ONE OF OUR LOCAL FAVORITES DOES GOOD ... REAL GOOD! Dan Burns Reporting
Barefoot Billy goes to Indy "Irwindale Style" The 26th Annual World Championship 3 Hour Endurance Figure 8 Race was held last Saturday, September 7th at Indianapolis Speedrome. This nail biting extravaganza had fans on the edge of their seats for the entire three-hour event. The fearless local figure 8 drivers take their racing very seriously, running 50 laps or more every Saturday. Just one look at their low slung, highly modified chassis was intimidating to newcomers. It was evident that several top finishers had more in their engine than the California crew had in their complete car including trailer. After watching the first practice round it was clear these were the "best of the best", to compete with them would be no easy feat. Close calls with intersection traffic were beyond amazing; a true ballet of near misses at speeds of 80 mph! The veteran drivers were uncanny in their ability to thread the needle through the smallest holes. Top racers from around the nation came to this championship race to see how they stacked up with Indy boys. Irwindales Barefoot Billy pulled into the pits after a long 2600 mile journey only to realize he brought a Street Stock to a Sportsman event. Many on lookers were less optimistic about Billy's chances, little did they know Billy's 20 years of experience in winning Figure 8 Races would soon have many of them scrambling to catch up to the barefoot bachelor. After coming in 2nd in one of the four eliminating heat races and qualifying 20th, people started asking questions about the barefoot guy in the strange car. With a maximum of 28 cars to start the 3-hour championship, the remainder of the 57 entrees would need to settle for alternate positions and wait for someone to crash or loose a motor before they could pull onto the track. With the drop of the green flag a thunderous roar filled the air as open headers and crashing metal started the beginning of the first lap. One would think that a 3-hour race would result in drivers spacing out and driving somewhat conservatively, but no not these racers. With $10,000 first place prize money, along with lifetime bragging rights no one took it easy for a single lap, it was truly amazing. By the end of the night the lucky cars were in need of serious body and chassis repairs, the unlucky ones had to have two tow trucks lift what was left of their car to put it on the trailer. The entire race was intense with hard hits and door to door grinding all over the track, the intersection collisions were brutal, many leaders went from the front to the back faster than you can say "look out". Yellow flags were far and few between, stalled cars in the intersection and even an occasional fire did not bring out a caution. It seemed if the driver got himself into trouble it was his job to get his self out…..the flagman wanted the show to go on. From early on it was evident that Barefoot Billy was a force to be reckoned with. His off track humor and soft-spoken ways are transformed into a hard charging speed demon when he straps on his racecar the "Outlaw Caddy". After the first 30 grueling minutes passed the fans were amazed he was still in the race going lap for lap with the big dogs. As time progressed the #3 car of Barefoot Billy was showing battle damage from several hard-hits and forced spins. At one point his rear bumper was knocked off from a crossing car in the intersection, a split second later at those speeds his car would have been T-boned. At the two hour mark Billy made a scheduled pit stop to get four new tires and fuel with the engine running and air guns blazing we could hear Billy yelling through his helmet "Yahoo! Yahoo! We are doing it…we are still in the race! Yahoo!" Irwindale