WEASE MASTERS NASHVILLE 500 TOUR EVENT
July 29, 2023 - Nashville, Tennessee - Billy Wease picked up his first career sprint car feature victory Saturday night with his win in the 500 Sprint Car Tour presented by Auto Value Bumper to Bumper Parts Stores ‘ProDoor Manufacturing 40’ at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway. Wease led wire-to-wire to claim victory in the first-ever visit by the series to the speedway.
Wease was close to capturing his first series on two occasions last season only to see victory slip through his hands in the closing laps. He would not let this happen Saturday night. He took the lead at the drop of the green and fended off early race challenges from Kody Swanson and Bobby Santos III, before setting into a rhythm.
As the laps began to wind down, Santos III and Kody Swanson reeled Wease in, and created a three-car parade at the front of the field. The duo was unable to mount a series challenge despite Wease getting slowed by lapped cars in the closing laps of the race. Wease would beat Santos III to the stripe by 0.149 seconds for the victory.
In victory lane, Wease explained he wasn’t about to let another victory allude him in the closing laps. “Man, this is so cool” a happy Wease explained. “To come to Nashville and do it here is pretty cool. I really like running these big half miles, they really suit my style. It’s pretty special, and to beat out my Brother-in-law (Santos III) makes it even more special”.
Billy Wease with team in Victory Lane - Jack Kessler
“I figured they (Santos and Swanson) would be there at the end. I thought I could hold them off. But there at the end I was struggling to get off the corners. I kind of burnt the tires up a little bit. I saw the flagman give us two to go and we were catching lapped cars. I was thinking I really hope this don’t happen to me again. I knew if I could get off the corners good it would be tough for those guys to make a run on me. The last lap I got a pretty good run off, but I spun the tires. It almost cost me. I got lucky and held Bobby off”.
The 36-year-old former Penske Racing development driver and 2006 Turkey Night Grand Prix winner had surprisingly never won a sprint car feature event of any kind before Saturday night. He can now add his name to the 500 Sprint Car Tour winners list.
The series now finds itself idle in the month of August. The next event for the series will come September 9 when the series makes its first-ever appearance at Lorain Raceway Park in South Amherst, Ohio.
Finish:
1. 80-Billy Weasy; 2. 22a-Bobby Santos III; 3. 77-Kody Swanson; 4. 67-Kyle O’Gara; 5. 1-Dakoda Armstrong; 6. 56-Tyler Roahrig; 7. 24-Jackson Macenko; 8. 7c-Caleb Armstrong; 9. 55-Taylor Ferns; 10. 99-Dalton Armstrong; 11. 26-Kaylee Bryson; 12. 53-Justin Harper; 13. 71v-Brian Vaughn; 14. 74-Tony Main; 15. 29-Jake Trainor; 16. 27-Brian Gerster; 17. 4-Cory Butler; 18. 11-Tom Paterson; 19. 71m-TJ Moore
