7/26/2012
Bill Balog
Bill Balog and B2 Motorsports: Outlaw Racing and a Weekend Sweep
Bill Balog and B2 Motorsports: Outlaw Racing and a Weekend Sweep
Union Grove, WI – July 16, 2012. Bill Balog and the B2 Motorsports team went Outlaw racing 2 weeks ago as the Interstate Racing Association had a weekend off. The team headed north to the Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, WI on Friday, July 6th for their 2nd visit of the season to the facility. Bill would be the last to qualify on the 1/3 mile facility and would lay down a lap of 11.266 seconds which would be good enough for 17th quickest of the 28 cars on hand. Bill would line the 17B sprinter up in the 6th starting position in the 2nd heat race and would finish in the same position of the uneventful heat race. With the poor qualifying results, Bill would line up in the 18th starting position in the feature. Bill raced around in the back of the pack swapping positions back and forth most of the race, but towards the end he would start making progress forward. As the rubber starting to develop through turns 3 and 4, Bill would change his line into the rubber and make his way forward to finish in 8th place.
The team headed south the following night to another familiar facility of the team, Beaver Dam Raceway in Beaver Dam, WI for the Jim Boyd Memorial. Bill once again qualified late, laying down a lap of 13.380 seconds which would be 14th quick, but missed the heat race invert lining him up in the 5th starting position. Bill would finish 4th in the heat race which transferred him into the feature where he would line up in the 14th starting position. At the drop of the green Bill would hold his own around where he started until he was caught up in a spin by Sammy Swindell and Kerry Madsen. Bill would continue after the contact, but was scored back in the 18th position for the restart. When the green was out again Bill started to make his way forward and would bring the 17B mount home in the 12th position.
This past weekend the team headed north once again as the Interstate Racing Association was back in action. On Friday, July 13th, Bill and the team headed up to Mississippi Thunder in Fountain City, WI for the first ever visit to the four year old facility. The team seemed to figure out the facility right of the bat as they were the quickest in qualifying and setting the track record at 12.344 seconds lining up the 17B sprinter in the 6th starting position in the 1st heat race. At the drop of the green Bill made his way into the 4th position until about midway through the race the yellow flag flew as Tommy Sexton shredded a right rear tire moving Bill into the 3rd position. When the green was out again Bill maintained the 3rd position until the caution was waved again as Todd King rolled to a stop moving Bill into the 2nd position. When the green was out again the event went to the checkers as Bill would finish 2nd behind “Wild Bill” Wirth. With Bill being quick time, he would draw for the feature invert which would be a “2” lining the 17B mount up in the 4th starting position. At the drop of the green Bill would settle into 4th, but did not stay there for long. On lap 4 Bill would make his way under Travis Whitney and Scott Uttech to take over the 2nd position and set his sights on Brooke Tatnell. The yellow flag would for the first of 3 cautions in the event. On the restart Bill would make his way under Tatnell into the lead and would run there the remainder of the race despite 2 more cautions to pick up his 8th win in 2012 over Tatnell and Whitney.
On Saturday, July 14th Bill and the B2 Motorsports team headed to familiar territory as they made their way to the Rice Lake Speedway in Rice Lake, WI where most of Bill’s family is located. For the second night in a row Bill would be at the top of the charts in qualifying as he laid down a lap of 12.306 seconds narrowly missing the track record of 12.225 seconds that was set in 2006 by Sam Hafertepe which would line Bill up in the 6th starting position in the first heat race. Bill charged his way through the field, but came up just short of the heat race victory as he would finish 2nd to Tommy Sexton. Bill once again would draw the pill for the feature invert, but tonight he would draw a “5” lining him up in the 10th starting position. The charge was on for Bill as he weaved through the traffic and made his way past Phillip Mock on lap 21 into the lead as the hometown crowd went wild. Bill maintain his lead to the checkers picking up his 9th win on the season in front of his family over Brooke Tatnell and Mock.
Bill now holds a 101 point advantage over Mike Reinke in the Interstate Racing Association as the team is set to run another double-header this weekend. On Friday, July 20th, the team will head to “Wisconsin’s Horsepower Half Mile” of the Dodge County Fairgrounds in Beaver Dam, WI for the annual Rick Schmidt Memorial. Then on Saturday, July 21st, the team heads south to the Wisconsin-Illinois border to the 4th visit of the season at theWilmot Raceway in Wilmot, WI for the IRA/All-Star Shootout.
Bill and the B2 Motorsports Team would also like to thank our continued supporters/sponsors including: Buesser Concrete, Hoeft Builders, Maxim Chassis, Hepfner Racing Products, Keizer Aluminum Wheels, K&N Filters, Gleason Equipment, Rhine Auto, FK Rod Ends, Auto Meter, Saldana Racing Products, Astro Titanium, DMI, Fibrestar Industries, Super Shox, Stumble Inn Bar and Grill, Xtreme Stainless, Allstar Performance, Competition Driveline Service, BLZ, XYZ Machining, Rhey Graphics, Outerwears, and Racer Gear X.
For more information on Bill Balog and the B2 Motorsports Team visit www.billbalog.com
Submitted By: Bill Balog