Billy Boat Makes Name for Himself in Midget Racing

The hottest race driver in America today isn’t NASCAR’s Jeff Gordon or Indy car’s Jacques Villeneuve. It’s Billy Boat, a U.S. Auto Club midget car racer from Phoenix.

Boat, 29, has won a record eight consecutive USAC Western States midget races and will be going for No. 9 Saturday night at Ventura Raceway. When he won his eighth, four weeks ago at the Bakersfield Speedway track in Oildale, he broke a USAC record set by A.J. Foyt in Indy cars in 1964 and equaled by the late Billy Vukovich III in supermodifieds in 1987.

“It’s incredible to be mentioned in the same breath with Foyt and Vukovich,” Boat said. “I was just happy to tie them. It’s hard to finish eight straight races, let alone win them. The car has just been awesome every night, a real tribute to my team.”

Boat, who began racing sprint cars professionally when he was 16, joined car owner John Lawson of Fresno three years ago, and this year’s success is the culmination of their work in developing an engine-chassis combination that has dominated USAC’s regional series.

“I’m looking forward to getting back to Ventura,” Boat said. “It’s probably the most competitive track we run. It’s so small, anything can happen. And the track conditions are continually changing because it’s so close to the ocean. It’s a great midget track.”

Between his record-setting victory July 22 at Bakersfield and Saturday night’s 30-lap race on Ventura’s quarter-mile oval, Boat went to Belleville, Kan., and last Sunday won the Belleville Nationals--the Super Bowl of midget car racing.

He broke the track record in qualifying, won a Friday night main event with a last-lap pass of Randy Roberts and then led every lap in the 35-lap main event, collecting the $10,000 winner’s purse. His two victories at Belleville, however, do not count in his record streak, because the races were not USAC sanctioned.

“There are three big midget races in the country, Belleville, the Chili Bowl [in Tulsa, Okla.,] and the Turkey Night Grand Prix,” Boat said. “Now we’ve won Belleville, finished third in the Chili Bowl and we’re really looking forward to Turkey Night this year. It’s at Bakersfield and we’ve had some good luck there.”

Three of Boat’s 11 USAC victories this season, including the record-breaker, were at Bakersfield, where the Turkey Night race will be run Nov. 23. In the Western States standings, Boat holds a 100-point lead, 604-504, over veteran Hank Butcher of Sacramento.

“We’re just going to ride the streak and see where it takes us.” Boat said. “No matter where I go, I want to go with a good team, like the one I’m with. John [Lawson] talks about doing different things down the road and I hope I’m with him.

“One positive thing is the new IRL [Indy Racing League] series. It presents a good opportunity for dirt track, open-wheel drivers, something that was pretty much closed to us before. I think Tony George [IRL president-founder] has the right idea, giving some of us an alternative way into Indy cars.”

George has proposed a five-race, all-oval track series, including the Indianapolis 500, for next year, in opposition to the existing CART Indy car mix of road and street courses along with ovals.

Motor Racing Notes

FORMULA ONE--Although seven races remain in the 1995 season, Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher has announced that he is joining Ferrari next season. It was also reported that Damon Hill is staying with Williams-Renault, where his 1996 teammate will be Jacques Villeneuve, the Indy car leader and winner of the Indianapolis 500.

Schumacher is reported to be getting more than $24 million for two years, making him the highest-paid driver in history. Ferrari driver Jean Alesi will replace Schumacher on the Benneton-Renault team.

STOCK CARS--Legend cars, scaled down look-alikes of racing coupes and sedans from the ‘30s and ‘40s, will make their debut at the Cajon Speedway on Saturday night. Also scheduled are a pair of 25-lap sportsman car main events. . . . Kern County Raceway will feature late models, Grand American modifieds, pro stock and dwarf cars Saturday night. . . . Winston Racing Series late model sportsman cars headline the Saturday night card at Bakersfield’s Mesa Marin Raceway.

SPRINT CARS--After two races in Northern California, the Sprint Car Racing Assn. will be busy this weekend with main events Friday night at Ventura Raceway and Saturday night at Bakersfield Speedway. After 14 events, Lealand McSpadden of Tempe, Ariz., is the SCRA leader with 1,179 points, closely followed by Ron Shuman, also of Tempe, 1,136; Rip Williams, Yorba Linda, 1,079; Cory Kruseman, Ventura, 1,075; and J.J. Yeley, Phoenix, 1,005. . . . World of Outlaws winged sprint cars will return to Bakersfield Speedway after a three-year absence on Sept. 10.

MISCELLANY--Big Willie Robinson’s Brotherhood Raceway Park, located on Terminal Island, will be the site of Thunder Island II, a nostalgia drag racing event Saturday night sponsored by Full Throttle News. . . . The 22nd Monterey Historic Automobile Races, spotlighting Lotus sports and racing cars, will be held this weekend at Laguna Seca Raceway. . . . Harley-Davidson street-legal motorcycles will try their luck racing on the tiny Orange County Fairgrounds speedway oval in Costa Mesa as part of the weekly program Friday night. Sidecars will also race.