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Tornado Alley – Podium Mainstay!
(Bill W) August 7, 2008 – A great weekend of racing saw Lincoln, Nebraska's Billy Alley on the podium at the Knoxville Raceway on three out of four occasions with two seconds and a third! He hopes to duplicate that effort this weekend as the biggest show in sprint car racing hits town, the 48th Annual Knoxville Nationals!
The 360 Nationals started things off, and Billy qualified on Thursday, and after registering the 11th quick time of the night and running second in his heat, he started outside row one for the feature. He quickly ducked in behind eventual winner Jason Johnson and held the spot. "We've struggled with the 360, we haven't been phenomenal with it," says Billy. "To start off our weekend the way we did Thursday, I was very pleased."
Billy accumulated enough points to start outside of row four for Saturday's finale. A good start saw him move up several spots on the first lap. He was strong on the cushion and after a restart on lap six; he shot around Jason Johnson in pursuit of leader Wayne Johnson. "I surprised myself when we jumped from eighth up to fourth on the first lap," he remembers. "I really didn't have the confidence that we would run that well. As the race got going, we seemed to get stronger, but we couldn't quite run down Wayne."
If Billy had a rear view mirror, he would have seen Brian Brown charging from the back of the field. Brown shot around him in the last corner to snare second, with Billy holding third in the SA Racing #22. "There's over 100 guys there, that would give anything to do what we did there, and I understand that we have a huge advantage in running the 410 there weekly," he says. "We should run well there and we did."
Saturday saw a rare opportunity for double duty, and Billy put a number of laps on the 410 as well. After registering the 10th quick time of the night and qualifying through his heat, a problem was found before he went out and ran seventh. "When we pushed out for the A main, there was a hole in the right rear tire," he explains. "We talked about changing it and going to the back. I was already buckled in when they noticed the tire had gone down from when they put the bleeders in. We could have changed it, but I don't know if we would have run as well giving up that much track position. When we came in we had four pounds in the tire, and that was as tough a car I've had to drive this year. We were lucky we were seventh."
The BRODIX Tournament of Champions was on Sunday, and Billy represented the ASCS-Midwest group well. Group qualifying was used, and though the young driver doesn't like the format, he qualified fourth best. "I drew well, so it didn't really matter to me, but I don't like it," he says. "We were lucky to go early, but the track goes away so fast when they do it, that it's a big disadvantage to the later guys."
An invert of six for the heats put Billy in row three with only the top three finishers making the main. He would finish in the final transfer spot, and start fifth in the 30-lap feature. He didn't mind all the laps, and thought he had a shot at the win before settling for second. "With all the laps last weekend, it was good for me physically," he says. "If the race stayed green, I think we had a shot at Jason. We were getting through lapped cars pretty good, and we pulled up on him, but when the caution came out, he was better in clean air. With 12 laps to go, the left rear shock fell off too, so that didn't help either. Maybe I should have slid him the one time on the restart, but I didn't want to screw around because I knew Brown was behind me."
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!
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). He's looking forward to talking about racing…and other things with Hatfield and McCoy.
Down the Alley
Bill W asks: What is your first Knoxville Nationals memory?
Billy answers: I remember in first grade, we had to write down a wish we had. A lot of kids wanted to go on space shuttle rides and be doctors. My wish was just to go and watch the Knoxville Nationals. I never even got here to Knoxville until the first time I raced here in 2002. I didn't even watch the Nationals until 2003, and the next year we entered, raced and were starting in the main event on Saturday night! Now that is unbelievable to me!
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
After qualifying for the B main in his first Nationals attempt (2004), Billy was the high point getter for the 2005 field, and finished 17th in the finale. He made the field again in 2006 in the Gifford Motorsports #17G, the year he won the track title. He hopes to make it three for five this weekend with SA Racing!
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.
(Dennis Krieger Imagery)
Bill W MediaMonroe, IAUSA[email protected]
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