The log sheet, dated April 18, 1993, is dusty now, creased with time. But 47-year-old Bill Long always knows where it is, tucked away here in the back of the shop, in case a visitor asks to look at it.

April 18, 1993. Bill's son, Willy, won the first drag race he competed in at Bunker Hill Drag Strip near Kokomo. "W-I-N" is scrawled in tall, pink letters across the front of the log sheet.

Billy was 8 - the minimum age to compete - when he won his first non-exhibition drag race on April 18, 1993, the first year Bunker Hill began hosting junior drag races. It was also the first year the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) created a racing class for kids ages 8-17.

Never mind that Willy was facing guys twice his age in his division.

He won anyway.

W-I-N. That's all Willy has done from April 18, 1993, on. Now he's five years older and 100 pounds heavier. Forty cars appear in the Bunker Hill junior dragster point standings. The champion in 1993, 1994, 1996 and 1997?

Willy.

What about 1995, you ask.

Willy placed second.

Look at the NHRA Junior Drag Racing League magazine, and you'll see the name Willy Long.

"I've had success because I didn't have to worry about people with more experience," Willy, now 13, says. Indeed. He practiced in 1992, before the NHRA had even created a drag racing division for his age. "Now there are people coming in who have no clue what they're doing. They have to hope (veterans) make mistakes."

In a nutshell, here's junior drag racing: A one-eighth-mile paved track, a car with a five-horsepower souped-up Briggs and Stratton engine, and the driver, Willy.

"Drag racing is basically two cars beside each other, and when the green light goes on, you put the pedal to the metal," Willy says.

The engine? "It's like a Rototiller motor," Bill says. Willy's been through five engines and two cars in his five years.

Willy's current car is silver, with "Willy" stickers pasted on it here and there. He also has a WWF (World Wrestling Federation) sticker - when Willy's not racing, he likes to watch professional wrestling - slapped on the car. His favorite wrestler is Stone Cold Steve Austin, a bad - and bald - dude with a 'tude who barks at people, "That's the bottom line, because Stone Cold said so." Willy's hair, or lack thereof - his head's shaved - is modeled after Austin's chrome dome.

Willy doesn't talk or act like Stone Cold, but he does lay down one law. Spell his name with a "y" at the end - not "ie" - he instructs a reporter. And once Willy sits inside his dragster, his bald head is protected by a full-face helmet with a shield. The rest of him is covered with a fireproof jacket, full pants and gloves.

Then it's time to race.

Five years ago, Willy's E.T.'s - elapsed times - were 14.50 seconds in the one-eighth-mile race. Now he's whittled them below 10, including his best time of 9.35 seconds. When Willy travels one-eighth mile in 9.35 seconds, he is going 68.57 miles per hour.

Heady stuff for a 13-year-old. Thirteen-year-olds in northern Indiana grow up playing basketball, not racing cars. When asked how many other youngsters from this area he knows of who compete in drag racing, Bill could think of one other boy.

Willy, an honor roll student at Whitko Middle School, always gets a reaction when he tells people what sport he competes in for a hobby.

"At first, my friends thought I was joking," he says. "Then I showed them the picture. They were like, 'Wow.'

"Then in science class -Êwe were studying physics - they showed a video on drag racing. Everyone said, 'That's Willy.' (But) it wasn't really me."

Willy is in the middle of his offseason, although like most sports, it isn't a true offseason. In other sports, you work out during the offseason. In drag racing, you work on your car during the offseason. Willy and his dad do this October through March. Then Willy races every weekend at Bunker Hill from April until October.

He will also race in national races wherever they crop up. Usually he competes in Indianapolis two or three times a year.

The Longs have made their offseason as convenient as possible. They live on 80 acres near Sellers Lake, one-quarter mile off the road. They have a pole building, and any time they want to work on their cars, all they have to do is step inside and have at it.

Willy will be joined by another competitor he knows well this season. After several years of helping Willy and his budding career, Bill will return to the track to race in 1998.

"My mom told me if I want to do it, do it," he says. "You're not getting any younger."

The racing bug bit Dad, who passed it down to his son.

"I've been doing it since I was 16," Bill says. "That's what we used to do in high school. We built our cars, went out to the country roads and drag raced. When I figured out that wasn't safe, we started going to the drag strips."

Then Bill got married, and four kids came along.

"I kind of phased out of it," he says. "Then when you get to the place where you still want to do it, and three of the kids are gone, it gets a whole lot easier."

Dad's car will become Willy's car in a year or two. When you talk Bill's car, you talk one-eighth mile, 4.5 seconds, 150 miles per hour.

The Longs have discovered that racing bonds them as a family. Sometimes they will take their motor home down to Bunker Hill and camp there for the weekend. Vicky, Bill's wife, has turned that into a money-making venture, which is fine with him and his wallet. She sells Mary Kay cosmetics at the Bunker Hill track.

"She brings (women) into the motor home, gives them facials," Bill says. "It helps pay the bills."

Seriously, though, Bill says, "It's a lot of fun for the family to be together. You learn how to win gracefully and lose gracefully. That's the big thing.

"To me, the winning and losing isn't the most important thing. It's when you do something stupid and are able to cope with it - so far, he hasn't taken his helmet off and thrown it on the ground. It's been good."

Yes, drag racing has served Willy well. He found his best friend, who lives in Winamac, through drag racing.

And he doesn't see racing coming to an end in the near future. He may even branch out.

"I just go with whatever comes," Willy says. "I think there's other racing that would be fun, like monster trucks."

WILLY LONG PROFILE

How 13-year-old Willy Long has fared in Division III District Junior Dragsters (ages 8-17)

1997

Track champion at Bunker Hill

Runner-up at E.T. Finals in Indianapolis

1996

Track champion at Bunker Hill

Runner-up at Bunker Hill Nationals

1995

Second place at Bunker Hill

Runner-up at E.T. Finals in Bowling Green, Ky.

1994

Track champion at Bunker Hill

1993

Track champion at Bunker Hill

Runner-up at Milan (Mich.) Nationals

Champion at E.T. Finals in Indianapolis

1992

Runner-up at U.S. Nationals (exhibition race) [[In-content Ad]]