(Bill W) July 1, 2009 – On the surface, finishing 15th with the World of Outlaws in just your second race with them this season looks pretty good. But Billy Alley felt an opportunity slip away after qualifying for the dash and a good starting spot Saturday at Knoxville Raceway. Yet another motor problem was discovered when leaking down the powerplant this week, as well. To compound things, his 360 will not be back from the motor builder in time for this weekend’s ASCS races in Nebraska, putting this weekend’s racing activities in doubt.
The WoO made their second visit to Knoxville, and Billy turned in the 12th fastest lap of the night in time trials. “We’re getting better at the qualifying,” says the Lincoln, Nebraska native. “I didn’t turn a perfect lap by any stretch of the imagination, so you know there’s room for improvement there. Having the motor fresh helped.”
Billy started outside row one in his heat, and after getting passed by Donny Schatz early, held off Joey Saldana for second. “We were perfect on the bottom in the heat race and made no mistakes,” he says. “That said, Donny Schatz drove by us on the high side like we were tied to a fence post. That’s unbelievable.”
Billy qualified for the dash and drew a three. He struggled to an eighth place finish. “Making the dash and starting third is hard to do,” he says. “To get to that point and to go backwards is a disappointment. You’re letting an opportunity at hand go by the wayside. In hindsight, our motor was probably already hurt at that point.”
With a starting spot outside of row four for the 25-lapper, unfortunately, Billy continued to slide back before running twelfth for much of the race. “We made some errors on the car for the feature,” he admits. “We weren’t that far off, but with the Outlaws, if you’re off a little, you’re off a mile…and we went backwards. They were going by, and the frustration was setting in. Of course, I didn’t know we were running on seven cylinders. The dirty air is a real factor running with those guys too.”
In the end, Billy finished a respectable 15th against the best in the business. A racer is never satisfied unless he wins though. “I should be happy with what we accomplished Saturday, but I won’t swallow starting 8th and finishing 15th. It’s frustrating, but you can’t run once a week and expect to beat that kind of competition, especially being down on power like we were.”
The Billy Alley Enterprises #22 team is down but not out. “You can’t make any excuses; it’s just a ‘live and learn’ situation,” says Billy. “If we would have had the racecar close, I could have maintained the way the racetrack was. On a weekly show, we would have been running up front with a car like that, and been tickled pink. But with the Outlaws, it shows you how far you need to go in August.”
The Knoxville drivers have to adapt when the Outlaws come. “It’s tough for us locals,” says Billy. “You run the Outlaw tire rule, the Outlaw format and the Outlaw start rule. We adapt what we’re doing with the cars to our weekly rules. You don’t realize that’s a tick off on a weekly show, even if there are one or two Outlaws there. You have to have ten there to really know where you stand.”
Billy hurt his only 360 motor on May 21 at I-80 Speedway, and was hoping to get it back from Wesmar in time for the ASCS-Midwest shows this weekend. It doesn’t look like that will happen.
On the Web
To learn more about Billy Alley, including updated results and photos, visit www.BillyAlley.com!
Billy Alley Gear!
For t-shirts and other apparel, visit www.BillyAlley.com!
Vintage Ric Flair Clip of the Week!
We need someone like Ric Flair in racing. Dusty Rhodes fills in for Ric this week, talking about the “Nature Boy” and how he stole manager “Baby Doll” (Ric is floating his multi-million dollar yacht around the world). Any woman that goes to Hawaii with a credit card to buy assorted men and papaya…that ain’t funny brotha!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXAn51e3T4s
Down the Alley
George Chase asks: What do you think about the fuel stop for the 40-lap Knoxville Nationals final?
Billy answers: I can’t understand why people are getting so bent up about it. I don’t see anything wrong with it. In fact, I think it will add a lot of excitement. The only driver it will kill will be the guy leading by half a lap, but isn’t that good for the fans? They can go get a beer while we fuel up and discuss it a bit! Who’s going to win now? It will bunch things up, and I think that’s always a good thing for us locals. We run 20 laps every Saturday night. 40 is a long ways. If we’re going that many, having a short break is a benefit to us. I don’t understand how people can get on the computer and bash Knoxville and talk about not coming. It’s not a big drama, and most of them have no clue what they’re talking about, to be honest.
Got a question for Billy? Send it to us at sprntcar@iowatelecom.net, and we may answer it in this section! Put "? for Billy" in your subject line.
Alley's Anecdotes
Billy won 12 races in 2003. Among them were both halves of Twin Features night at Knoxville, three other Knoxville wins, and single tallies at Park Jefferson Speedway (SD), Lee County (IA) Speedway, Eagle (NE) Raceway, Capital Speedway (MO), Crawford County (IA) Speedway, Butler County (NE) Speedway and the $10,000 State Fair Speedway Shootout in Sedalia, Missouri.
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 sprntcar@iowatelecom.net with "Alley" in the subject line.
Billy would like to thank Buss Excavating, Bolz Farms, Schmit Automotive, Aeroquip, K&N Filters, Pella Motors, Stepping Stone Genetics, Awesome Racewear, Hoosier Tire, Wesmar Racing Engines, McLain Motorsports, The Buckles Brothers, F&K Rod Ends, “High Roller” the Pig Farmer, JEI Chassis, Red Devil Brakes, Harris Decals, Penske Shocks, RCI, and Terry’s Body Shop.
Photo -
Billy at Knoxville Raceway (Danny Howk Photo)
- Bill Wright on Jul 02, 2009
- Article Date: 7/2/2009