Jeff Pederson
Pedal Down Promotions
517 South 27th Street
Manitowoc, WI 54220
pedaldownpromotions@gmail.com
www.pedaldownpromotions.com
920-323-7970
Weber inches up PDTR Grand National standings
By Jeff Pederson
Pedal Down Promotions
(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) July 12, 2019 – As one of the most consistently strong competitors in the Plymouth Dirt Track Racing Grand National division through the first half of the 2019 season, Steven Weber of Plymouth has positioned himself nicely among the division’s upper echelon at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth.
On the strength of a string of consistent finishes at the head of the field in A-main competition, Weber currently stands third in the PDTR Grand National point standings, 38 points behind current point leader Tyler Kulow.
Although he tries to take each week as it comes, Weber admits that PDTR Grand National championship hardware would look pretty nice on his racing mantle.
“So far the season has been going pretty well for us,” Weber said. “We had a mechanical issue that set us back a bit on opening night. Since then, we’ve stayed pretty level-headed and managed to finish in the top four in every A main, which has helped us to work our way up the point standings.
“There is still a lot of racing left to do and anything can happen in this sport,” he said. “I think winning a title is something that is in the back of every driver’s mind at some point during their career. It would definitely be nice and we plan to give it our best shot every night for the remainder of the season.”
Weber initially got hooked into the local racing scene through one of his Plymouth neighbors.
“When I was a teenager growing up in Plymouth my neighbor, Marcus Wenzel, was into cars and racing,” Weber said. “We put together junkyard, beater cars together back then. I first got into racing when Eastern Wisconsin Stock Cars, which promoted the races at Plymouth in those days, started the four-cylinder Mighty 4 division in 2003. Marcus had a Mighty 4 and he let me drive it a few times in 2003 and 2004.
“I got my own 4-cylinder car and ran my first full season in the Mighty 4 division in 2005, he said. “I ran the Mighty 4 through 2008 and won three A mains during that time. Although I led the points at times during those years, I always seemed to run into trouble and had some bad breaks. As a result, I never finished higher than fourth in the Mighty 4 point standings.”
In 2009, Weber made the jump to the Grand National division, where he found the going quite rough at first.
“I definitely went through a big learning curve moving from the Mighty 4 to the Grand National, as the two cars drive nothing like one another,” Weber said. “In my first year in the Grand National division, I only made one feature. Back then there were 30 to 40 Grand Nationals a night, so it was really tough just to make the A main.
“In my second year, I made 50 percent of the Grand National features at Plymouth and I was excited about that,” he said. “I also won my first heat race in the Grand National during my second year in the division in 2010.”
Weber points to 2016 as his most successful season to date.
“We raced a lot in 2016 doing back-to-back nights at Manitowoc on Friday nights and Plymouth on Saturday nights,” Weber said. “We finished third in the points at Manitowoc and fourth at Plymouth that year. We also ran selected events at 141 Speedway, Beaver Dam Raceway and the old Chilton track that year and ended up doing a total of 38 nights of racing.”
In his 10th season in the Grand National division, Weber claimed his first career PDTR Grand National A-main victory on Aug. 25, 2018. In addition, he has tallied a Grand National A-main win at 141 Speedway in Francis Creek.
Weber is currently focused on dialing in his Mark Petrie chassis, which was built new for the 2019 season.
“We have spent the first half of the season trying to figure out the new car,” Weber said. “We’ve been busy working out a few bugs. Every year my goal is to get at least one feature win and better myself in the point standings. Since we finished fourth in the points last year, we are in a good position to reach that goal so far this year.”
Weber’s sponsors for the 2019 racing season include: A1 Optic.com, Mark Petrie Fabrication and RC Custom Design. Pit crew members for Weber’s team are Dennis Born, Ashley Weber and Mary Born.
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This Saturday, July 13, Plymouth Dirt Track Racing will honor one of the track’s most beloved past racers with Remembering Randy Tracy Night in honor of the former Plymouth driver, who recently passed away.
Extra money will be on the line in the PDTR 360 Sprint Car division in Tracy’s memory. Late Models, Grand Nationals and B Mods are also on the card. Hot laps begin at 5:30 p.m. with racing to start at 6 p.m.
The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds is located at 229 Fairview Drive in Plymouth, Wis. For more information, visit www.plymouthdtr.com or check out Plymouth Dirt Track Racing on Facebook.
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For more information on Pedal Down Promotions, email pedaldownpromotions@gmail.com, visit www.pedaldownpromotions.com or call 920-323-7970.
