Billy and the #86 crew headed to Delaware Speedway for the first of three Ontario4-Cylinder Championship races scheduled for the speedway in 2014. Armed with set-up notes from previous years and with the car was set up in the shop to replicate what proved to be a good handling package at the high banked, half mile track, Billy ran three practice sessions with only one minor change required to loosen the car up on corner exit.
The #86 lined up to start 6th in the first of two heat races with the Spira Fire Protection sponsored #17 of Kevin Bridge from Sauble Speedway starting out front. After the first lap, Billy had moved up to 3rd before the caution came out on the second lap. Kevin took the green flag for the restart with Billy behind him and despite the #36 getting a run on the inside, Billy held him off and pulled into 2nd, three car lengths behind the #17. As they hit the halfway point, it did not look like Billy would have enough time to catch the #17, however the caution came out for the #14 who had spun on the track, bringing the field back together for a final restart and a five lap run to the checkered flag. Billy ran side by side with the #17 with the #36 on their bumpers, however it was Billy who pulled into the lead on the final lap and crossed the line for the win followed by the #36 and #17.
Starting 5th in the second heat, Billy once again piloted the #86 towards the front in the early stages and was up to 3rd on the second lap. On the 4th lap, Billy was now in 3rd behind the #51 and two laps later took over the lead for the remainder of the 10 lap heat race for the second win of the night for the #86 team.
Despite two heat wins, Billy was placed to start 8th in the 35 lap feature. Only a minor air pressure adjustment was required to loosen the car up a bit as the colder temperature and additional rubber on the track was causing a minor push condition to the otherwise great handling car. Billy once again, quickly found his way clear of traffic in the early stages of the race and moved up to 3rd before the #128 would hit the wall coming off turn two to bring out the caution on the second lap. Billy cleared the #73 into second on the restart, however the #36 put Billy back to third on the same lap. Billy had his hands full trying to get around the #02 for many laps as the #02 was a dirt car and the line he was running made it very difficult for Billy to get a run on him. As the laps ticked away, the #36 opened up the lead up front until the caution came out on lap 12 bringing the field back together. The restart was just what Billy needed to get by the #02 and was now second behind the #36.
Despite turning some very quick lap times and with the car handling as good as it ever has, Billy was not able to close the gap on the #36 despite pulling well ahead of the 3rd place car. A caution with just ten laps remaining would give Billy one more chance to get ahead of the #36, however after running side by side for the first lap, it was the #36 who had the power to pull ahead for the final run to the checkered flag to take the win.
The #86 team headed back to the shop for a short night’s sleep before getting up in the morning to join Jake and Samantha at Sunset Speedway.
