Shelbyville's Bill Christie had never raced on a road course. Although the 22-year-old has an impressive oval track record in his three years behind the wheel, getting onto a 1.3 mile road course in a welter-weight race car was a page he really wanted to add to his resume. Christie won the National Points Championship in the Baby Grand division in 2000. He had even managed to win four out of six Pure Stock races he entered at Nashville Speedway USA when he drove for Murfreesboro owners Chris and Phil Allius last year. Moving to the SuperTruck division this season, Christie had run into some bad luck. Mechanical woes and too much bent sheet metal has put his young career into a slight spin. The talented driver needed a race to build some confidence and he took full advantage of the inaugural road race at Nashville Superspeedway Sunday sponsored by NASA (National Auto Sport Association) to notch a much needed win. "We didn't get to practice much on Saturday because of the rain," said Christie after the dominating victory. "Some of the Baby Grand drivers here today have road racing experience and we know nothing about it. "We had an oval track car we set up to race on the road. I guess we came up with the right combination." Christie took the lead on lap three of the 18-lap event. After moving through the field from his back of the pack starting spot, Christie said he was planning to just follow the leader if he was able to get into second place. "I figured if I could get behind the first-place car, I would just wait and try to make my move later in the race," explained Christie. "But going in the first left-hand turn, he got lose and I went to the inside and made the pass on the next right-hander. It paid off to get by the leader earlier than I had planned because I was able to get the car into some cooler air. "I didn't know if I could do this road course but it turned out to be a good run. We just kept plugging and everything turned out okay." Christie's future is uncertain. Plans to continue the SuperTruck maybe put on hold due to the cost of the division. "There is a lot tricks of the trade to race at Nashville," explained Christie. "It costs a lot to run the trucks and when you add the problems we have had, it just makes it worse. "But I do hope to get something going in the future. You can win, win, win in the Baby Grands but if you're planning on moving up, you need to win in Nashville. I hope to find something and keep moving forward in my career. "Maybe find someone that needs a driver in the Late Models. That's the division I really would like to get into."
