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By Angie Mayes MTRN Editor Bill Christie,
25, is a two-time National Champion. But he’s also a National
Champion without a ride in 2005. Oh sure, he’s had the #3 Baby Grand – owned
by Mark Hyjek of MHE2 Motorsports – at Music City Motorplex (MCM) this year,
but that’s not where he planned to be. “We weren’t planning on
racing the Baby Grand any more,” he said recently. “I thought I did all I
could do in it last year. We worked hard on a Craftsman Truck Series deal
over the winter and when it fell apart, this is the first time in six years I
don’t have a full-time ride in anything. So I got back in the Baby Grand just
for the seat time. I’m hoping to secure some type of ride in the SuperTruck
or Late Model series. “We put all of our time
into this deal and didn’t work on anything else over the winter, so we’re
left with nothing. Mark (Hyjek) asked me to come out and run his Baby
Grand…he’s done a lot of marketing and getting sponsors for me. This is one
of those deals that we were wanting to run some Hooters Pro Cup and Craftsman
Truck Series races and then do a full season in the trucks the following
year, and it fell apart at the last minute.” Last season -- driving for
MHE2 Motorsports -- he broke free of the weekly track routine to take to the
Baby Grand touring series once again. Along with being the National Champion
for the second time (he also won in 2002), he broke the Indianapolis Raceway
Park (IRP) track record set by NASCAR driver Carl Edwards in 2003 (24.36
seconds). Then he broke his own record. That night he happened to set the
third fastest lap time out of all the divisions. Christie had five poles,
five wins, six Top 5s and seven Top 10s. “It
was very special to break Carl’s record,” he said of his feat last year. “It
assured me that I still have the ability to race at that level if I have the
opportunity to. Before last year, I got down on my self because I couldn’t
excel out of that division, but then I was able to go out there and run as
well or better than some who’s as established as Carl, it boosted my self
confidence as a driver.” In
the past, Christie has raced for an owner – Dwight Laxton of West Plains, Mo.
– who owned the car that Edwards had driven before. “That’s
how I met and became friends with Carl,” he said. “Two years ago Carl and I
were in the same spot. He got the break and so far, I haven’t. Dwight
took me on last year and was the crew chief for me, hoping that by him
helping us out, we’d have a shot at something bigger. We broke several track
records last year.” His
friendship with Edwards had grown has been great, he said, noting that
Edwards “gives me encouragement, keeps me going. Before he made it he’d drive
to tracks and live in his car. His family didn’t have any money either. He
just keeps telling me to keep trying.” Christie talks
with Edwards once a month and was lucky enough to have an interview with
Bobby Hamilton before the season started, thanks to Edwards. “It was a good
talk, Bobby talked like he’d like to work me into a crew position, to start
with,” he said. “I may try to test with him when he tests the trucks.” That’s why he
hasn’t pushed racing at Nashville. He may race some there this season to get
seat time, and his experiences there in the past have been good ones but he
admits to having a “mom and pop organization.” “I don’t have
near the funding I need to race with those guys,” he said of the competition
at MCM. “I feel like I’m ready to move into the touring division and not run
the same track every week, so I’m not currently pursuing anything at
Nashville. I like going to new tracks every week.” Still, he
said, if given the opportunity, he’d welcome the chance to drive a SuperTruck
or Late Model again. “The really
great thing about racing Baby Grands is they’re economical to buy and run,”
he said. “They’re very inexpensive to start with, versus a Legends car, and
the adjustments on them are similar to a big car. The chassis feels the same
and it’s a good training ground to move up to a bigger car.” All
throughout his racing career, Christie has always driven for someone else.
