GREENFIELD, Wis. — Longtime Badger Midget Auto Racing Ass’n driver Dean Billings died on July 10. He was 68 years old.
Billings died almost 25 years to the day of when he was critically injured in a crash at Angell Park Speedway.
Billings suffered a traumatic brain injury in the incident. In the years after the crash, he was non-verbal but communicated with a nod or thumbs up. He could also write a bit.
Due to balance issues, he tended to use a wheelchair. During this time his family took care of him until the managed care of a nursing home was required.
Billings started out driving stock cars in the early 1970s at Slinger Speedway and Hales Corners Speedways. After moving to midgets, he could often be found running with groups such as USAC and UMARA along with Badger.
His best point finish with USAC was seventh in 1988. He scored two wins in a midget with that group.
He first cracked Badger’s top 20 for points in1986, following in the midget racing tracks of his brother Dick. From 1988 to 1994, he was always in the top five in Badger points.
From 1988 to 1995 he is credited with 149 consecutive starts, perhaps the longest streak in Badger history.
One proud moment behind the wheel was a win in 1988 at Eagle Raceway in Lincoln, Nebraska. It was billed as “The Pepsi Mid-Summer Midget Classic,” a runup show to the famed Belleville Nationals. Here Billings beat the likes of Rich Vogler and Sleepy Tripp.
Billings was the 1986 and 1987 Dairyland Midget Ass’n champion, a sanctioning body which only allowed steel block engines. He was also the Wilmot Midget track champion in 1986.