By Sarah Handy, Staff Writer
NASCAR driver Josh Bilicki has made starts in all three of NASCAR’s top-three series, with the Wisconsin native racing in all three during the 2019 NASCAR season. However, Bilicki hasn’t always just raced stock cars with him seeing a multitude of success in his early days in both Go-Kart and Sports Car racing.
“I began racing karts at four and a half at Badger Kart Club in Dousman, WI. We raced locally for several years before I moved up the classes and then we started traveling a bit more. I progressed to shifter karts at age 12 and man, I miss those things. Here’s a link to an older GoPro video from a shifter kart race at my home track, Badger Kart Club,” said Bilicki.
“What’s funny about this video is that my dad also raced shifter karts. During this race, my dad’s kart broke and I gave him the “L” for loser as I drove past him at 2:54. My dad and I are very close, and we joke around a lot so it’s all in good fun,” joked Bilicki.
“When I was 15, I began racing full size cars in the Spec Miata class. It was relatively inexpensive and had some really close racing. I learned a lot in my Spec Miata time and eventually made my pro sportscar debut in 2015 in IMSA with the help of long-time sponsor, Trim-Tex Drywall Products. We led seven laps of the race before a caution got us at a horrible time and we had to pit while the pits were closed and lost some valuable track time.”
Bilicki’s NASCAR Xfinity Series debut came about quite different from other drivers. In 2016, he made his series debut at his home track of Road America with Obaika Racing but the whole opportunity came about because Bilicki himself contacted teams with a “TBA” (To Be Announced) on that week’s entry list.
“I was scheduled to race in the Trans Am Series on that weekend, but we had an issue with the car, and It was not race ready. I was pretty disappointed and thought what the heck – I’ll just take a look at the entry list for NASCAR. Obaika had both cars TBA, and saying that Road America is my home track, I figured I would reach out and tell him I am available if he needs me. I got in touch with him through Facebook and was able to scrape together some last-minute sponsorship to secure the ride,” said Bilicki.
However, the race at his home track didn’t pan out as he had hoped with some mechanical issues along the way and an unfortunate 38th place finish, but Bilicki noted it was a memorable experience.
“Right out of the gate, we had pretty good speed. It was my first time in a car that heavy and at the time, I was unaware that we had quite a few used parts on the car, such as brakes,” said Bilicki. “We qualified 23rd but lost brakes on the cool down lap and I went into the tire wall. We were able to piece the car together for the race, but unfortunately the alternator wire was unplugged, and we lost the battery and could not continue. All in all, it was a very memorable experience and without Victor Obaika giving me that shot, I don’t think I’d be where I am today.”
With all that said, Road America continues to be Bilicki’s favorite track on the schedule and the driver lives in close proximity of the track as well.
“Road America is my favorite track on the schedule. Additionally, not many people know that I live only 35 minutes from the track! I have thousands of laps there. I raced go-karts on the four-mile track several times, but they stopped racing there because there was quite a few deaths. Between racing karts, cars, and coaching, I have lots of laps logged and I feel I probably know that track more than anyone else in the industry,” said Bilicki.
“Finishing 12th in 2017 is the highlight of my career, for sure. We ran on used tires the entire weekend and I passed Elliott Sadler with just a handful of laps to go. 2019 was shaping up to be another career best finish, but unfortunately with only a few laps to go, I got pushed off track by a driver for a bigger team. That same driver ended up pushing Ryan Ellis off and we made contact, damaging my car and I had to limp it home.”
In addition to Bilicki’s best NASCAR Xfinity Series finish of 12th at Road America he’s seen a good track record at Mid-Ohio as well, with two top-20 finishes of 20th and 17th during the 2018 and 2019 Xfinity Series seasons.
“I do really love all of the road courses. Mid-Ohio is very tight and slow, unlike Road America and Watkins Glen,” said Bilicki. “It feels more like a grassroots type track, which I enjoy because it brings me back to my amateur racing days.”
Many might not know but Bilicki is one driver who has spent time in all three of NASCAR’s top-three series and he raced in all three at one time in 2019.
In 2019, Bilicki made 10 starts in the NASCAR Cup Series for Rick Ware Racing with a season best finish of 29th coming at Indianapolis in September. In addition, Bilicki competed in 23 of the 33 scheduled events on the Xfinity Series schedule racing for both Ryan Sieg’s RSS Racing, as well as B.J. McLeod Motorsports. Bilicki earned a season best finish of 17th at Mid-Ohio in August. Additionally, Bilicki had two top-20 finishes on the season along with seven top-25 finishes.
Bilicki saw a string of good finishes in three of the four races he competed in in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series in 2019. Bilicki earned three top-20 finishes with a season best finish of 18th in his series debut at Kansas Speedway in May, and he plans on returning to the Truck Series for the 2020 season.
“I really enjoyed running the Truck Series this year and appreciate Josh Reaume giving me several opportunities,” said Bilicki. “The Trucks relate to the new Cup package, so I definitely feel it helped. I do plan on returning to the Truck Series in 2020 with Reaume Brothers Racing, I just don’t know which races yet.”
With Bilicki returning to the Truck Series next season, he provided his thoughts on the trucks returning to Richmond Raceway, as well as the Xfinity Series returning to Martinsville Speedway.
“I love Richmond, so I am excited to see that. However, it also means that Xfinity returns to Martinsville. I have not been to Martinsville yet, so I am really looking forward to going there for the first time in 2020,” said Bilicki.
Overall this past season, Bilicki said he has learned a lot and added a lot to his ‘notebook’ going forward. Additionally, though he touched on how sponsorship is definitely the biggest challenge when it comes to racing.
“Each season in NASCAR has seem to gotten better and better. I had a lot of great opportunities this year and while I wasn’t technically full time in any of the series, I still started over 40 races. I learned a lot and added a lot to my notebook for 2020,” said Bilicki.
“Sponsorship is definitely the biggest challenge in auto racing. A NASCAR partnership is so much more than just the logos on the car. Take my sponsor Insurance King, for example. We use NASCAR as a platform to do a lot of other fun things, from social media content, giveaways, we have a show car, to hospitality for guests at the races. My mind is always racing with different ways to help promote my partners. I have been blessed with many great sponsors and several are back onboard for 2020, but I still have many races open, so I am working extremely hard to take care of those.”
Bilicki’s 2020 plans have yet to be officially announced. However, even with racing in the ‘off-season’ Bilicki stated there is no off-season for drivers such as himself, but he will take a few days to spend some time with his dad and friends.
“I stay busy with sponsorship! There is no time off for drivers like myself. I’ll take a few days off and go snowmobiling with my dad and some friends,” said Bilicki. “I also race an Outlaw 600 sled. I won the 2019 World Championship Snowmobile Derby and I am hoping to go for gold again this year.”
