William Leonard Boat (born February 2, 1966) is an American former

open-wheel An open-wheel car is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have their wheels below the body or inside fend ...

driver who raced in the

Indy Racing League IndyCar, LLC (stylized as INDYCAR), is an auto racing Governing body, sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization sanctions two Auto racing, racing series: the premier IndyCar Serie ...

Racing career

Boat 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 The Automotive Racing Products Turkey Night Grand Prix is an annual race of midget cars. It is the third oldest race in the United States behind the Indianapolis 500 and the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. It has been held on Thanksgiving ni ...

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 the

1997 Indianapolis 500 The 81st Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, on May 25–27, 1997. Rain pushed the race from Sunday, May 25, to Monday, May 26, and then halted the race after only fifteen laps had been completed. ...

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 Texas Motor Speedway (formerly known as Texas International Raceway from September to December 1996) is a quad-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. It has hosted various major races since its inaugura ...

. It was his only official IRL victory. (He appeared to have won the same race in the 1996-97 season, but a scoring error meant he finished second). 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 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...

. He has not appeared in an IRL race since the 2003 Indianapolis 500.

Personal life

Boat is a graduate of

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

. In 1986 he founded Billy Boat Performance Exhaust, a company that makes performance

exhaust systems An exhaust system is used to guide reaction exhaust gases away from a controlled combustion inside an engine or stove. The entire system conveys burnt gases from the engine and includes one or more exhaust pipes. Depending on the overall syste ...

for luxury and high performance cars, light trucks, and high performance watercraft. Boat has four children, with three girls and one boy. In 2014, Boat's son

Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...

began competing in the

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

Nationwide Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

, driving a

family-owned A family business is a commercial organization in which decision-making is influenced by multiple generations of a family, related by blood, marriage or adoption, who has both the ability to influence the vision of the business and the willingn ...

No. 84 Chevrolet.

Motorsports career results

American open–wheel racing results

( key)

Indy Lights

IndyCar Series

Indianapolis 500

NASCAR

( key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Busch Series

References

External links

* * *
Billy Boat Performance Exhaust
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boat, Billy Living people 1966 births Racing drivers from Phoenix, Arizona Indianapolis 500 drivers Indianapolis 500 polesitters IndyCar Series drivers Indy Lights drivers NASCAR drivers Arizona State University alumni USAC Silver Crown Series drivers PDM Racing drivers Team Pelfrey drivers A. J. Foyt Enterprises drivers Panther Racing drivers