8/29/2024
Postman 68
A NEW LENS: Bill Rose Learning Even More from Crew Chief Role
The Series veteran is taking the opportunity to give young drivers a chance on the sport’s biggest stage
GRAND FORKS, ND - Bill Rose wants to be behind the wheel of a Sprint Car.
It’s what he loves. It’s what he knows. It’s what he’s done for nearly his entire life.
Unfortunately for Rose, injuries have intervened over his last two seasons on the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car tour. Broken ribs last fall and a fractured sternum in May of this year have forced the Plainfield, IN native to the sidelines.
But the time out of the seat hasn’t been entirely negative for Rose. It’s given him the opportunity to work solely on the other side of the street as a crew chief and give aspiring drivers a chance on the sport’s biggest stage.
He’s kept his No. 6 machine on tour with a variety of competitors being tabbed to fill in. While veterans such as Tim Kaeding and Brian Paulus have been part of the rotation, Rose has prioritized putting younger talent in the seat. Kody Hartlaub (East Berlin, PA), Kelby Watt (Adel, IA), Robbie Price (Cobble Hill, BC, Canada) and most recently Max Guilford (Auckland, New Zealand) have all joined The Greatest Show on Dirt to keep Rose’s car on track.
The last couple seasons haven’t been Rose’s first rodeo of a promising racer jumping in the No. 6. In 2013, a 21-year-old named David Gravel got the call from Rose and even won a World of Outlaws race at I-94 emr Speedway. The stint helped Gravel gain recognition on his path to becoming currently the eighth winningest driver in Series history with 101 victories.
“I like working with the younger guys,” Rose said. “As long as they’re willing to learn because some of these guys do have some talent. I mean, they really do. Actually, all three of the younger guys I’ve put in the car, they got talent. And they’re just like me when I was starting, I’ve always had to work on my own stuff and do everything myself. And maybe if these guys get a little bit of a break getting into something, it could grow into something big. I mean, Gravel got in my car. Of course, he’s got big talent as we all know. But these other kids, they could have that opportunity, too.”
The veteran does have one main requirement beyond flashes of talent to drive for him. Rose wants his drivers to know their way around the car, not to simply show up and race.
“I think it means a lot,” Rose said of his drivers understanding the mechanical side. “As a driver, I think if you know more about the race car, you’re going to learn more about driving them, too. If you understand how the car works, it’s easier to tell someone that’s working on your car that it’s this in the corner and this here. Some of these young kids have no clue. They just drive the wheels off of it.”
Being forced out of the seat due to injury is the last thing Rose wants, but he expects his current role to be beneficial when he returns to the seat. Even when he’s the driver, he calls the shots on the car. Serving as only a crew chief has allowed him to watch the car more and even discover issues that he’s been able to solve.
“I’m always trying to drive it, wrench it, and do it all by myself,” Rose said. “Now that I’ve gotten to watch the car and what the car is doing, the setups I’m doing are totally different than what I was doing when I was driving the car. The car was just way, way too tight for me, and I didn’t even realize it. When Kelby got in the car, it was so tight it was unbelievable. So, I started freeing the car up, and of course he got faster and faster as everybody saw.”
The short-term plan is for Guilford to continue to drive for Rose through at least the California stretch that wraps up with the $83,000-to-win Dennis Roth Classic at Thunderbowl Raceway (Tulare, CA). Guilford’s drive and attitude impressed Rose last weekend at Jackson Motorplex.
But don’t be mistaken, Rose fully plans to be ripping a Sprint Car again. The recovery goes on for his broken sternum, but he has no plans of retiring from driving just yet, especially with a milestone year awaiting him.
“As soon as I can get healed up and get back in the car I will,” Rose said. “If it’s this year, fine. If it’s February, great… I know I’m racing next year. I just don’t know what the caliber of it is going to be. I know 100 percent, one way or the other, I will be racing next year because next year is 50 years of driving race cars for me. I’ve got to race next year. I started racing go-karts when I was 10 years old.”
Looking a little further down the road, Rose knows father time is undefeated and will eventually lead to him exiting the car for good. But whenever that time does come, he has no intentions of leaving the sport. The passion burns as bright as ever for the 59-year-old, and the last two years of operating as a crew chief may be a preview of Rose’s future.
“I can’t get away from this crap,” Rose said with a laugh. “I love it too much.”
If you can’t make it to the track, catch every lap of the World of Outlaws live on DIRTVision.
Photo: Chris Owens
Submitted By: Steve Post
