Bill Balog wins first All-Star victory in home state of Wisconsin
It’s been a long time for ten-time IRA Outlaw Sprint Series champion, but “Northpole Nightmare” Bill Balog can now, finally, call himself an All Star Circuit of Champions FloRacing presented by main event winner Mobil 1, earning its place in the series history book with a dominant victory in front of a packed house at the Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wisconsin.
2021 All Star Circuit of Champions and IRA at Plymouth Dirt Track
Balog, driver of B Squared Motorsports / Anderson’s Pure Maple Syrup / CK Contractors LLC / Buesser Concrete / Wisecup Siding, Howard Law / Wayne Corini CPA / No. The 17B sprint car, led 26 laps of the 30-lap program non-stop, using its starting position in the front row to set up its eventual lead slider over Ian Madsen in lap five. From that point on, it was all Bill Balog, en route to winning the All Stars challenge against IRA for a first prize of $ 6,000.
“It’s amazing. I didn’t mean to give that one, I’ll tell you,” Bill Balog said after his win over Plymouth Dirt Track. “I can’t believe we finally made it. These guys All Star are really competitive. They don’t like to give away wins. I’ve been very well received with this Series and it’s great, but at the same time the drivers and the teams are really intense. They don’t want that. you were winning.
It was a convincing victory nonetheless, in fact taking an advantage of almost half of the track halfway. But the North Pole transplant in Alaska has encountered some opposition during its campaign, all in the form of outdated traffic. Slower cars first came into play on lap eight, not distracting Balog early on as the all-time IRA leader put most of the riders behind with one lap ease. It wasn’t until lap 22 that things started to get interesting.
With the victory less than ten laps away, an eight-car wall of traffic flooded the race track in front of Balog. Maneuvering methodically, Balog resisted the mess, crossing himself on the cushion just once. Without saying, Balog held on, finally falling under the last pawns with a margin of victory equal to six seconds.
“I was probably pushing a little too hard,” Balog said. “Honestly, when I slowed down a bit I got really tight. So I had to go as hard as I could all the time. You can almost hear the guys behind you even though they’re not there. It makes you grow harder. I don’t know if it’s good or bad.
“All I could think of when I got into the late car mess was ‘don’t go ahead of me’,” Balog continued. “My car was so good I could slide them around when I hit them. “
Ian Madsen hung on to finish second on the Plymouth short track, followed by Rico Abreu, Spencer Bayston and Tyler Courtney.
A Sunday night visit to Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, will conclude the All Stars Challenge weekend against IRA. Like the two pior nights, the weekend finals will feature a $ 6,000 main event up for grabs.