MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Audio and story by Race Chaser Online Managing Editor Jacob Seelman — ARCA photo —
A year ago, if you had asked Kyle Weatherman if he saw himself scoring his first ARCA win (on a road course, no less), finishing top 10 in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards points standings, claiming the Calypso Lemonades Short Track Challenge championship, topping the SCOTT Rookie Challenge points standings and carrying Cunningham Motorsports to the Bill France Four Crown owner’s title as well as contending mightily for the ARCA car owner’s championship — all in the same season — he probably would have looked at you like you had a third head.
Of course, it’s not that the 18-year-old Wentzville, Mo. native didn’t believe he and the Briggs Cunningham and Kerry Scherer-led team was capable of such a performance, but the odds of a rookie accomplishing all of that, while only being eligible to run 15 of the 20 races due to his 18th birthday falling later in the season, seemed longer than hitting the Powerball jackpot in Las Vegas.
“I was determined at the start of the year, and the team was as well, but it was a heck of a tall order,” Weatherman admitted of the No. 22 team’s quest.
And yet, through determination, solid performances and a little luck along the way, the Missouri young gun accomplished everything that he and the team set out to do — save for winning the ARCA owners’ title, finishing second to GMS Racing’s No. 23 team by a scant — in a banner season that proved to all onlookers that he had what it takes to ascend to the top levels of the sport.
Now, Weatherman’s perseverance and results have paid even bigger dividends than what he’s already accomplished.
Not only will the talented teenager be officially recognized with the 2015 ARCA Racing Series Rookie of the Year award at the series’ championship banquet this winter, but, as Race Chaser Online reported last Thursday, he has also landed a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series ride with Lira Motorsports for the NCWTS season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November.
The move to the national stage will be a big jump for the driver who began his career racing in Bandoleros and Legends cars at another NASCAR track, Charlotte Motor Speedway, but it’s an oppurtunity Weatherman is ready to relish.
“It’s really awesome that we’ve finally gotten this deal put together,” Weatherman said to Race Chaser Online of his latest opportunity. “”This deal came together really fast, honestly. We’d been talking to Lira Motorsports for a couple of weeks about doing something with them, but everything got finalized pretty quickly so it feels good to be able to get the news out there. With Dave [Levine] and I both … running at Homestead as kind of a grand finale [and entrance] for the Liras in the Trucks, hopefully we can both make a great impression and do what we both do best.”
“I’m really pumped up about it — for me personally, this is huge for my career, really,” the Missouri native added. “The opportunity to work with Carlos and Michael [Lira] is — it’s hard to put into words just how amazing it is and how excited I am about it. Their shop is awesome and every crew member that works over there is dedicated to what they do. It’s really a special place.”
Weatherman, who scored a win, 10 top fives, 13 top 10s and three poles in his 15 ARCA starts this season says that he recognized how fast the Lira organization was growing much earlier in the summer, even before discussions began about his driving a Truck for them.
“There’s a lot going on over there. They started out the year with [just the one] ARCA team and now they’ve got four ARCA cars and soon to be two Trucks in their shop. The biggest thing that works for them and that I see though is that even though there’s a lot going on, everyone has a task at hand and they make sure they accomplish it. That’s awesome to be a part of in a growing team, and my hope is that we can grow together and I can make some quick success in the time I spend working with them.”
After scoring finishes of seventh at Kentucky and a career-best oval run of second in the Kansas finale, Weatherman says he has “much more confidence” leading into the Homestead weekend than he might have otherwise.
“And honestly, I feel like my performance on the mile-and-a-half tracks this season really helped to give me this opportunity,” he added. “We really stepped up and had a shot to contend for wins in both of those races, and I think that made a big difference all the way around.”
As he looks ahead to Homestead, however, Weatherman did take the opportunity to reflect on a stellar 2015 season, adding that he doesn’t yet have firm plans for the 2016 season even though he is looking to return to the ARCA ranks and contend for a championship.
“Kerry Scherer (Cunningham Motorsports co-owner) and myself really sat down about the middle of the season, when we realized that we were going to be able to go for a couple of these accomplishments, and said ‘Wow, you know, we really have a shot to accomplish a lot here.’ And we completed basically every single one of them. Just came up a little bit short in the owner’s championship, which is really unfortunate — I wanted to give that to the team because Kerry’s done so much for me — but that’s racing. I still gave it everything I had, and I had a lof of fun working with [crew chief] Paul [Andrews] so I’ve got to really say thank you to all of them again for sure.”
“[As far as next year is concerned], I’m not really sure yet if [the Truck deal] changes anything for me as far as next year goes. Obviously, I have both opportunities (the Truck start with Lira and a potential full-time ARCA seat with Cunningham) in front of me for the future here. We don’t have anything set [in stone] yet. I can tell you that both teams are great to work with, and I’d be happy to work with either [or both] of them depending on what opportunities present themselves. I think both teams have a lot of potential, and they showed that this year, but at the end of the day I’m just happy to be in a race car — so whatever gets thrown at me, I’ll definitely be happy with, and until then we’ll just see what happens.”
Despite that seeming uncertainty, one thing is for sure though.
If his breakout season is any indication, the sky is the limit for just how high Weatherman may actually be able to soar as he continues down the road in his racing career.
For more information on Kyle Weatherman, follow him on Twitter @KyleWeatherman or visit his website at www.kyleweatherman.com.
Listen in to an extended cut of Race Chaser Online’s conversation with Kyle Weatherman regarding his new opportunity with Lira Motorsports:
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network. Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.
The 21-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for both the United Sprint Car Series and the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
Email Jacob at: [email protected]
Follow on Twitter: @Speed77Radio or @JacobSeelman77
Email Race Chaser Online: [email protected]
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