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(Bill W) June 4, 2009 – Billy Alley had a rough heat race on Saturday night at Knoxville. That put a damper on a fast time trial, and a charge through the feature. When things seemed bad, they got worse with a lost cylinder in the motor. There’s no use thinking about what could have been, and the Lincoln, Nebraska sprint car ace will try it again on Saturday at Knoxville. Billy timed in second quick in the strong 30-car field on Saturday night at the Knoxville Raceway. After a good start in his heat race from outside row three, the start was called back for Wayne Johnson, who tipped over. The second start was rough for the Billy Alley Enterprises #22, and he ended up finishing outside of a transfer. “You have to put a whole night together, and I felt like I shot myself in the foot in the heat race there on the second start,” he says. “The pill we drew and qualifying were perfect, but when we didn’t transfer out of the heat, it was all for nothing. It’s as simple as that. ” Embarrassed by the outcome, Billy headed to the B main where he dominated. “That’s Knoxville,” he says. “A few weeks ago, I didn’t even get a time in, and we got through the heat from the tail. This week, I was in the invert and couldn’t do it.” Starting 16th in the 20-lap feature, Billy took his JEI chassis sprinter forward. By the halfway point, he was in the top ten, but single lane track conditions took over, making passing tough. He ended tenth, and worse, lost a cylinder in the primary motor late in the race. “It broke a lifter,” he says of the motor. “I felt it drop a cylinder on the last lap out there Saturday. Any time you break a 410 motor, it’s expensive, and I don’t know when we can fix it. We’ve got a backup, but it’s a backup. We’ll go with that. I don’t really know how it will run. We haven’t run it at Knoxville before, and there’s probably a reason for that.” The motor was the second that Billy has lost in two weeks (the other his only 360). He will continue to look for a partner for the race team, but in the meantime will keep fighting as only the “Tornado” can do. “It’s frustrating when you know you can drive these racecars and you have problems like this,” he says. “It’s part of racing, and you have to move on somehow. You look at what happened at Knoxville last weekend (Chad McDaniel), and this stuff is minor. We all go to the racetrack knowing what can happen. We all love the sport, and that’s what brings us back. The good times are really good, and the bad times are bad.” Just 25, Billy Alley has a bright future ahead of him, and has already accomplished more than many drivers dream to. He and those around him aren’t about to get their heads down now. “I think when I get through this, I’ll be looking back and being glad that I didn’t quit,” he says. “Someone once said, ‘When you’re big star bound, brother it’s a long hard ride.’ It’s true in this sport, that’s for sure. WFO!” 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. Don’t think you’re going to get over on “Slick Ric” with your hairy body or some pumped up “beach muscles”. He’s got women waiting in the hall quivering, shaking and having conniptions! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoUvE8-GPoE&feature=related Down the Alley Bob Wilson asks a follow-up question: Billy, as a follow up to the points question, you piqued my interest with your statements about the new points system this year at Knoxville and the fact that no points are awarded for qualifying time trials. Can you talk a bit more about how the drivers see this issue? Are you willing to say that some of them are sandbagging in order to get a better starting position in the feature?
Billy answers: We’ve been struggling at time trials, but there have been times in the past when I’ve worked in sync with my car and my motor. To qualify at Knoxville, you have to run the bottom. You have to free the car up to keep the momentum going. When you do that week in and week out against the same guys, you can judge where you’re going to time in pretty well even though you are dealing with tenths of a second. If you hit a couple good corners, this year you may say to yourself, I need to ease off the throttle a bit here. There’s no doubt people are sandbagging, and if I can get the car right, I will as well. I realize you probably can’t change the rules mid-season, but Knoxville really needs to go back to giving points. 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 is working towards having competed in 100 410 feature events. In 86 career features, he has five wins (6%), 44 top fives (51%) and 58 top tens (67%). All five wins have come at Knoxville, one in 2005, two in 2006 and two in 2008. 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, Awesome Racewear, Hoosier Tire, Wesmar Racing Engines, McLain Motorsports, The Buckles Brothers, “High Roller” the Pig Farmer, JEI Chassis, Red Devil Brakes, Harris Decals, Penske Shocks, RCI, and Terry’s Body Shop.
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