(Steve Lafond - Tear-Off Heaven Fotos)
My name is Bill Wright, and I’m an open wheel addict! I have compiled a lot of stuff over the last 25 years as a freelance journalist in the sport…columns, stories, race reports, results, audio interviews, etc.! A number of people have been pushing me towards starting a website so fans could access these resources.
Three things were really important for me in building this site: 1. The site will be FREE for everyone (our partners keep it going); 2. Fan contributions from race events will be a big part of the site; 3. The content will be unique and frequently updated.
I’ve already spent hours upon hours loading content on this site, but I’ve only scratched the surface. The site is perpetually in a state of update with both current material and material from the past!
The only way we can do this is through our partners! Racing fans are the best when it comes to supporting our partners, so thank you for clicking on our banners and supporting those who support us!
Navigating the Site…
“Search” and Tags
If you’re looking articles for a particular driver, sanction, track, year or event, you’ll like the “Tags” we have set up on the “Search” page. Simply choose the items you’re looking for and the site will access them for you! Articles are tagged by year, track, race winner or driver focused on, sanction, event and sometimes by the writer. For example, if you tag “Knoxville Nationals” and “2010”, it will bring the results and stories from the 2010 Knoxville Nationals to the top of your page.
Other sources of historic results and stories can be found in the "Links" section.
“From the Stands”
Everything started for me contributing my results and opinions from the stands, and this section is dedicated to fan contributions from the racetrack. It will focus on not only results but fan experiences from across the country, and hopefully, around the world! If you’re interested in being a contributor, drop me an e-mail (sprntcar@hotmail.com)! We’re looking for contributors from anywhere the dirt flies, and we hope to cover the open wheel world!
Interviews
Included will be interviews from both the present and the past featuring participants in open wheel racing. Kris Krohn, Knoxville Raceway videographer, and I plan on doing a number of interviews, but there will also be some audio interviews from both the past and present as well. We will be focusing on in depth interviews focusing on some of the unique personalities found in open wheel racing.
Columns
In addition to my columns, look for contributions from Knoxville Raceway Hall of Famer Bob Wilson, the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum, entertaining driver blogs from Brandon McLain and many more in this section!
Bill W Media News and Stories
Stories, Press Releases and News from Bill W Media. Count on weekly driver news from Terry McCarl, Brian Brown, Wayne Johnson, Brady Bacon, Bryan Clauson, Mark Dobmeier, Brad Loyet, Jerrod Hull, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Kaley Gharst, Brandon Wimmer, Josh Schneiderman, TKS Motorsports, Jimmy Davies Racing and more! In addition, find race results and stories from tracks and sanctions I have done p.r. for.
Hopefully, you’ll enjoy OpenWheel101.com as much as I have putting it together! If you’re interested in being a contributor or a marketing partner, drop me a line at sprntcar@hotmail.com today!
About Me
My name is Bill Wright, and I’ve been an open wheel fan my entire life. A little over twenty-five years ago, I began lending my results and stories as a fan in the stands at Knoxville Raceway to various message boards, Allan Holland asked me to be his first correspondent at a little website known as Hoseheads.com.
Things slowly progressed from there and I’ve been blessed to write for many publications including FlatOut Magazine, National Speed Sport News, Dirt Digest and countless others! About ten years ago, Terry McCarl suggested I start doing public relations for his race team. That resulted in being a correspondent for around two dozen open wheel teams over the years spanning just about every sanctioning body from coast to coast and Australia.
In the early 2000’s, I had the chance to broadcast races locally at Knoxville on KNIA/KRLS, occasionally on the Sprint Car Network (SCN) and finally with my buddy, “Hot Rod” Pattison on the American Dirt Network (ADN) and Hosehead’s Radio. I’ve also had a chance to announce for a number of sanctions including the Sprint Invaders, MOWA, IRA, ASCS, NSL and at a number of venues across the country.
I’ve also been working for Knoxville Raceway for around twenty years now in various capacities, and it is a blessing to be a small part of what goes on at my home track. One of the big things I wanted to do when taking over for Track Historian and Hall of Famer Bob Wilson several years back was to get as many results as I could on the track’s website. Currently we’ve got results for Knoxville all the way back into the 1970’s and we’re still working backwards. The history section there is extensive and the big thanks goes to Bob’s passion. He saved a lot of the history we have at Knoxville from others who didn’t care if it ended up in the dumpster. It’s a lot of fun going back through that history and transcribing it for all to enjoy.
In 2017, I took over the big shoes of Tom Schmeh at the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum in Knoxville. Being the Museum Coordinator/Curator there is truly a dream job and those of us who work there are truly blessed.
Hopefully, you find www.OpenWheel101.com useful and entertaining!
Send your feedback to me at sprntcar@hotmail.com.