With so much of their life revolving around racing, it only made sense that Chris and Erika Yob wed at where they spend so much of their time at. This past Saturday the two tied the knot at Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville, Pennsylvania.
“We got married [at Grandview Speedway] because we love racing so much,” Chris said. “We asked Tina Rogers [track general manager, about hosting the wedding], and she said, ‘Go for it.’”
Chris and Erika Yob dated briefly while in their teens and then reconnected in November 2018. From then on, you could find them together, most often at a racing event.
“I wasn’t [into racing] before,” said Erika. “But, now, I can’t get enough of it.”
The two eventually started helping a race team, with Jack Butler behind the wheel.
“We lived in Phillipsburg [New Jersey] for a while, and one night [Butler] won, and [the announcer said] he was from Phillipsburg,” Chris said. “We went back into the pits, and we met. I’ve been mechanically inclined all my life. Gary Butler, Jack’s dad, said, ‘Why don’t you come down to the shop?’ We went down to the shop and we’ve been inseparable. We call them our second family.”
Chris races, too, steering a four-cylinder enduro car. In fact, the couple did not hold a wedding rehearsal as Chris wanted to compete with it that Friday.
“I got off work Friday, loaded the car, took it to the track … and ended up with sixth [-place finish],” said Chris. “Saturday morning, I unloaded the car, got ready [and] her parents picked me up at about 11 o’clock.”
“I got done with work [on Saturday] at 10:30 a.m.,” Erika said. “Got my hair done, got dressed, and met him at the track … at about 1:45 p.m.”
They then got married at Grandview Speedway, with their families and racing friends in attendance. After that, they went back to what they always do.
“We had the wedding and then we had lunch at a restaurant … not far from the track,” said Chris. “Then, we got changed from our wedding clothes, went back [to the track], and worked on Jack’s stuff.”
After the races, Chris and Erika Yob traveled up the East Coast to honeymoon in Maine. They didn’t do anything racing-related in the state dubbed the “Vacationland.” However, on the way back home, they have racing plans.
“We’re probably going to stop at Orange County Fair Speedway [in Middletown, New York] tomorrow night, because they have the Super DIRTcar Series,” Erika said. “[We’ll] maybe hit Big Diamond Speedway [in Pottsville, Pennsylvania] or another track on Friday night. Then, Saturday, we go racing again [at Grandview Speedway].”
With a whirlwind week like that, there’s no question where Chris and Erika Yob, of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, stand on the sport. They absolutely love it.
The Outside Groove Executive Editor has covered motorsports since 2000. His many awards include the 2019 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Jim Hunter Writer of the Year and the 2013 Russ Catlin Award for Excellence in Motorsports Journalism.
