Billy Gaule was destined to love motorsports.

His father, John Gaule, has had a long career in racing. He ran late models for the majority of it but during his last few years behind the wheel he transitioned to modifieds. Because of his dad, the younger Gaule grew up at the race track with his family.

“I grew up my whole life doing it,” Gaule said. “My father raced for a living. That’s what we’ve done our whole lives. My sister was born at the race track, they had to stop the races to let my mom out for her to be born. My dad still is involved in racing. He builds race cars now. He stopped racing when I graduated from high school and I took over the wheel.”

Gaule raced IMCA Modifieds for a few years after high school, but then he gave up the steering wheel to travel with World of Outlaws star Donny Schatz.

“Donny and I went to school together, grew up, and became closer friends as we got older. We weren’t real close in middle school or high school, then towards the end of our high school years we became closer. I left a family racing business I guess you’d say and I went and helped him in Australia in ‘98, came home and they asked me if I could go on the road with them (full-time)… I gave up my racing for what I thought would be a year but it turned out to be about three years.”

After his stint with Schatz, Gaule joined Jack Elden’s World of Outlaws team with Jac “The Wild Child” Haudenschild behind the wheel. After moving to Ohio to work for Elden, Gaule raced SuperModifieds for a few years, traveled to Europe with a powerboat racing team for a while, and married Elden’s daughter before setting his sights on Race Country U.S.A.

“(After we moved to Mooresville, NC) I got my first job interview at DEI (Dale Earnhardt Inc.) and got a job there. That was really the only place I interviewed at and they hired me immediately. I worked there for two years (as a welder/fabricator). I started out in the chassis shop and they transitioned me into the components department. I built lower control arms and spindles, all of the suspension parts for them.”

After only a couple of years at DEI, Gaule made the decision to go to Red Bull Racing and he has never regretted it.

“I don’t want to say it’s a better place to work but they are way more employee friendly. They really take care of their employees. It’s a great place to work. It’s only a mile and a half from my house so that’s really a plus.”

Gaule is doing the same type of work at Red Bull Racing; however since the introduction of the COT, his work is a little different.

“From the old car to the car of today it’s a big transition. (With the) car of today NASCAR seems to dictate a lot of the things we do. You can’t engineer the things you used to be able to do. Right, wrong or indifferent they’re trying to make it cheaper.”

In his spare time, Gaule has resurrected his racing career, this time on asphalt instead of dirt. He now races in the Carolina USAC Ford Focus Midget Series.

“I started out late in the year (last year) and then had a motor issue. I’ve only missed two races (this year), really. There are not a lot of races that go on here. They only race about 16 to18 times. Hopefully next year is going to have more since there are a few more tracks that are interested in it… There’s a lot of racing in the south but not the racing I’m used do which is dirt racing.”

Whether he is in the Red Bull Racing shop or at the track in his USAC Midget, 35-year old Gaule lives and breathes racing and he loves every minute of it.

“It’s what I’ve done my whole life so I don’t really know any different. How many people would live to go to work everyday and work on a race car or race car parts or be involved in it? Motorsports has been my life and probably always will be.”

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