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Friday, July 31, 2020

How driver Bill Basso took the wheel for the first time at 44 in the hornets division - Herald & Review

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MACON — It's never too late to start racing. 

Bill Basso had all the trademark signs that we would get behind the wheel of a race car at a young age. His grandfather, "Wild Bill" Beal, raced for decades in Springfield, Basso loved spending time at the tracks around Central Illinois and he even competed in demolition derbies for many years. 

But the jump from lending a hand in pit row into the driver's seat never happened until decades later, when Basso was 44 and his friend and fellow driver Mike McKay made him an offer. 

"In the winter of 2017, Mike told me that I should race (in the) hornets (division) instead of helping them out in the pits all the time," Basso said. "I said 'Dude, I'm going to be 44 years old. What the hell do I know about racing?' (Mike) said I could run his old car that was sitting in the garage and hadn't been run for three or four years. He said to run it for a season and if I liked it, we could build a car. That's what we did. If it wasn't for the McKay family who have been in racing all their life too, I would have never started.

"It's a bug and when it gets you, you are done."

Basso, now 47, has been around tracks as long as he can remember and fondly remembers Shaheen's Speedway in Springfield. 

"My mom says I went for the first time to the track when I was six days old," he said. "I was born on a Monday and I was at the track the following Sunday to watch my grandpa race. My grandfather raced all over Central Illinois in the 50s, 60s, and 70s and that's what we did as a family: We went and watched grandpa race at Shaheen's. Back in the day he raced bombers. It was a stock car and there weren't many classes back then. He ran 1955, 56, 57 Chevys, old school stuff. 

"He has always been my idol and I was named after him. I always wanted to race because of him." 

Basso's initial car, which was McKay's first hornet car, had a hard time keeping up with some of the newer models but Basso had broader goals when he started. 

"It was way outdated and underpowered and I think I was twice as heavy as all my competitors but I was out there learning and having fun. And that is my big thing still," he said. "I'm still way under budget and I don't spend half of what the top five guys spend week-in and week-out on cars and motors."

The literal crash course he had at Macon Speedway showed Basso that some assumptions about race car driving aren't true. 

"I've learned that at Macon, it is not all about motor. You've got to be able to drive the car and put it where it needs to be," he said. "Some of the bigger tracks, it becomes more about motor and therefore I'm not as competitive. I've learned patience and I had an experienced driver tell me in my first year that I was a consistent driver. I hold my line and that was a big compliment for me and gave me some confidence."

Basso has built upon that confidence and currently sits third in points in the hornets division at Macon and in the United Midwestern Promoters (UMP) national sports compact points race, he is currently eighth. 

"My goal is to not miss a night at Macon," Basso said. "I want to stay up there in the points. At the start of the year, I said I wanted to be in the top 10 in points at both Macon and Lincoln. Now that I'm sitting in the top five, it has sort of changed my goal. I want to stay in that top five so I can't miss a night."

Basso will be in action again on Saturday at Macon as the Speedway also hosts the POWRi national midget and micro leagues during Speedweek. Racers from around the country will compete in league features on the 1/5-mile dirt oval. 

Basso keeps the racing tradition going as his Tyler, 22, will be on-hand, assisting with the car. 

"Tyler doesn't miss a race and my oldest son Scott and his wife Emily are also very supportive," Bill Basso said. "But 99% of the time, it is Tyler and I in the truck on the way to the track every Friday, Saturday or Sunday. He helps me at the track all the time and in the garage when he can."

Bill Basso is climbing the points rankings but he is still searching for that first feature checkered flag. 

"I hope I will get it someday but if I don't get it, I will keep going," he said. "I have a good time and I love the camaraderie and the sportsmanship at the tracks and I have met so many people through racing that I would never have known and it is pretty awesome. It is the thrill, it sounds like a cliche, but it is an escape. Once you strap into that car, everything else goes away. It doesn't matter if you are first or 15th, you escape reality for five or 10 minutes and you get to enjoy something you have always wanted to do."

PHOTOS: Herald & Review 100 at Macon Speedway

Contact Matthew Flaten at (217) 421-6968. Follow him on Twitter: @MattFlaten

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August 01, 2020 at 03:15AM
https://herald-review.com/sports/motor-sports/how-driver-bill-basso-took-the-wheel-for-the-first-time-at-44-in-the/article_4e54bdaa-d141-5b5b-989b-1228082eb064.html

How driver Bill Basso took the wheel for the first time at 44 in the hornets division - Herald & Review

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