A need for speed

He drove his 2004 open-wheel sprint car on quarter-mile clay oval tracks located throughout Oregon and Washington.

In an Aug. 19 race on the Madras Speedway, Weedman drove to a season best fourth place finish in the 30-lap main event.

He was also a frontrunner in preliminary action, taking second place in the heat race and second in the trophy dash.

That strong finish followed a competition July 22 at Sunset Speedway Park in Banks where he was a strong contender for second place, but had a tire problem that bumped him down to 12th.

Weedman had been in third place in the Northwest Wingless Tour Sprints (NWWT), a 16-car, 30-lap main event.

With three laps remaining on the quarter-mile oval, he attempted to move up a position. However, in his maneuver to pass driver Rob Lindsey of Sherwood, Weedman accidentally bumped into the car, which caused him to have a right front flat tire.

He was unable to continue competing.

Weedman had finished second in the 10-lap heat race preliminary event prior to the main.

"I jumped into motorsports and I was pretty decent right off the bat, which made it really enjoyable for me," he said of starting to race at age 39.

"It's a real challenging sport, but it's also a lot of fun. I'm competitive and when I'm out on the track racing, I'm always focused on trying to win. I've struggled a little bit this year, but I had decent run at the race in Banks.

“I was a little frustrated about the incident and I should've settled for third. I feel like that's not good enough and since I had a faster car, I thought that I could pass him (Lindsey)."

Weedman has entered six of 11 events on the series schedule and notched five top-10 finishes.

He recorded a seventh place finish May 20 at the Cottage Grove Speedway and he's recorded three eighth place finishes.

Weedman is ranked 10th in point standings at 227 out of 40 drivers.

The latest event on his 13-race schedule was Sept. 2 at the Coos Bay Speedway, which is followed by the season finale Sept. 9 in Banks.

"In auto racing, you have good days and bad days and no matter what you do in setting up the car, sometimes it's frustrating," said Weedman.

"Sometimes I think that I might be too old for this and then I go out and have a great race and I feel all pumped up again. You need to have a few good races to help build up your confidence level."

His $25,000 sprint car has a Dart 360 cubic-inch, V-8 methanol-powered fuel injected motor with 700 horsepower and a Maximum chassis.

The 1,400 pound car reaches straightaway speeds up to 135 miles per hour. The car also has a wing that's mounted on top that's utilized when Weedman competes at larger tracks, such as the Yakima half-mile dirt track at the Central Washington Fairgrounds.

Weedman bought his current vehicle in 2005, which is when he initially started competing in a partial schedule of NWWT events.

Weedman owns two sprint cars and his son-in-law, Andrew Reitman, and nephew, Colby Weedman, also competed in a few races with the other car, but they no longer participate in racing.

Starting his motorsports career racing karts in Portland, Weedman was a dominating driver while winning seven championships during the mid 1980s and early 1990s. He continued racing karts until 2000.

He remembers a career highlight as a second place finish in the Grand National Kart Series race in 1995.

Weedman took a hiatus in his racing career for five years before he resumed it again in 2005.

"It took me five years to find a car that I liked and a series that I could compete in that was affordable too," he said.

"We had lots of fun when we first started with Andrew and Colby and I going to about three races a month, most often at Madras Speedway. If you're competing every week like some drivers do, it's easier to feel brave out on the track and go out there and race hard. Since I race just occasionally, it takes me a while to regain my confidence though.

“When I go into the corners, sometimes I slow down a little, because I don't want to take a chance on having a rollover or spinout and crash into the wall. Some of the younger drivers (such as 17-year-old Lindsay Barney of Eagle Creek) have a fearless attitude out on the track. As you get older, you kind of develop more fear and you have a tendency to drive more cautiously. I know it's possible to get hurt during a race, so I don't like to take any chances and I don't want to wreck my car either."

Weedman just competed in a few NWWT events from 2005-2012. In 2013, he competed more often and finished seventh in the point standings. Then in 2015, he had a breakthrough season. Weedman recorded four top-five's and he took second in the standings at 502, trailing champion Tim Alberding of Salem at 581.

Weedman had a very successful season in 2016 too and he took eighth in the standings.

"I keep telling everybody that this is my last season of racing, but I've been saying that for the last three years," he said.

"In the spring I always get all fired up and then I want to get the car ready for another race season. I'm not having as much fun this year though and it just seems like a lot of work to prepare the car."

Weedman developed an interest in auto racing primarily because he followed in the footsteps of his father George, who owned cars for drivers that competed in the United States Auto Club Champ Car Series, which is now known as Indycars.

Len Sutton of Portland, drove a car with a motor he purchased from George and used to capture second place in the 1962 Indy 500.

Weedman usually attends races with his friend Bob Byars of Fossil, who also owns a sprint car and races occasionally. He also travels with his wife Barbara, son Jared, daughter Erin and her husband Andrew Reitman.

Weedman is probably the only driver - other than local drag racing competitors - in the Sherman/Wasco County area. He is also very likely only circle track race car driver in the Columbia River Gorge.

"There's probably lots of people around here that don't know I'm a race car driver," said Weedman. "I believe lots of people don't really know what a sprint car is. I really enjoy auto racing and I feel pretty proud of the accomplishments that I've had during my career."

Weedman’s ranch, which includes 21,000 acres, has been owned by the family since 1884.

"During the last few years, the kids take care of the farm and do most of the work now, so I'm just the fill-in guy," added Weedman.

"I have a little more time to play around and compete in my sprint car. I also like to travel and attend other big racing events around the country and enjoy being a fan while watching races too."