Billy Ogle Jr. has been a frequent winner across the east Tennessee region.
Shortly after the beginning of the 2016 season, Billy Ogle, Jr. was in search of a ride after he and car owner Stacy Boles parted ways. Soon thereafter, the veteran driver from Knoxville found himself in the company of old friends as a former team re-formed to renew their once successful partnership to provide a ride.
Vanover Racing, which prepared the cars Ogle used to win numerous races and track championships, decided to get back in the racing game when the opportunity to reunite with their former wheel man came about. So far the results have been mixed, but Ogle sees the potential for better days ahead. And after a time of adjustment, the driver believes his team is just one component away from finding success.
“We haven’t been as good as maybe we had hoped,” Ogle said in an interview with InsideDirtRacing.com. “Vanover had been out of racing for about 12 to 15 years and things changed a lot since then. But I think since we got this Longhorn(chassis) a few weeks ago, I think the car is a really good car, I think we should start running better. I still think we’re down a little bit on horsepower and you’ve really got to have a complete package to run with these guys.”
Ogle still thinks his team can contend in the right situations, as they have shown on occasion already this season.
“On some of the smaller tracks I think we can do pretty well and I think we probably already would have had a win or two if we would have just had some things go different up at Tazewell and Bulls Gap,” he insisted. “We just didn’t have any breaks.”
Ogle’s experience has taught him that relationships between drivers and teams take time. But more importantly, it takes quality equipment to achieve quality results.
“It takes a while for a team to gel, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned, you’ve got to have a good car to run with these guys,” Ogle declared. “Good cars, that’s about all it is, it’s not as much driver as what it used to be fifteen or twenty years ago. Now I think everybody is spending money and has got good cars. I think the car is most important, but it’s not always that. The driver does mean some, but I think it’s better to have a good car.”
After stints with Larry Garner’s Blount Motorsports team and the operation owned by Stacy Boles, Ogle is happy to be back with familiar faces.
Billy Ogle, Jr. is back in familiar colors
“I’m glad to be back with Vanover and he’s spent a lot of money to get started in this again with the initial investment,” the driver said. “Like I said, I think all we’re really missing is the horsepower, we don’t have the bigger engines like some of the other guys. We’re running smaller engine stuff and it kind of affects us on the bigger tracks like Wytheville and Smoky Mountain.”
Aside from having to adjust to a new team, Ogle is also having to adjust from chassis brand to chassis brand. Blount Motorsports employed Rocket Chassis while Boles had Rockets and then switched to Longhorns during Ogle’s tenure there. When he first took the wheel for Vanover, it was in a Warrior Race Car before that team purchased a Longhorn.
“It takes adjustment,” Ogle explained. “You’ve got to get used to each car. I do like the Longhorn, I had that Longhorn with Stacy. And we haven’t given up on our Warrior, we just wanted to try this Longhorn. This car is actually a couple of years old but I still think it’s a really good car.”
