BENICIA, Calif. – Less than two weeks ago on the last weekend in October, Billy Aton looked like a living relic of racing history.
The checkered flag had just waved on the NARC-King of the West Sprint Car event at Keller Auto Speedway in Hanford, Calif., but a special wingless race was set to follow.
While his fellow drivers stayed strapped in as their crews, plentiful in number, removed the wings and made adjustments, Aton unbuckled to help his team do the same and wrench away on his own car.
That level of effort became commonplace this year for Aton, who conquered the entire 21-race NARC-King of the West schedule.
Heading into the season, the small Bay Area operation had a mere nine starts spread across three years with the West Coast series that annually showcases the region’s top talent. Facing the state’s toughest competition each night proved challenging.
“Racing 20 times a year doesn’t seem like it’s a lot of races,” Aton said. “But when it’s King of the West races, every time you go you have to be ready to compete. Everyone is so fast at that level that if you miss by one inch it’s like missing it by a mile.”
Some of the names Aton battled on a nightly basis included Dominic Scelzi, Tim Kaeding, D.J. Netto, Bud Kaeding and Justin Sanders.
On top of being wildly talented, those drivers often brought strong, seasoned crews with some of the most notorious wrenches in the business each night to the track.
Aton entered the pit area with a team composed of just his dad, friend Dave and himself, all three of whom had very little experience at most of the 10 facilities the series visited.
“The only tracks I’d been to more than five times were Petaluma, Watsonville and Chico,” Aton revealed. “Each time you go to a new track you’re kind of behind the eight-ball. You’ve got a roundabout gear number to start with, but you’re going to at least change the gear one time, maybe twice. You kind of have your base setup you’re going to go there with, but you don’t really know if that’s what’s going to work or what’s going to best fast. So, you’re kind of going there knowing you’re going to change some stuff to make it work.
“Us being a smaller team without a paid crew chief our binder is growing,” Aton continued. “But we don’t have that binder already made, the changes, the setups, the tracks, the conditions. Ours grows every time we go, but it’s not already put together for us.”
As if the list of challenges wasn’t already long enough, the sometimes demanding NARC schedule also confronted Aton and company. This year’s calendar featured a handful of two-night shows and one grueling stretch of four races in four nights at four different tracks.
“When we had the two-day show and crashed a car at Watsonville and had to go to Placerville the next day, that’s kind of a stretch when you’re back up car is not all the way together, not a complete back up car,” Aton said. “We bent the frame, so we had to put a different car together for the back-to-back nights.
“Also, the Fastest Four Days (in Motorsports),” Aton continued. “We’re really not set up to go racing multiple days in a row, which made it a little bit of a struggle.”
Despite the myriad of obstacles, Aton’s diligence and driving led him to an impressive season and Rookie of the Year honors.
While Aton struggled in qualifying, he consistently demonstrated an ability to make the right adjustments throughout the night and move forward in the main event.
The Bill Aton Painting No. 26 had an average feature starting spot of 16th while Aton’s average feature result was 12.6. In 17 of the 21 A-mains this season, Aton finished in a better spot than he started.
Aton more than doubled his career top-10 tally with the series, collecting seven with some coming at tracks he’d never turned a lap on.
The highlight for the 26 team came in July at Santa Maria Raceway.
They unloaded and were fast right out of the trailer, timing in third quick. Aton took care of business winning the dash after the draw put him on the pole. In the feature, Aton held off Scelzi and led all 30 laps on his way to his first series victory.
The trio of Aton, his father and Dave stood in victory lane after topping the state’s best as a testament to the potential of commitment and hard work even in the face of discouraging odds. The triumph also served as a mid-season morale booster.
“Definitely getting a win, it keeps the spirits going for a couple months,” Aton said with a laugh. “It keeps the spirits high at least.”
At season’s end, Aton wound up sixth in points. For a team with limited funding and resources that encountered a variety of difficulties, 2021 was undoubtedly a success. The drivers making up the five spots ahead of him in the standings are all champions of the series.
“When your name is in that kind of company, you know you’re doing something right,” Aton said, smiling.
With a full campaign of competing with California’s best and a Rookie of the Year award under his belt, Aton aims for improvement in 2022. The team tentatively plans to follow the NARC-King of the West tour again, hoping the added experience of 2021 will lead to even better results.
“We’re definitely looking to move up and run top-five in points,” Aton said. “We definitely want to have a lot more podiums throughout the year now that we’ve seen all the tracks and we kind of know what to expect.”