PXM’s Vose Tastes Success At Dragstock, Ready For More In Norwalk

Billy Vose has a long history of success in Pro Extreme Motorcycle, including back-to-back world championships.

Starting with a new program with new ideas and a new teammate, Vose was very much unproven on his new path.

But just two races into his new foray, Vose is already making it look like a perfect fit.

Vose, now part of a two-bike team with Carlos Wilkerson, is riding a bike owned by Angie and T.T. Jones, and he already has one of the biggest ADRL wins of 2011.

At Rockingham in early September Vose did the seemingly unthinkable, beating Ashley Owens in the finals of Dragstock VIII. After the win, Vose now takes plenty of momentum into this weekend’s Summit Racing Equipment Ohio Drags V at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk.

“T.T. and Angie called me up and the way they felt was that I was the only who could beat Ashley,” Vose said. “With this newer bike, we were able to rectify all the issues and everything’s coming together.
“The program’s in its infancy, but the last two races, we’re very pleased with the results.”

That’s an understatement for a whole lot of reasons.

For one, nobody had touched Owens in 2011 until Vose got him on a holeshot in front of a huge crowd at Rockingham Dragway.

To that point, Owens was 22-0 on the year with four wins and a commanding points lead.

Just a round before facing Vose, Owens re-set his world record, going an unbelievable 3.96.

But Vose, who ran well all weekend, had a .018 reaction time and a run of 4.05, holding off Owens’ 3.99 by two feet.

The holeshot win was especially satisfying for Vose, but that doesn’t mean he’s satisfied.

“I prefer to be able to outperform on the light and in the E.T. I feel good about the win, but I’m not going to be happy until we’re at the top,” said Vose, who has 14 motorcycle world championships to his credit. “I know that’s where we can get if we stay on course.”

The course has been short but impressive thus far in 2011.

Since teaming up with T.T. and Angie Jones in August, Vose has been consistently in the 4.00s, going as quick as 4.03 (at the Speedtech U.S. Drags IV in Virginia) and put together a record .993 60-foot time. Vose even put together the fastest PXM run in history, going 181.54 miles per hour in qualifying at Rockingham.

He wasn’t able to replicate that and couldn’t back up the record, but Vose quickly found out why.

He had bottle issues with the bike, which hurt the MPH on the late part of the run.

“It damaged the engine and that’s why the mph in the back half dropped off. It would have been there, it would have been 3.99 to 4.00 those last two runs,” Vose said.
“I just had to work the front half of the track the best I could (in Rockingham) and not sacrifice the engine.
“Given the time before Norwalk, I’ve got everything ready, so we’ll see. The numbers are there and I know it will come with the consistency we’ve already shown.”

Vose also knows Owens and his Fast by Gast team will be going to Norwalk highly motivated.

“The big red one, that’s the bike to beat,” Vose said. “Their whole crew does a fantastic job and we’re just going to do the best we can. We’ve got two races with this bike in the ADRL and we’re just hoping to keep getting better.”

With the way Vose has progressed, the Ohio Drags could be incredibly interesting, even if Owens will likely wrap up the world championship at the race.

Vose, though, wasn’t sure he would even be making the trip until late last week.

T.T. Jones had trouble breathing during Dragstock and was checked into a hospital after the race.

Jones was diagnosed with a collapsed lung and then suffered from complications from the collapsed lung after a procedure.

But Angie told Vose late Thursday that they would be going to Norwalk after T.T.’s short stay in the hospital, which is great news and also sets the stage for a remarkable weekend.

Vose’s big weekend at Rockingham skyrocketed him to seventh in points, but it’s only 120 points more than No. 11 rider Charlie Prophit, meaning plenty of riders could knock him out of the “Battle of the Belts” this weekend.

It will make for a memorable race and Vose simply remains thankful for an opportunity that’s already proven worthwhile.

“T.T. and Angie have done so much for this class, helping everyone out. They’re just great people,” Vose said.
“At Norwalk, sixth, seventh and eighth could be moved around all over the place. I just want to remain in that top eight.”

(Photos by ADRL/Richards)