Return to Weltmeyer Racing news

 

Auto Racing: At Illiana

Weltmeyer has corner on success 

As reported Sunday, May 15, 2005 In the Daily Southtown
http://www.dailysouthtown.com/southtown/dssports/pro/152sd7.htm

 

By Tony Baranek
Staff writer

---

SCHERERVILLE, Ind. — Sometimes looks can be deceiving.

It appeared that Dave Weltmeyer didn't have any problem wheeling his No. 16 around Illiana Speedway's half-mile oval in Saturday's 30-lap late-model feature. But truth be told, his car was tight in the corners.

For some, that would be a serious problem. For Weltmeyer, it meant one thing: Hit the gas. And away he went.

"I'll tell you what. Joe Rhyne won this race today," Weltmeyer said, referring to his engine builder. "You could see I had some horsepower. That won us the race. I've got to thank him and all my sponsors for sticking with me and building me a good engine."

Weltmeyer was able to withstand a game challenge from Pat Kelly to claim his third feature victory in four outings.

"A good start," Weltmeyer pronounced with a grin. "But it's still early. Them cats (fellow competitors) are working hard. So we've got to keep working hard."

Weltmeyer took the lead from Bobby Gash on lap 13 and stayed there the rest of the way. Gash, who has spent a lot of time leading races this season, held his own for much of the race and posted a competitive fourth-place finish.

Back up front, Weltmeyer had company after he passed Gash. Kelly was glued to his bumper and never really fell back more than a couple of car-lengths. In fact, after a yellow flag on lap 21, Kelly seemed to be faster than Weltmeyer for a brief time.

"I didn't want to see that yellow," Weltmeyer said. "The way we set our tire pressure, because of that yellow, it took a couple of laps to get air in them. But once we got going, we were OK."

Kelly didn't really challenge over the final couple of laps, but ran strong enough to hold off three-time track champion Mike White for second.

"We were off a little bit," Kelly said. "We're just working away, trying to get better. We'll go work on it some more."

Gash paced a tight contingent that saw Joe O'Connor, Mike Monroe and Shawn Wiltjer follow him across the finish line for fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively.

Home | Up | Driver Profile | Pit Crew | Sponsors | Schedule | Results | Fan Page | Gallery | PastPresentFuture

For questions regarding this web or to submit content, e-mail:  webmaster
Last updated: 05/08/06.