the last three laps. Unfortunately, Billy wishes that streak had been broken, as he lost a bid for his second win there in lapped traffic. Still a solid second in the Knoxville points race, the 2006 track champion will try it again this weekend after visiting the Junction Motor Speedway near McCool Junction, Nebraska for some Friday ASCS-Midwest action.
Billy timed in 8th quick on Saturday night. Qualifying is something he's trying to improve. "I think we've been timing in in the right spot for the most part," he says. "I'm not trying to do that…we're trying to be faster. We're still off in that aspect and when the Outlaws come, if we aren't better, we'll have a tough go of it."
After running third in his heat race, he posted inside of row two for the 20-lap feature event. After leader Travis Cram could not avoid an incident with a lapped car on lap eight, Billy lined up behind Lynton Jeffrey for the restart. He was able to work by him in turns three and four and set sail ahead of the pack. With two laps to go and coming for the white flag, he approached the lapped car of Seth Brahmer in turns three and four. Billy decided he would shoot around the high side. "Seth was going through the middle and I had to make a decision," he remembers. "He just as easily could have gone to the bottom as the top. The corner before, he entered in the middle and stayed there. Even if he slid up, I didn't think he was going all the way to the cushion, but he did."
Caught behind the slower marker, Billy was freight-trained on the bottom by Danny Lasoski and Dion Hindi resulting in a third place run. Knoxville experimented with a Hoosier 25 on the right rear for everyone, and despite leading most of the race, Billy is concerned the locals will be at more of a disadvantage in the big shows. "The reason I don't like it, is that I don't believe the traveling series will ever go to it," he says. "I think that will hurt the local driver in the long run. If everyone would switch to it, it wouldn't be so bad. It does free the car up and make it harder to drive, which is good because the best driver will benefit. It would change the car a lot, and that really puts a guy behind when they go run with the Outlaws."
There was disappointment in the American Sprint Cars on Tour show Friday night at Knoxville. Though he made the feature, Billy pulled off shortly after the green flag fell. "The motor just wasn't running all night," he relates. "Mark Burch helped us to find some fuel issues this week, so hopefully that's ironed out. Knoxville is a lot different than Belleville (where Billy won on June 15), because at Belleville, your rpm never drop. At Knoxville, we ran into problems with the fuel and spark plugs, and it wouldn't fire off a cylinder. We were just behind the 8-ball and it cost us."
Billy headed to Huset's on Sunday night and recorded the 2nd quickest time of the night. After missing the feature invert by one spot in his heat race, he lined up 14th for the main event. He was quick on the cushion and was threatening for a top five late in the race. "You have to be able to run all over at that place, and we weren't fast enough on the bottom on Sunday," he remembers. "I was really fast on the cushion, but if I got off, I was struggling. Even though you're faster, you can't drive through them up there, you have to be able to operate down low, and that's where we struggled. Then I hit the fence with two laps to go (running 6th), and the tire started going down. I finished taking the checkers with a flat tire."
Billy looks forward to hitting McCool Junction on Friday before another Saturday at Knoxville. "We always have pretty good luck there," he says. "The cars have been feeling great, so hopefully we can get the motor running. McCool Junction is a huge momentum racetrack, and we want to keep that momentum going. We're getting going at the right time."
Bill W Takes a Break
Bill W Media will take a break (barring any special editions) next week as he heads to Pennsylvania. A regular edition of "Tornado Alley" will return on July 10.
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.
Kids, Design Your Own Wing!
For all the kids, please use your imagination and color a top wing picture in the Kids Page section of my website. Your design could be used on our car the week before the Knoxville Nationals! During the Nationals the wing will be auctioned off for charity. To learn more about Billy Alley and SA Racing, visit www.BillyAlley.com!
T-shirts
SA Racing apparel can be viewed at www.BillyAlley.com and purchased at the track! Also visit www.RacingThreads.com for apparel on clearance!
Down the Alley
Ken in Stuart, IA asks: You seem to be getting more comfortable in the JEI chassis. Is that due to adjustments you've made on the car, or just getting comfortable with the way it rides?
Billy answers: Both. The car is setup a lot different than anything I've ever driven. It definitely feels different, and the way we have the racecar setup makes me comfortable. Someone else may not be, but it makes me feel good when getting up to speed. We'll keep on making little changes and improve on where we're at.
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 two wins at the Junction Motor Speedway. Both came in Eagle Sprint Touring Series action in 2004. In May, he beat Rodney Droud, Mike Chadd, JD Johnson and Mike Boston. In July, he bested Jason Danley, Don Droud Jr., Rodney Droud and Eric Jobe. He also has two impressive second place finishes in the 410 at the facility. In NCRA/SCOA racing in 2004 he finished behind Jason Johnson and ahead of Patrick Bourke, Jerrod Hull and Rich Bubak. With the All Stars in 2005, he finished second to Chad Kemenah, and ahead of Roger Crockett, Danny Smith and Randy Hannagan.
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.
(HeartlandMotorsports.com Photo)
Bill W MediaMonroe, IAUSA[email protected]
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