Bristol, WI – July 30, 2014. Bill Balog and the B2 Motorsports team packed their bags and headed north for the weekend for a triple-header in Northern Wisconsin. Friday night the team headed to Antigo, WI to the Langlade County Fairgrounds for their “Fair Race” on the blazing fast half-mile. The night started off with Bill laying down the 3rd fastest time of the twenty-six cars on hand setting him up with a 6th place starting position in the heat race. Bill would advance two spots in the heat race transferring him into the feature where he would line up in the 6th starting position. Bill would methodically make his way forward soon finding himself in the 2nd position chasing leader Steve Meyer. Caution would fly near the halfway point allowing Bill to restart on the leader’s bumper. On the restart, Bill would go to the top of the track, but would bobble on the cushion allowing Mike Reinke past and dropping Bill to 3rd. A couple laps later, Reinke would get over the cushion allowing Bill back by into 2nd with his eyes on the leader. As the laps wound down Bill would close back in on Meyer. On Lap eighteen, the lead pair would close in on a lap car heading into turn three. Meyer dove to the bottom of the track below the lapper and Bill would take the high line through three and four. With the momentum Bill would make it by Meyer and the lap car into the lead as the white flag flew. Bill would pilot the 17B around the half-mile one last time to the checkered flag picking up his 6th win on 2014 over Meyer and Reinke.
Bill and the team headed further north on Saturday as they headed to the third-mile facility of the ABC Raceway in Ashland, WI. The team was greeted with an uncharacteristic dry slick track, but with weather on the horizon, track officials and the teams continued on with no further track prep to get the show in for the fans. Bill would be the fastest qualifier of the twenty-five cars on hand setting himself up with a 6th place starting position in the heat race. Bill made his way into the 2nd position about half way through the ten lap heat race, but was too far back to make a challenge for the lead as the leader had opened a huge lead. Bill would draw the #3 pill for the feature invert setting him up with a 6th place starting spot in the feature. Bill would make his way forward into the 2nd position within a few laps and would chase 3rd place starter Travis Whitney. The two would battle on several occasions, but Whitney would come out on top each time. Caution would fly with four laps to go setting up a four lap dash to the finish. On the restart, Bill would power around the #16 machine and into the lead, but before a lap was complete caution would fly again as Whitney spun around in turn four. The final four laps went non-stop with Bill cruising to his second win of the weekend and 7th overall in 2014 over Scotty Thiel and Scott Uttech.
The weekend wrapped up on Sunday as the team headed to Jim Falls, WI to the Eagle Valley Raceway. Bill would qualify 4th fastest of the 25 cars on hand at the three-eighths mile oval setting him up with a 5th place starting position in the heat race. At the drop of the green, Bill would guide the 17B sprinter to the bottom of the track the first few circuits and into the lead where he continue and pick up the heat race victory. Fast qualifier Brooke Tatnell would draw the #2 pill lining up the four fastest qualifiers in the front two rows with Bill leading the way as he would start on the pole. When the green dropped Bill would get the jump over 2nd starting Mike Reinke as the pair headed through turns one and two. The leaders would set a blistering pace throughout out the twenty-five laps with only one slow down. Reinke would challenge Bill on a couple occasions as the pair worked through lap traffic, but Bill held the upper-hand and raced under the checkers for the weekend sweep and 8th win of 2014 over Reinke and Travis Whitney.
Bill will vacate the seat of the 17B sprinter this weekend as he will head to Knoxville, IA to the “Sprint Car Capital of the World” of the Knoxville Raceway for the 24th Annual Arnold Motor Supply 360 Knoxville Nationals. Bill will be piloting the Jimmy Davies #99 sprinter that he piloted just a few weeks ago in Sprint Invader competition. Bill and the Davies Racing team will qualify on Friday and the championship will be on Saturday. On Monday, August 4th, Bill will be aboard the Davies #99 again, this time at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, IA for the Front Row Challenge. After that Bill will be back in the familiar 17B sprinter for the 54th Annual FVP Knoxville Nationals from August 6th through the 9th. Bill and the B2 Motorsports team will take to the track for qualifying on Thursday night.
Following all the action in Iowa, the team will return to the track with the Interstate Racing Association as they return to the Wilmot Raceway in Wilmot, WI on August 15th and 16th for the Kenosha County Fair Races. Then on Sunday, the IRA will return to the Seymour Speedway in Seymour, WI for the first time since 2008.
Bill and the B2 Motorsports Team would also like to thank our continued supporters/sponsors including: Buesser Concrete, Rocky Rococo’s Pizza and Pasta, XYZ Machining, JR’s Contraptions, Maxim Chassis, Hepfner Racing Products, Gleason Equipment, Super Shox, Xtreme Stainless, Stumble Inn Bar and Grill, K&N Filters, FK Rod Ends, Auto Meter, Weld Wheels, Saldana Racing Products, Astro Titanium, DMI, Race Gear X, Vaportrail Clothing, Allstar Performance, Competition Driveline Service, BLZ, and Outerwears.
Stay up to date with what is going on with Bill and the B2 Motorsports team by checking out the Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/bsquaredmotorsports. Schedule changes, rain outs, and race updates are posted on the Facebook page as they happen. Also remember to check out Bill Balog and the B2 Motorsports Team by visiting www.billbalog.com for driver and crew bios, our schedule, pictures, videos, and to sign our guestbook if you’d like to.
- Matt Myers on Jul 30, 2014
- Article Date: 7/30/2014 by Matt Myers