Billy Boat
11 Dallara/Aurora
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Conseco race report
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Billy Boat, who started third in the No. 11 Conseco Dallara/Aurora, ran as high as third in the race. During the fifth yellow-flag period of the race, Boat made his first pit stop of the day for fuel and new tires. On the following restart he spun coming out of the last turn and made contact with the inside retaining wall. Boat was uninjured and finished 21st in the race standings.
"The car had sticker tires and I tried to make a move on John Paul, Jr. on the restart," said Boat. "The car just got out from under me. I'm sorry for Conseco and A.J. Foyt. We were in the position to finish in the top three and even to win the race. I wish the Phoenix race was only a week away. After a race like this it seems 10 times as long until the next one. We have a number of tests scheduled in the next month, so we will focus on being up in front at Phoenix." -- Jan. 24, 1994 after the Indy 200
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1996-97 season in review
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Billy Boat was tabbed as Scott Sharp's injury replacement at the Indianapolis 500 for AJ Foyt Enterprises, and it was clear from the beginning that he would make some noise in the IRL. Boat finished seventh at Indy, one lap down. In just his second race, he appeared to win the True Value 500K at Texas Motor Speedway, but was demoted to second after a postrace review determined Arie Luyendyk really won. From there, wins were elusive, but strong finishes at Charlotte (2nd) and New Hampshire (8th) and a pole position at Las Vegas solidified Boat as a top IRL contender. Boat has signed on as Foyt's top driver for 1998.
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Career
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He began racing motorcycles as a 5-year-old. He won his first national championship on a motorcycle and began racing sprint karts at age 8. From 1980-82 he won 14 of 16 races in modified midgets. He drove in the American Racing Series in 1986, with three top fives in 10 races.
Billy Boat's career highlights include breaking all U.S. auto Club records for consecutive single-series victories with 11 straight in Western States midget series in 1995. He finished the season with 18 victories in 27 starts. His streak ended Sept. 23 at Madera (Calif.) when he finished second to Davey Hamilton. He had his best finish of third at Sacramento in four USAC Silver Crown races and finished 11th in points.
He was also the 1994 and 1996 Western States midget series runner-up, and has five National Midget wins to his credit.
He was the only driver bumped from the starting field in 1996 at the Indianapolis 500. He was injured in a crash on the final day of time trials testing a car he hoped to qualify if he did get bumped. He got bumped 18 minutes after his accident by Joe Gosek.
Courtesy SpeedNet, from the Indianapolis Star/News
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Driver Stats
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Team: AJ Foyt Enterprises
Series: Indy Racing League
Car: #11 Dallara / Aurora / Goodyear
Sponsor: Conseco
Car Owner: A.J. Foyt
Chief Mechanic: Craig Baranouski
Resides: Phoenix, Ariz.
D.O.B: 2/2/66
Top IRL finish: 2nd (Texas, Charlotte, 1997)
IRL points (standing): 1996-97 - 151 (18th)
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