His family was never involved in racing and “don’t have the money to support
me in it. It makes it a whole lot harder. A lot of guys have a lot of money
and that helps a whole lot.” Starting out
in the Challenger Dwarf division, he was the champion at Twin Fountains in
1998. In 1999, he was the Baby Grand Stock Car Association (BGSCA) National
Rookie of the Year, finishing ninth in the National Points, capturing 32 Top
5’s (the most of any other driver), 12 wins (tied for the most wins) and was
the BGSCA Champion at Riverview Speedway. In 2000, he
was the BGSCA National Champion and was the “Most Consistent” with the
highest points average, had the Most Wins (14) and the Most Top 5’s (21). By 2001, he
became the BGSCA Road Course Champion at Nashville Superspeedway (NSS) with
five wins and a track record on the 1.8-mile course (1:08.96 min.). In the mean
time, he raced some Pure Stock races at MCM and won four of the six races he
entered. That was his first time at MCM. “I realized
that I needed to be in a higher division, but it takes money and a good
sponsor to do that,” he said. He moved to the SuperTruck
division in 2002 (he also raced in the division in 2003) and finished eighth
in the points and was the runner-up for Rookie-of-the-Year title. In 2003, he also broke out
of the stock car circuit and attended the USAC Midget Testing and Race at
Phoenix International Raceway. Among the things he took part in was an
introductory test and race of Midget and Silver Crown Cars with three-time
National Champion, Jimmy Sills. “There was a
major difference in the driving style,” he said. “It was like day and night.
The guy I drove for owned KSE Racing products and made power steering
components for Sprint Cars. He pulled some strings and got Christie into Silver Crown and Midget Cars in Texas. Christie drove faster
than Sills – in a back to back competition. That same year, he also
tied Edwards’ track record at IRP in a Baby Grand (24.605 seconds). In total, before this year
begins, he has 46 wins, 84 Top 5’s and 100 Top 10’s in 116 races. Quite
impressive for someone who’s been in the racing world for just a short time.
And the list of track’s he’s raced at is just as impressive. In his Baby
Grand, he has raced at NSS; Volusia County Speedway in Daytona Beach; IRP;
St. Augustine (Fla.) Speedway; I-44 Speedway in Lebanon Mo.; Kings Park
Speedway in Regina, Canada; Riverview Speedway; Twin Fountains; Anderson
(Ind.) Speedway and Erie (PA) Speedway. Although Christie would like to race full-time, Christie’s feet are
grounded in reality. He received a B.A. degree in Financial Institutions
Management from MTSU in 2002 and is working on his M.B.A. “My step
father is the President of a bank and that’s what drew my interest,” he said.
“I went to school to get a degree so I’d have something to fall back on if my
career in racing didn’t come through.” Bill
Christie has made his mark in racing. If he can’t find a full-time ride this
year, he plans to spend a good part of the season working as a mentor to
Tyler Brown, 19 of Cookeville. “He
ran with me (at MCM in mid-March) and I showed him a few things about the
track and he picked up two-tenths of a second,” he said. “After that, he
asked me if I’d help him. I’ve watched him progress. If I don’t race this
year, I’ll go and help him.” But
still, Christie’s hoping that his contacts and expertise will come through
for him and he’ll soon catch a ride for the rest of the season. “I
wish I knew how to get a ride,” he said. “It’s not like interviewing for a
job where you interview and then do the job. You have to know someone on the
inside. I’ve sent my resume out to a lot of teams, just asking for a test.
But I’ve never heard anything back from them. Carl recently told me that
Roush had a meeting and told his people ‘if you have the resume of anyone
over 25, throw it away. I’m not interested.’” Christie
is ready to move “into anything on wheels right now. I’d love to race open
wheel or a road course. I love the road course because it’s a lot more
challenging than racing in ovals. You have 20-30 different corners on the
same track. You have to down shift and up shift constantly. I talked to Carl
about it. He feels the same way. He’d take a road course any day over a
circle track. I’d love to get a ride in a road course race –I’m not in this
for the money. I do it cause I love to race.” To get in touch with Christie, call 931-703-0111 (cell),
931-680-5151 (home) or 931-364-7677 (work). His website is www.billchristie.com. |
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