Billy Boat

Billy Boat
Billy Boat (right) preparing tires for his son Chad's sprint car in 2007
Nationality	United States
Born	(1966-02-02) February 2, 1966 Phoenix, Arizona
Indy Racing League IndyCar Series
Years active	1996-2003
Teams	A. J. Foyt Enterprises PDM Racing Team Pelfrey Beck Motorsports Curb Agajanian Performance Group Panther Racing
Starts	75
Wins	1
Poles	9
Fastest laps	0
Best finish	4th in 2001
Previous series
1986-1987	Indy Lights

William "Billy" Leonard Boat (born February 2, 1966 in Phoenix, Arizona) is a former American open wheel driver who raced in the Indy Racing League.

Boat is a graduate of Arizona State University. He began his career in USAC where he won 11 straight Western Series races on his way to the 1995 championship. He won the Turkey Night Grand Prix midget car race in 1995. He was a three-peat winner in the event after winning in 1996 and 1997. He made his first IRL start in 1997 Indianapolis 500 driving for A.J. Foyt Enterprises. In 1998 he won 6 poles, including 5 in a row, both league records, and won his first race at Texas Motor Speedway. It was his only IRL victory. He is one of the few drivers with the distinction to have started from both the pole (1998) and final 33rd (2000, 2001) starting position in the Indy 500. He has not appeared in an IRL race since the 2003 Indianapolis 500.

In 1986 he founded Billy Boat Performance Exhaust, a company that makes performance exhaust systems for luxury and high performance cars, light trucks, and high performance watercraft.

Racing record

American open–wheel

(key)

IndyCar

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Rank	Points
1996	Pagan	WDW	PHX	INDY DNQ														NC	-
1996–1997	Foyt	NHM	LVS	WDW	PHX	INDY 7	TXS 2		CLT 2	NH2 8	LV2 23							18th	151
	PDM							PPIR 19
1998	Foyt	WDW 21	PHX 3	INDY 23	TXS 1	NHM 21	DOV	CLT	PPIR 9	ATL 12	TX2 14	LVS 26						13th	194
1999	Foyt	WDW 9	PHX 4	CLT C	INDY 3	TXS 24	PPIR 24	ATL 10	DOV 4	PPI2 13	LVS 22	TX2 9						12th	204
2000	Pelfrey	WDW 9	PHX 6	LVS 7		TXS 23	PPIR 18	ATL 8	KTY 18	TX2 3								10th	181
	Foyt				INDY 15
2001	Beck	PHX 5	HMS 13	ATL 14	INDY 9	TXS 5	PPIR 4	RIR 18	KAN 9	NSH 2	KTY 6	STL 6	CHI 12	TX2 12				4th	313
2002	Agajanian/Boat	HMS 16	PHX 8	FON 18	NZR 8	INDY 18	TXS 7	PPIR 14	RIR 22	KAN 9	NSH 14	MIS 14	KTY 19	STL 23	CHI 19	TX2 24		13th	225
2003	Panther	HMS	PHX	MOT	INDY 32	TXS	PPIR	RIR	KAN	NSH	MIS	STL	KTY	NZR	CHI	FON	TX2	37th	1

Indy 500 results

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Team
1996	Reynard	Ford-Cosworth	Failed to Qualify		Pagan
1997	Dallara	Oldsmobile	22nd	7th	Foyt
1998	Dallara	Oldsmobile	1st	23rd	Foyt
1999	Dallara	Oldsmobile	3rd	3rd	Foyt
2000	G-Force	Oldsmobile	31st	15th	Foyt
2001	Dallara	Oldsmobile	32nd	9th	CURB Agajanian
2002	Dallara	Chevrolet	23rd	18th	Agajanian/Boat
2003	Dallara	Chevrolet	29th	32nd	Panther

www.billyboat.com/