A Wisconsin race car driver recently spent time with young race fans at the Wisconsin Auto Museum in Hartford.
"I am very Wisconsin loyal," said NASCAR Xfinity driver Josh Bilicki. "I still live in Wisconsin, most people don't know that. But a lot of my sponsors are from Wisconsin."
Bilicki is originally from Richfield, Wis.
"So when I come here, you know I grew up racing in Wisconsin at Badger Kart Club, in Dousman,' he said. "So coming here, connecting with young kids you know, whether they're five or whether they're 15, seeing their stories, and where they race, that means a lot to me because that was me. You know not even 10 years ago I was racing at Badger Kart Club, locally around here, and it's really cool to see that auto racing and all forms of racing as a child. You know a lot of these children are still interested in racing and it's really cool to see."
Bilicki is currently 31st in the Xfinity points standings, but he's still excited about the rest of the 2019 season.
"So this year, I'm with a new team, RSS Racing," he said. "We have really competitive chassis, cars. The people around us, on the team, you know, they date back to working with Dale Earnhardt Sr. So, some of the stories I've heard are pretty incredible, but you know, all in all, this year I'm having just a lot of fun. I'm in cars that are capable of running towards the front. Where as last year we just kind of rode around and waited for other people to make mistakes."
And as far as trying to fight, scratch and claw in the world of NASCAR:
"It's still an uphill climb," said Bilicki. "It's tough. You know, this is a sponsorship driven sport. Sponsorship is the toughest part about our sport. I handle all of my own marketing, my own PR, so aside from driving, it's a whole other business in itself and a whole other job for me. You know, I spend a lot of time, but I'm very happy to be where I am and I'm very blessed to have the sponsors I've had."
