When the National Compact Touring Series announced James Yons as the latest entry to the Winter Warm-Up, his car created a buzz. People loved the 1973 Volkswagen Super Beetle that he’ll bring to the Freedom Factory in Bradenton, Florida, on February 2-3.
Yons campaigns the car regularly in the pro 4 class at Mahoning Valley Speedway in Lehighton, Pennsylvania.
“My dad, Ken, was always into VWs,” said Yons, of Macungie, Pennsylvania. “He spotted a ’73 VW Super Beetle for sale and we bought it. I believed this car could be competitive. With independent rear suspension, an air-cooled 2180cc dry-sump-system engine, and dual carburetors, it shocked people who thought it would not be even slightly competitive with the other cars in the division.”
Racing an oddball car comes with its challenges, though.
“We had no one to go to for advice on how to set up a VW,” Yons said. “We had to rely on our late model knowledge and improvise from there.”
In only half a season of racing, Yons cracked the top five with it, earning a fourth.
“With the independent rear suspension, you are able to jack the weight independently on both wheels,” said Yons. “We were able to go faster in the turns because we could lean over on the right side without picking up the left side.”
When Yons heads to the Freedom Factory, he’ll need to adjust again.
“With Mahoning Valley Speedway being a circle, our independent rear suspension was an advantage,” Yons said. “Freedom Factory will be a whole new ballgame. Mahoning had a 2,400-lb. weight requirement. The NCTS has a 2,150-lb. requirement. So, we took the weight out and went to Evergreen Raceway’s open practice [in Drums, Pennsylvania].”
The classic Volkswagen Beetle of James Yons will certainly draw attention in-person, too, when it heads to Florida.
“I just couldn’t race a VW beetle without making it look like Herbie the Love Bug,” Yons said.
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
