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Tornado Alley – JEI or Twister? (Bill W) July 15, 2009 – Billy Alley overcame a twisted racecar to finish seventh and sixth on Twin Features Night at Knoxville Raceway last Saturday. For awhile, it didn’t look like he would even race the events, but with the hard work of a number crews he was able to get back into the fray and get what he could out of a frame that is now in the junk pile. After registering the quickest time in hot laps with a number of heavy hitters in the house, a mistake resulted in the 15th quickest time of the night. “That was a bonehead move on our part,” says Billy. “We had our tire ready to go after hot laps. We just put it on without measuring it. It was dumb on our part. We gave away almost two inches of stagger. It just screwed the car all up.” After finishing fourth in his heat, Billy would start outside of row five for the first feature. On lap two, disaster struck, resulting in a six-car pileup. Only Billy would continue after extensive work to his racecar. “When the track slicks off like that, we usually go well with our Dave Reedy Penske shocks and our Barry Jenkins JEI chassis,” he says. “At the start of the race everything felt good, and then the melee happened. All of a sudden, someone hit me from behind, and I’m glad I didn’t know who it was. That would have probably been a bad thing.” The impact spun him around, and he was hit by at least two competitors. “You always think things can get worse, but when you’re turned around backwards on the track looking at a field of 410’s bearing down on you at full speed, it’s pretty bad,” says Billy. “That’s an eerie feeling.” The front end of the JEI chassis was knocked out of whack a full 8”. Despite the opinions of many, Billy returned to the track, restarted at the rear and made it up to seventh at the checkers. “My head mechanic said we weren’t racing,” says Billy of Bob “Buns” Richardson. “(Knoxville Competition Director) John McCoy told me he’d let me on the racetrack, but I needed to go in the way back. If it didn’t feel right, I was going to pull it in. Realistically, in the car’s condition, the track was suited to what we needed. It was slick, with a ledge up on the fence. I had to run the bottom, and it rolled around there pretty nice.” More work was done, but nothing could straighten the frame before the second feature. Billy relates, “Don Droud Jr. came up to me before the second feature, and with a straight face said, ‘Billy, my crew just told me you have straps holding the car together. I’m starting right behind you, what’s going to happen?’ I smiled, looked at him and said, ‘Don’t look at my racecar, but I’ll be going to the bottom, so don’t worry about me up on the cushion.’” Other visitors came by. “Rob Hart (crew chief for Brooke Tatnell) walked by my car, and just shook his head,” says Billy. “I think he thought we’d be in the way. I wonder what he thought at the end when I drove by Brooke Tatnell!” Billy drove from outside row four to sixth. In the middle stages, he lost some ground, but came on strong at the end when some rubber developed on the track. “It is non-fixable,” he says of the chassis. “It is headed to the scrap heap. People have walked in the shop this week wondering how we raced it. They’re right. When I got out of the car, I didn’t really focus on the frame. I was looking at pieces, like radius rods and stuff. I’m glad I didn’t look at it, because I probably would have parked it. The radius rods were so far off center that they were rubbing on the frame. ‘Buns’ was worried about the steering arm getting caught up, and we were lucky it didn’t.” Despite the heroics, Billy is still looking for a win. “I wasn’t happy with it, because we’re hungry for a win, but maybe this will be a campfire story for some people someday. They’ll be talking about how Billy Alley’s front end was facing the infield, but he still finished with two top seven finishes.” 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. The “Nature Boy” makes a much needed visit to Dallas! The way the Cowboys have been playing, they need a real man down there! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3thT_fi0fq0&feature=related Down the Alley Will Johnson asks: Will you be running any 360 shows in the near future?
Billy answers: Our 360 is supposed to be done at Wesmar, and we’d like to get as many shows in as possible before the 360 Nationals. We definitely want to be ready to grab another win there. 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 On Twin Features Night in 2006, Billy took a big step (or two big steps) toward his track championship at Knoxville. He finished second in both main events. In the first, he trailed Brian Brown, but finished ahead of Ricky Logan, Bronson Maeschen and Skip Jackson. In the second feature, Brent Antill won, ahead of Billy, Clint Garner, Jesse Giannetto and Brown. Billy swept 360 Twin Features in 2003. 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.
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