BILLY GOSHEN

Bio

  • Career Highlights

William J.Goshen

Born:May 30th 1990

Home:Brea, CA

Education, Junior at WhittierChristianHigh School

Hobbies: Wakeboarding, Water Skiing, Riding Quads, Snowboarding

Racing Experience:

  • Racing Go-Karts since 1997
  • 2004 Shifter Karts USA (SKUSA) Mission Region Champion
  • Three (3) times IKF Grand National Champion
  • 2005 Stars of Karting, Western Division Runner-up
  • 2005 Stars of Karting National 3rd
  • Four (4) Times IKF Regional Champion
  • 2006 Formula TR Pro Series 1.6-Liter Championship Runner-up
  • 2007 Formula TR Pro Series 2.0 Liter Champion - 7 Wins, 6 other podiums, 9 Poles,

Billy Goshen was born May 30, 1990 in Brea, California. He currently is a junior at WhittierChristianHigh School. Billy has a younger brother, who is also involved in racing, and two younger sisters.

Billy’s grandfather, Bill Sr. andhis father, Bill Jr.along with an uncle have all been involved in racing. Having been born into a family with two generations of racing it could be said that Billy was “born to race.” His father introduced him to go-kart racing in 1999 at nine years of age. From the very beginning, whenever he was at the track and not in his go-kart, Billy could be found trackside watching and studying the older drivers. When at home, rather than cartoons, Billy would be watching the speed channel. Whether it was Champ Car, the Indy Racing League, NASCAR or Formula One, he could name all of the top drivers and where they stood in points. There is no doubt, Billy Goshen has racing in his blood.

In his first year competingin go-karts, Billy had already begun winning races. In 2001, Billy won the Junior State Shifter Championship and the Apex Club Championship in all three of his classes. Looking for more competition and bigger challenges, Billy began competing in the International Karting Federation (IKF), Region 7. In 2002, Billy repeated his four Championships from 2001 and added the California State Championship in the 60cc shifter class. In the Super Karts USA (SKUSA) Super Nationals 60cc shifter class, Billy finished second out of 40 international participants. He was also beginning to make his mark in IKF, recording his first win and finishing third for the points championship in both the 60cc shifter class and the HPV 1 class.

In 2003, Billy stepped up to the 80cc shifter class, finishing 3rd in the SKUSA, Mission Region Championship and 4th in the IKF Region 7 Championship. In 2004, Billy recorded his first National Championship in the IKF Grand National Championship, 80cc Jr. Superstock CR Shifter Class. He also won the SKUSA, Mission Region Championship in the 80cc Shifter Class and was runner up for the IKF, Region 7 Championship 80cc Jr. Shifter Class.

Billy’s first love in go-karting has always been shifter karts, which allowed him to showcase his driving talent and hisability to go fast. This became quite apparent in 2005 when Billy went undefeated in the IKF 80cc shifter class. Not only did he win the IKF, Region 7 Championship in the 80cc Shifter Class, he also won the IKF Region 7 Championship in the HPV 2 class.

Prior to 2005, Billy had not raced in the Stars of Karting series because of the travel commitment and the amount of school he would miss. The second and third race of the year was held at Rocky Moran Kart Track in Beaumont, California. Always looking to compete against the best, Billy entered the two races for the weekend winning the Saturday race and finishing 4th in the Sunday race. With his strong showing, the decision was made to run the rest of the series. Billy won the next three races before blowing an engine in the second race in Canada while leading. In all, he won five of the eight races he entered and finished second in the Stars of Karting National final in Austin, Texas. By

not having entered the first race of the year at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, he spotted the National and West Coast champions more than 140 points each and finished 3rd National and 2nd West Coast, losing the championship in each by less than 10 points. His success in Stars of Karting substantiated that Billy was one of the elite shifter kart drivers in North America.

In 2006, Billy graduated to racing an open wheel car on road courses by competing in the Formula TR Pro Series 1.6 liter class. He finished as the runner up for the Championship with 3 wins and 12 podiums out of the 18 races. In spite of concentrating on the Formula TR Pro Series, he still found time race go-karts on a limited basis. Billy made it a great finish to his go-kart career by winning the IKF, Region 7, HPV 4 Championship and an additional two IKF Grand National Championships in the 80cc Limited Shifter Class and the 80cc Senior Shifter Class. Billy’s karting career ended with 3 Grand National Championships, 5 Regional Championships, 9 State and Local Championships, over 80 wins and more podiums than can even be counted.

In 2007, Billy stepped up to the 2.0 liter class in the Formula TR Pro Series. With his 7 wins, 16 podiums, 8 poles and 12 fast laps, Billy captured the USA Formula TR Pro Series Championship, his first car racing Championship. With his desire and willingness to drive anytime and anywhere, Billy drove for Richie Hearn Motorsports in the Formula BMW race at the Grand Prix of San Jose. Without any testing or practice, Billy finished in the top 10 in both Saturday and Sunday’s race, his first time racing on a street course. Wanting to gain experience in other forms of racing, Billy drove a Mazda RX 7 in the 25 hours of Thunderhill. To gain some oval experience, he also raced a late model on several occasions. In the last two months of 2007, Billy has again teamed up with Richie Hearn Motorsports to drive a Pro Formula Mazda in the West Coast Star Mazda Winter Series. Without any testing, in the first four races, he has 1 win and 2 thirds. Tommy Burns, a former F-1 driver, has had the opportunity to observe Billy at several of his Formula TR races and was quoted as saying “Billy Goshen has the talent to compete at the highest level of open wheel racing.”

Despite his highly competitive nature and strong desire to win, Billy always maintains his composure when driving, no matter what the situation. Before the start of a race, he outwardly appears very calm and collected. Billy likes to get behind the wheel early to collect his thoughts and envision what he needs to do in the race, putting himself in a zone to become one with his car. Even though he has had tremendous success in racing, he remains very humble. In the pits, Billy enjoys talking with the spectators about racing and explaining the intricacies of driving a race car and the handling characteristics. Although they are competitors, he maintainscamaraderie with his fellow drivers. Because of his personality, Billy has always had a strong following and tremendous fan support.

When not racing and going to school, Billy has given time to those less fortunate by helping feed the homeless during the holidays. For the past 5 years, he has made an annual trip with his church to Mexico to help build homes in one of the poor areas. Billy attends church regularly and maintains a strong Christian faith. In his limited leisure time, Billy enjoys wakeboarding, waterskiing and snowboarding.