fans can be proud to be sure of their West Coast representative in the Indy Figure 8 Championship. Towards the end of the 3 hours it looked as if Billy would be taken out of the race when his car went airborne after hitting another car approaching turn #2, but after a quick pit stop the crew changed the shredded tire and hammered back what was left of his body panels. He was soon back in the hunt stacking up valuable laps and moving towards the front of the pack. Yahoo! The winner of the race ended up making 434 action packed laps. From the original 57 cars that entered on the track only 23 finished the race under their own power. With the Lord's Blessing, a little luck, and a lot of hard work for Barefoot Billy, he finished with an outstanding Seventh Place, giving him a respectable purse and a 4 ft. high "Rookie of the Year" trophy. BILLY "YOU DA' MAN" It would not be fair to omit the other member of the Mike and Billy Race Team. Mike Marks plays a major part in helping Billy get to the winners circle. Mike does the business end of keeping a race team going with sponsors and procurer of resources. Scott Burson set the chassis up and helped in the pits along with Brian Bobick who was quick on the tire change and myself who just tried to stay out of the way. Being a budget racer sponsorship is the only way to make it to Indy Special thanks to Irwindale Speedway, Ecology Auto Parts, Poma distributing, Hot Lap Signs, GNS diesel repair Orange Engines, Rod Proctor, Lucas Oil, and Mechanic's Wear who pitched in to supply shoes and gloves to the entire crew that went along. Billy thanked them for the gloves and told them thanks, but no thanks on the shoes, Written by: Friend and Indy pit help Dan Burns Indianapolis Speedrome Results World Figure-Eight Championship, September 7, 2002 1. 9 Curtis McMurtrey Indianapolis, Ind. 434 laps 2. 2 Jack Dossey Jr. Indianapolis, Ind 431 3. 51 Rodney Sizemore Indianapolis, Ind. 428 4. 7 George Sutton Greenwood, Ind. 426 5. 9L Leonard Basham Jeffersonville, Ind. 422 6. 4 Rich Fenwick Indianapolis, Ind. 413 7. 3Z Billy Ziemann Bloomington, Calif. 387 8. 77 Donnie Garrigus Sr. Mooresville, Ind. 381 9. 87T Danny Turner Fairland, Ind. 376 10. 55 Gordon Brown Largo, Fla. 370 11. 61 Robbie Loving Taylor, Mich. 363 12. 50 Kevin Ford Indianapolis, Ind. 333 13. 24 Larry Hahn Indianapolis, Ind. 315 14. 5 Mike St. John Indianapolis, Ind. 313 15. 88 Steve Durham Indianapolis, Ind. 287 16. 3 Bill Tunny Jr. Fairland, Ind 285 17. 48 Curtis Unrue Indianapolis, Ind. 284 18. 94 Fred Bear Jr. Avon, Ind. 283 19. 22 Chris Green Indianapolis, Ind. 258 20. 59 Steve Prine New Whiteland, Ind. 205 21. 33 Doug Greig Indianapolis, Ind. 183 22. 69 R.J. Norton Jr. Indianapolis, Ind. 174 23. 00 Eric Buck Romulus, Mich. 174 24. 31 Bobby Whitaker Indianapolis, Ind. 170 25. 23 Robert Downey Indianapolis, Ind. 156 26. 57 Donnie Sloan Beech Grove, Ind. 143 27. 87G Donnie Garrigus Jr. Mooresville, Ind. 122 28. 14 Wes Spillers Indianapolis, Ind. 114 29. 41 Casey White Greenwood, Ind. 85 30. 29 Mark Murello Indianapolis, Ind. 78 31. 71 Steve Frost Indianapolis, Ind. 75 32. 18F Jimmie Foster Indianapolis, Ind. 72 33. 87 John LaValle St. Petersburg, Fla. 72 34. 34 John Botts Indianapolis, Ind. 62 35. 15B Mike Nelson Indianapolis, Ind. 61 36. 95 Keith Richee Indianapolis, Ind. 50 37. 11 Jeff Hizer Indianapolis, Ind. 42 38. 56 Chris Williamson San Bernadino, Calif. 27 39. 36 John Passehl Indianapolis, Ind. 25 40. 20 Herbie Conrad Indianapolis, Ind. 25 41. 99 Jerry Lee Ward Indianapolis, Ind. 21 42. 38 Scott Settles Indianapolis, Ind. 20 43. 19 Ronnie Rigdon Indianapolis, Ind. 20 44. 8 Jeff Shackleford Indianapolis, Ind. 13 45. 15 Jack Smith Indianapolis, Ind. 5 46. 9A Art Groulx Louisville, Ky. 2 47. 18 Kenny Boggs Indianapolis, Ind. 1