When Jim Weed waved the last checkered flag at the Eastern States 200, it was the culmination of a 25-year tenure perched atop the flag stand at Orange County Fair Speedway.
Both Weed and his wife, Lisa, were perennial fixtures at the Middletown, New York, speed plant. Jim worked his way up from being a gate man under the starter’s stand, to running the pit gate, becoming a pit steward, and then backstretch flagger. Lisa managed sponsors and victory lane festivities.
JoAnne Chadwick, who managed the track at the time, asked Weed if he wanted to work as the starter of OCFS 25 years ago.
“I had been going to races since 1958, and always watched [legendary flagger] Tex Enright throw the flags from the track surface with cars at full throttle just a couple of feet away,” Weed said. “I always wanted to be Tex.”
With the Weeds now in their 70s, they plan to retire.
“We feel it’s time to slow down and enjoy life,” said Weed. “Of course, I’ll miss flagging at OCFS, but it’s time.”
Looking back at his time as a flagger and at Orange County Fair Speedway, Jim Weed shared his most memorable moments.
First Night as Starter
“It was both exciting and scary. Back then, everything that happened on the track was the starter’s responsibility, yet the starter could not see the entire track from the flag stand. You could see the cars on the front straight, then the first turn going in, followed by them coming out of the second turn. You lost them again going into three until they came out of four. It was stressful and you had to rely on the corner flaggers and the backstretch flagman.”
First Eastern States 200
“I was a rookie, and I was charge of the top drivers in the sport. Their safety was in my hands. I was so worried that something would go horribly wrong — but it didn’t. Everything went well and it was a big plus for my career as a flagger.”
History in the Making
“I saw this kid, Brett Hearn, show up with a Pinto, No. 20. I got to witness [much of] his career from a bird’s eye view. Watching Brett mid-career and on, looking down into the cockpit, I witnessed a mastery of dirt modified driving like I never saw before. In the past few years, I have worked for Brett and Doug Dulgarian — the best guys I ever worked for.”
The Near-Miss Crashes
“There were several. Tyler Boniface and Kenny Tremont tangled, and Tyler’s car flew by my face 14 feet up in the flag stand. David VanHorn flipped three or four times right in front of the starter stand. He landed on his roof. I ran and jumped as fast as I could to see if he was okay. He was unconscious — I waved the EMTs on and let them do their jobs.”
The Thrill of Flagging Sprint Cars
“It’s different when you are flagging sprint cars. There is the cone on the string to watch. The cars get to speed, but can’t pass until the infield official pulls the cone in. There is nothing like hearing the horsepower of a full field of sprint cars coming down the frontstretch. It’s fantastic — the noise, the power you can feel — it is surreal. They don’t let up — the driver’s foot is in it all the way around the track.”
Meeting Stars
“Bobby Allison and Carl Edwards raced at OCFS. I was very impressed by Carl Edwards — a great person, a great racer. When we told him if he didn’t qualify, he was still guaranteed a spot in the feature. He replied, ‘No, if I don’t qualify, I don’t belong in the feature.’ That said everything about Carl in my mind.”
Shaking off the Pain
“Debris flies at you and hits you. Pieces of cars and pieces of the track — you can never call them ‘rocks,’ by the way — hit you all the time. A projectile once hit me between the knuckles. I was in excruciating pain, but I didn’t let go of the flag. I didn’t stop doing my job that night or any other.”
The Boo Birds
“Like an umpire, you are forced to make calls. I was flagging at Accord Speedway, a quarter-miler that is so small there is a lot of contact — so different from OCFS. It was my job to decide if contact is just racing or intentional. Rich Ricci, the local hero, took out young Andy Bachetti. Under caution, Bachetti then spun Ricci out. I sent both cars to the rear. The fans went crazy — they wanted me to throw Bachetti out. I stood by my call, and I was not popular that night with fans. Luckily, since five or six years ago, all the calls are made from the tower at most racetracks. The flagman is directed by the tower. It’s good and bad. The fans don’t know that — they still think you make all the calls, and you get all the abuse. It’s actually better now — the tower can see the whole track, make calls quicker, and make racing safer.”
Is Jim Weed Blind?
“A lot of people tell me I’m blind and I do not know what I’m doing. Didn’t you see what happened to so and so? I tell them I got 20 cars to watch, and I’m not watching just one car like you. Usually, if they don’t go away from the flag stand, security escorts them away. However, there are nights when I really can’t see because of the dust on the track. I fear for the safety of the drivers — they can only see a few feet in front of them when a track gets dusty.”
Positive Experience
“Overall, being on the flag stand has been a great experience. I enjoyed myself very much. I enjoy the drivers, the fans and everyone I work with — they are the best people. Over the years I made a lot of friends. It is always rewarding when kids ask me to sign their souvenir checkered flag.”
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.
