By Bill Sullivan/Sullivan Images Media
ELK GROVE, CA – After traveling to a myriad of tracks recently, Elk Grove’s Billy Strange has been hanging out back in the homeland known as Placerville Speedway in recent weeks. The return to the track where he once watched his father turn laps on as a child and ultimately launched the second generation driver’s career brought with it some positive light in the season that has had its share of tough breaks.
“We didn’t come back home and make big headlines but we certainly felt our luck turning around for the better, said Strange, driver of the Strange Motorsports #28x. “Its fun to travel but it’s always nice to race close at home near the family too. We’ve had fun the past couple of weeks and that’s really important.”
Strange raced at Placerville Speedway twice in the past week. His first appearance came last Wednesday when he competed in the popular “Wild Winged Wednesday” featuring the Civil War Sprint Car Series. This event for 360 sprint cars has become somewhat of an impromptu tradition at Placerville and much like his counterparts; Strange enjoyed the special weeknight event.
The Wednesday night event drew 35 cars to Placerville Speedway and some of the top drivers of the region. Strange qualified 19th on the roster with a 10:959 second lap. In his heat race he locked a starting spot in the feature event with a victory when the 10-lap preliminary event came to a conclusion. In the feature event, Strange finished 18th at the checkered flag.
“The car was really fast on Wednesday night,” said Strange. “The heat win was a nice boost for us and we went into the main with the car set up great and very fast. I passed a few cars right off the bat but then I got moved over in the first four laps and spun into the infield. If that hadn’t happened I know we would have had a top ten car.”
On Saturday night Strange returned to Placerville Speedway to compete in the seventh Red Hawk Casino Championship point race of the season. Once again, the event drew a large car count with 34 drivers in competition. On this night Strange qualified 16th with an 11:543 second lap. He again avoided a grueling B feature by finishing third in his heat race. At the end of the night the #28x sprint car rolled into the trailer in one piece with a 13th place finish.
“Saturday night I was pretty happy too,” said Strange. “We made the transfer into the A main and found the fast line after awhile. After going backwards for the first part of the race I was able to rally back and pass some cars late in the race.”
This weekend Strange will be taking the weekend off from competition and will return to action on June 25. His tentative plans have him returning to Placerville Speedway as he hopes to enter enough races to qualify for the upcoming Forni Classic in July. So far this season Strange has competed in a variety of events including the World of Outlaws, The King of the West, Placerville Speedway and Marysville Raceway Park.
Strange is always looking for additional marketing partners for the 2011 racing season. Among their current supporters are America's Tire Kevin Sharrah Designs, ART Enterprises, Swepco Lubricants, Pronol Race Fuels, High Country Painting and Amerikote. To learn more about Billy Strange or to contact them about sponsorship opportunities, visit his official website at www.billystrangejr.com.
- Bill Sullivan on Jun 15, 2011
- Article Date: 6/15/2011 by Bill Sullivan/Sullivan Images Media