After four of the last five URC sprint car events rained out, Josh Weller just wanted to race. He jumped into a car for the Outlaw Racing Series Enduro last Friday and won at Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville, Pennsylvania.
“The itch [to race] just got too big to scratch,” said Weller, of Mertztown, Pennsylvania, said. “My cousins offered me a ride in a front-wheel-drive car.”
Weller never raced in an enduro before, nor a front-wheel-drive car. However, that didn’t deter him from taking up the offer from his cousins, Duane Weller and Duane’s son, Austin.
“Austin wanted to see if he could beat me,” Josh said. “I felt it would be a fun family night.”
Josh drove Duane’s Chevrolet Cavalier in the 75-lap competition that paid $300 to the victor.
“I struggled for the first 10 to 15 laps,” said Josh. “The things I like to do in a sprint car didn’t work with the small car. I go into the corners hard and I don’t usually lift when driving the sprint car at Grandview Speedway. That didn’t work with the four-cylinder car.”
Grandview Speedway also prepared the track differently, heavily watering it prior to the race.
“For the enduro race it was how to get through the turns without spinning out,” Josh said. “The water on the track created chaos. The challenge was how not to wreck anyone on such a slimy surface.”
Eventually, Josh figured it out. He took the lead on lap 35.
“I used a sprint-car-type line to make it work,” said Josh. “The majority of the cars were tight around the bottom of the track. I ran up against the cushion.”
Austin Weller followed Josh Weller to the checkered flag, finishing in second.
“I think I showed [Austin] the fast way around the track,” Josh said. “I know he wanted to beat me, but hopefully the new skills he learned will help him down the road. He and his dad normally race enduros.”
As far as future excursions in enduro racing, Josh Weller remains noncommittal.
“The invitation is there, but it all depends on how we could make it work with our sprint car schedule,” said Josh.
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.
Photographers
The Outside Groove contributor from Macungie, Pennsylvania, has covered the sport since 2012. Sabo serves as the official track photographer of Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville, Pennsylvania. Photography is a family ordeal for Sabo. He shoots with his daughter, Abby, at Shellhammer Dirt Track in Shoemakersville, Pennsylvania. At Grandview and other venues Sabo travels to, he and his father, Stephen “Poppa Pepper” Sabo Sr., capture the night’s action with their cameras.
