Billy Ogle, Jr.
During his time driving for Larry Garner’s Blount Motorsports team, Billy Ogle, Jr. has piled up numerous wins. Among those victories was the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series sanctioned ‘The Scorcher’ in August of 2012. However, the Knoxville driver has scored most of those triumphs during the second halves of seasons.
The first halves of his recent campaigns have not been bad by anyone’s standards. The veteran racer has scored a number of runner-up finishes over the last couple of years during the spring season.
But that’s something Ogle and his team wanted to change this year. And they have already achieved that goal by winning the Ray Cook-promoted Spring Nationals event at the Smoky Mountain Speedway earlier this month. But the BMS team wants even more, and they will continue that quest this Saturday night in a Southern All Stars sanctioned race on the same Maryville, Tenn. track at which they racked up their earlier win.
“We were definitely happy to get that win early,” Ogle declared in a recent interview. “It seems like the last few years since I’ve been driving for these guys that I don’t really get to rolling good until June or July so it was good for us to get a win early on. I feel like that might get us on a roll. I think we’re running good enough to keep up this stuff.”
Ogle went on to recall a recent Spring Nationals race at the Tri-County Race Track in Brasstown, NC that he believes he had a shot to win except for a judgment call that placed in the rear of the field after an early incident. Mike Marlar went on for claim the victory.
But Ogle thinks the heat of summer may be a contributing factor in his late season successes of recent years.
“For whatever reason, I think the hot weather and the slicker track conditions may play into my favor, but I really don’t know if there’s a reason,” he explained. “I feel like we can turn all of those seconds into wins in the early part of the season. That’s what I’m really trying to do this year, turn those seconds and thirds into wins because when you’re that far up you’re in position to win.
“That’s what I’m trying to concentrate on is getting more wins before June then maybe we can continue what we normally do in June and July when the hot weather sets in,” Ogle continued. “I just want wins. That’s what my car owner wants so I’m just trying to be more aggressive and play offense instead of being a defensive driver.”
Billy Ogle , Jr. picked up his first Spring Nationals win at Smoky Mountain.
And Ogle says that his Blount Motorsports team is equipped with all it needs to turn those seconds into wins.
“I know I’ve got the car,” he said. “Larry Garner gives us the tools to win races. It’s just up to us. He buys whatever we would need or whatever it would take. He gives us what we need to get the job done, and it’s my job to get the car up front. I’ve got a good crew. I feel like we’ve got what it takes. I just need to get more wins instead of the seconds.”
