34racrs_wife
07-07-2007, 01:41 PM
From the Bureau County Republican 7/6/07:
PRINCETON — The racing bug bit Kewanee’s Ray Bollinger when he was a little kid. He would go over to Rick Barto’s shop, in Bradford, and hang around while Barto worked on his racer. Bollinger said, “I knew that when I got older I was going to drive a race car, too.”
Several years later, Barto called Bollinger and let him know about the new Hornet class that was being developed. With help from Barto and Dave Roggy, he started his racing career in the Hornet division five years ago. The car he started out with was an ’87 Honda Accord. It was actually the car he drove while he was in high school.
Eight years later, Bollinger found the car and converted it into a Hornet race car. He had a successful first year with the Hornet. He won one feature at Bureau County Speedway in Princeton and four at Bluegrass in Iowa.
Ray decided to move into the Street Stock class the following year. When the car he was going to buy didn’t become available, he started looking at modifieds. After looking at several cars he found one to buy.
The open wheel modified cars are probably one of the most difficult for a rookie to drive, but Bollinger caught on quickly. His most thrilling win was actually his second feature win. The first feature win came when the two leaders crashed, which left him in the position to take the win. The second feature win was a race to the finish, which is the most exciting way to win a race.
Bollinger is 31 years old and is a correctional officer at the prison in Kewanee. He and his wife, Kay, have four children, ages 15, 14,12 and 4. This soft spoken man spent many years working as a welder. This enables him to custom build his own car frames and rear ends. By fabricating the parts he needs he is able to save several thousand dollars a year.
A couple of years ago his wife Kay took her turn behind the wheel in the ladies hornet races. She loved doing it, but decided to leave the racing to her husband. Their kids are getting to the age when they would like to start racing too. Ray said, “We can’t really afford two cars now, but eventually I would like to be like Marty Thompson and have my kids racing with me,”
Bollinger, who has the largest following at the Speedway of any driver, always keeps his black, green and yellow modified looking sharp. Although he has Paxton Fainting Farms painted on the rear of his car, it’s not because he is prone to keeling over. He just has one of the most unusual sponsors at the track. Joe and Sherrill Paxton own the Paxton Famous Fainting Farm where they raise Fainting goats. Although they call them fainting goats, they actually have a muscle contraction when they are startled that causes them to look like they are fainting. They even brought a couple of goats to one of the early season race nights.
Bollinger, who is the modified points leader at the Speedway, said that in his case, his sponsors give him more than monetary help. They all chip in and help him work on his car during the week and on race nights. Mike Galli of Factory Tire Outlet, Joe Paxton, Gary Kostman and Brad Nuding are all part of the crew that help make him a successful driver.
So far this year, Bollinger has taken two feature wins at LaSalle Speedway and one at Bureau County Speedway. Although the modified class didn’t run Friday night at BCS, Bollinger was still suited up and racing. He ran his old hornet car, taking it to a fifth-place finish.
PRINCETON — The racing bug bit Kewanee’s Ray Bollinger when he was a little kid. He would go over to Rick Barto’s shop, in Bradford, and hang around while Barto worked on his racer. Bollinger said, “I knew that when I got older I was going to drive a race car, too.”
Several years later, Barto called Bollinger and let him know about the new Hornet class that was being developed. With help from Barto and Dave Roggy, he started his racing career in the Hornet division five years ago. The car he started out with was an ’87 Honda Accord. It was actually the car he drove while he was in high school.
Eight years later, Bollinger found the car and converted it into a Hornet race car. He had a successful first year with the Hornet. He won one feature at Bureau County Speedway in Princeton and four at Bluegrass in Iowa.
Ray decided to move into the Street Stock class the following year. When the car he was going to buy didn’t become available, he started looking at modifieds. After looking at several cars he found one to buy.
The open wheel modified cars are probably one of the most difficult for a rookie to drive, but Bollinger caught on quickly. His most thrilling win was actually his second feature win. The first feature win came when the two leaders crashed, which left him in the position to take the win. The second feature win was a race to the finish, which is the most exciting way to win a race.
Bollinger is 31 years old and is a correctional officer at the prison in Kewanee. He and his wife, Kay, have four children, ages 15, 14,12 and 4. This soft spoken man spent many years working as a welder. This enables him to custom build his own car frames and rear ends. By fabricating the parts he needs he is able to save several thousand dollars a year.
A couple of years ago his wife Kay took her turn behind the wheel in the ladies hornet races. She loved doing it, but decided to leave the racing to her husband. Their kids are getting to the age when they would like to start racing too. Ray said, “We can’t really afford two cars now, but eventually I would like to be like Marty Thompson and have my kids racing with me,”
Bollinger, who has the largest following at the Speedway of any driver, always keeps his black, green and yellow modified looking sharp. Although he has Paxton Fainting Farms painted on the rear of his car, it’s not because he is prone to keeling over. He just has one of the most unusual sponsors at the track. Joe and Sherrill Paxton own the Paxton Famous Fainting Farm where they raise Fainting goats. Although they call them fainting goats, they actually have a muscle contraction when they are startled that causes them to look like they are fainting. They even brought a couple of goats to one of the early season race nights.
Bollinger, who is the modified points leader at the Speedway, said that in his case, his sponsors give him more than monetary help. They all chip in and help him work on his car during the week and on race nights. Mike Galli of Factory Tire Outlet, Joe Paxton, Gary Kostman and Brad Nuding are all part of the crew that help make him a successful driver.
So far this year, Bollinger has taken two feature wins at LaSalle Speedway and one at Bureau County Speedway. Although the modified class didn’t run Friday night at BCS, Bollinger was still suited up and racing. He ran his old hornet car, taking it to a fifth-place finish.