11/12/2024
Bill Balog
Knoxville & Huset's Highlight Bill Balog's Rookie Season with the World of Outlaws Sprint car Series in 2024
Rubicon, Wisconsin (November, 2024) – After twenty years of sprint car racing, ten IRA Sprint Car Series Championships, over 150 wins and two years competing with the Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions tour, Bill Balog and B Squared Motorsports stepped up to compete for a full season with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series in 2024, finishing the season 8th in Team Owner / Driver Points with the series.
Following a successful 2023 highlighted by nine feature event wins (two ASCoC, six IRA, one Wilmot Raceway), two Simpson QuickTime awards with the World of Outlaws and track records at Wilmot Raceway and Sycamore Speedway. Bill Balog and the Anderson’s Maple Syrup #17B competed against the Greatest Show on Dirt in 2024 covering 19 states and capturing 33 Top 10’s, 11 Top 5’s, quick time at King’s Speedway and three podiums during his 2024 World of Outlaws Rookie campaign.
The 2024 season kicked off at Volusia Speedway Park during Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals and saw Bill Balog compete at a high level out of the gate, qualifying for the dash and scoring an eighth place finish in his World of Outlaws debut. The team would be challenged over the next few races at Volusia but bounced back earning another top 10 in Florida and three more in Texas highlighted by a 4th place run at Kennedale Speedway Park as B Squared motorsports was earning their way up and down the road with the Greatest Show on Dirt.
Bill and the Anderson’s Maple Syrup #17B had a strong April as the tour made their annual springtime stop at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55, leading 10 laps in the spring classic and capturing two top 5 finishes over the weekend on the bullring that offers some of the most intense racing of the year. The team followed up the successful weekend winning the Toyota Racing Dash, leading the field and capturing a runner up finish at Paducah International Raceway.
“It’s awesome,” Balog said of his night at Paducah. “This has been just an awesome adventure. I’m as surprised as you are some of these nights. The car has been good, and we keep getting greedier and greedier. I didn’t really have anything for Sheldon there, but we were able to race hard and hang on to second.”
The team put together a strong night from start to finish capturing a heat race win and their second podium of the season at the Attica Sprint Car Showdown in Mid-May. The team then made a stop at Fremont Speedway in Ohio where Balog put together an impressive charge through field from 18th to 4th earning the night's hard charger. In front of the hometown Wisconsin fans, the Anderson’s Maple Syrup #17B had great speed at Beaver Dam, WI but was not able to duplicate the 2016 World of Outlaws Jim Boyd Memorial feature win, capturing another top ten run for the team.
The 63rd Knoxville Nationals provided the largest stage, toughest competition and season highlight for the team as Bill led 12 laps in his preliminary night feature, capturing a top five finish and locking him into his first “granddaddy of them all” Knoxville Nationals A-Main feature event.
“It felt great to lead laps at Knoxville, it’s a difficult place to race, it’s been hard for me in the past so having success there was a big confidence boost for the team”. said Balog about the Anderson’s Maple Syrup B squared squad.
The North Pole Nightmare carried that momentum into a successful weekend at Huset’s High Bank Nationals, capturing a fan favorite podium finish after battling for 40 tough laps on the big stage at Huset’s Speedway.
“This is huge for us,” Balog said, “It was a great three days, we had a really good package (Triple X Chassis and HP Engines) that allowed us to race up front all weekend, anytime you can podium with the World of Outlaws and pay the bills it feels great”.
As the season progresses and after struggling at Williams Grove Speedway much of the year and battling the Posse, the Anderson’s Maple Syrup #17B had a breakout performance at the National Open, grabbing the night’s KSE Racing Hard Charger with a massive 27th to ninth drive. “We had an unbelievable car in the feature. We needed to make some big changes to try to get better for that final race, it felt great to get it done with a top ten.” said Bill, the third winningest sprint car driver in the last 15 years.
Bill and the B Squared motorsports finished their initial World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series season 8th in Team Owner / Driver Points. We need to thank Hans Lein, Wisecup family, Russ Wetenkamp, Chase Fletcher, Jim and Sandra, John Degnitz, Coleman family, Wayne Corini, Brent Zirbel, Patrick Poor, Billy Kreutz, Randy DeMaster, John Boneske, Bill Hogan, Chad Melis, Rory Neuhaus and Ron Routh.
Thank you to Steve Anderson, Kevin and Lynette Trongeau, Amy and Chris Klemko, Ryan Buesser, and Scott Teunissen at KSI. These people helped us get the things we needed to start a real World of Outlaws team; a shop, transportation and motors.
In addition to Dennis Gregg, there are a bunch of crew members that helped throughout the season including, Matt Wisse, Susan Gregg, Matt and Kahla Miller, John Walters, Ben Kruse, Renderman family, Nick Yinger, Grant Boyum, Dave Nissen, Elton McGahan, and Kevin Hinich.
“I’ve always wanted to race at this level. It takes a lot of resources and a lot of people to get full results. I’m pretty proud of being 8th place in points when you look at who you’re competing against; the legendary teams and budgets. I want to thank Natalie Klemko for creating great social media content and merchandise, pushing me forward and supporting me racing at a national level. I also want to thank my mom and dad, I couldn’t have done this by myself.” said a thankful Bill Balog.
Bill and the B Squared Motorsports Team will announce their 2025 Schedule via Social Media in December 2024.
For 2025 partnership opportunities please contact: billbalogracing@gmail.com
Press Release:
Chad Melis
Turn It Up Media
www.turnitup.marketing
Submitted By: Bill Balog
Article Media
