Michael Bilderback finds himself daydreaming during classes at South Beloit High School in recent weeks.

The senior has good reason.

Bilderback, 17, finished fifth in a major stock car race Saturday in Memphis, Tenn., and recently was tested by a race team with connections to NASCAR’s Craftsman Truck Series.

He passed the test with flying colors, according to the team owner, and Bilderback might be running in a few truck races next summer.

“When we are going through lectures at school, my mind drifts off to NASCAR and maybe winning a race or something,” Bilderback said, “especially the week after we have a good run and just got done testing. It was tough to get back in class and do school work.”

On Saturday, Bilderback competed in the 30-car ASA Late Model Series event against some of the Midwest’s top drivers, such as race winner Steve Carlson, seventh-place-finisher Eddie Hoffman and NASCAR truck series driver Erik Darnell, who took 23rd.

Bilderback thought he could have done better than fifth. “I probably had a top-three car,” he said.

Nevertheless, Jeff Spraker of Spraker Racing Enterprises was impressed with the run, and believes Bilderback has a bright future.  

Earlier this month Spraker brought Bilderback to Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, N.C., to test his driving abilities.

Bilderback ran more than 250 laps on the half-mile track in a NASCAR stock late model.

“It was a long day. I was real tired afterward,” Bilderback said. “He put me through everything he could think of — changing the car (setup), long green-lap runs, short runs. Seeing if I could handle everything that NASCAR does; seeing if I could be real consistent with the car.”|

The student had the right answers to all the problems, Spraker said.

“He did very well and understands the race car,” Spraker, a former NASCAR driver and crew chief, said in a telephone call from North Carolina. “He can communicate with the crew what’s going on with the car and adapts well.” 

Bilderback credits his uncle and seven-time Rockford Speedway track champ Ricky Bilderback with teaching him some of those lessons.

“Ricky has really help me understand what the car is doing,” he said.

Spraker’s race team focuses on driver development in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, ARCA Series, NASCAR Camping World East Series and NASCAR Weekly Racing late models. The team also has ties to the NASCAR truck series.

“We have formed an alliance with a couple of (truck) teams so we are in a position where if we want to put a driver in a truck for a couple of races we are able to do that,” Spraker said.

Bilderback could be that driver, but money plays a huge role.

“We are trying to find some sponsorship to get him in the seat a couple of times so he can demonstrate his talents,” Spraker said. “Some (sponsors) have asked for new blood, new talent. That’s where we interviewed Michael as a wild card.”

Bilderback also might be able to drive some races for Spraker’s ARCA team after Dexter Bean’s contract expired last month, or possibly in the Camping World East Series.

“We would love to put Michael in one, but everything is so dependent on funding,” Spraker said.
Spraker expects to know if the money is there by next month.

“If I can make it to NASCAR it would blow away anything I dreamed up,” Bilderback said. “It feels like I’m there, but then it doesn’t. I’m not trying to get my hopes up to say I have a ride right now. I’m just taking it one step at a time. Every phone call we get is good news.

“We just hope the economy gets better for sponsors, and we can get something going for next year.”