5/29/2016
Mike Botzek Offers Special Billy Anderson Memorial Award
Mike Botzek of Princeton has been a car owner and driver during his racing career, and each year the Billy Anderson Memorial race holds special meaning for Mike. Billy Anderson used to drive the B1st sprinter owned by Mike Botzek back in the 1990s. Mike currently owns one of the engines for the B1st Seidenkranz Brothers racing team with driver Tony Norem. Norem won the first-ever Billy Anderson Memorial while driving for Mike back in 2002.
When Billy Anderson was driving for Mike Botzek, Mike indicated that Billy never really liked starting up front. Most drivers relish the idea of a prime starting spot. Billy would tell Mike he wanted to pass cars, and starting up front generally meant it would be a while before lapped traffic came into play and he could start passing cars. With this thought in mind, Mike Botzek is offering a rather interesting and unique award for the 15th Annual Billy Anderson Memorial to be held at the Princeton Speedway on Friday night June 3. In the UMSS winged sprint car division, a special $500 bonus award will be paid to the driver who passes the most cars. Now under normal circumstances, that typically would be called a hard charger award. That will be part of the award, but to add some additional interest and a unique type of feature to this special award, lapped traffic will also count in the calculation of the bonus. A driver will earn one point for each car he/she passes in their move forward from their original starting spot AND one point for each lapped car that is passed. Passing points for this special bonus award will be earned in ALL three rounds of racing including the heat races, Challenge races and the 25 lap Billy Anderson Memorial feature race. That will make for some very interesting point totals, as a driver who starts near the front will still have a chance to pass (lap) a number of cars near the tail end of the field while drivers who start deeper on the grid will not only have a chance to earn points by advancing forward but, depending on circumstances, may also end up earning points while lapping cars.
The award will be named the Billy Anderson Memorial Passing Award. Should the top finisher in the feature event also earn this award, that driver has a chance to take home a $2,000 pay day. Other drivers finishing a bit further down in each of the races they participate in during the evening also have a decent chance to earn this award by moving forward as many positions as they can, so it truly has the potential for a fair number of drivers to be in contention for this special bonus award being offered by Mike Botzek.
Princeton Speedway is a high-banked 1/4 mile dirt oval where the sprint cars often times get into lapped traffic early on during green flag runs. A full 20 car starting field is expected for the Billy Anderson Memorial. The Anderson family, Princeton Speedway, and the UMSS encourage each of you to come out and enjoy a fast-paced evening of sprint car racing in remembrance of Billy Anderson, his passion for the sport, and his desire to simply have fun by being able to pass cars.
Article Credit: Greg Parent, UMSS Media Director
