Billy Ogle, Jr.
Over the last few months Billy Ogle, Jr. has experienced emotions that seemed as if he was living in the midst of a novel by Charles Dickens. It has indeed been the best of times and the worst of times for the Knoxville driver as he separated from his previous team then won one of the biggest races of his career in the World of Outlaws Late Models event at Tazewell Speedway this past Saturday in a new ride.
After a successful run of just over three years with Blount Motorsports, Ogle and the team parted ways during the World 100 weekend at the Eldora Speedway last September. Soon afterward, the 50-year-old joined the Dirt Late Model organization of Stacy Boles as part of a two car team.
“We got off to a good start over there last year and I thought we were going to have our best season ever,” Ogle said of the 2014 season with BMS. “Then things turned sour and just never got better.”
Driving the yellow and black #201 machine for Maryville businessman Larry Garner, Ogle won the Ray Cook promoted Spring Nationals Series to begin the 2014 season. However, that success faded as the summer months brought little success and much tension.
“When I went to Blount we struggled there for a half a season before we really got rolling,” Ogle recalled in an interview with InsideDirtRacing.com. “Then we did well there for three years, but we went into another slump and it got all bad over there. It was a lot of pressure, but I really like those guys. I knew it would be hard to replace the equipment those guys have and the commitment Larry Garner has with David(Bryant) and B.J.(Hillman), but I’m happy where I’m at and maybe I can keep it going.”
Stacy Boles
Ogle and his new team owned by veteran east Tennessee racer Stacy Boles had some setbacks initially but now seem to have bonded and the results of that showed on Saturday night when Ogle executed a last lap pass on three-time World of Outlaws Late Models champion Josh Richards to claim the $10,000 victory on the high banks in Tazewell.
“It’s been tough since switching teams and things didn’t take off as well as I thought they would,” Ogle explained. “I struggled running, but this makes it all better. It seems like every time I switch teams it takes me a while to get going and I don’t know for whatever reason. But I really couldn’t ask for a better person to drive for. Stacy is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met and he doesn’t ever put much pressure on me.”
Ogle believes a number of factors worked in his favor to allow for his late race heroics on Saturday night.
“Tonight’s conditions were kind of rare when you see it rubber up like that,” the racer explained. “I think a lot of it was my tires because I think Josh kind of wore his out and the American Racers, I believe, were just a little harder tire. I think that’s what you needed when it rubbered up like it did.”
This was not Ogle’s first major win in a national touring series race nor was it the first time he beat out one of the biggest names in the sport to achieve such a victory. In 2012, while driving for Blount Motorsports, he made a late pass on Scott Bloomquist to earn a Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win at the Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tenn.
Billy Ogle, Jr. passes Josh Richards for the lead on the last lap in Tazewell.
So what is it like to beat out the best dirt racing racing has to offer?
“Fortunately, I’ve been lucky like that,” Ogle said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve made a white flag pass. I used to have a few of them back in the day but never in a big race like this. You couldn’t ask for a bigger race to get it done on the last lap. I knew Josh was fighting his car and when I got to second I probably didn’t breathe for the last five laps because I was so tensed up. When the race was over I was really out of breath.”
