“We would like to run as well as we did the last race,” said Weldon, who scored his first victory on his 23rd birthday, July 1st. “But the most important thing will be to keep a level head on things and just run a clean race.”

Weldon started out racing on the dirt tracks of New Jersey in a sprint car with a limited budget and virtually no crew but himself. He made the move to pavement short track racing at the start of 2006 when SS Racing signed him as a developmental driver. Weldon’s first six races on pavement were tough, concluding with a series of odd luck and non at fault crashes. Although his first win came in just seven starts, he and the SS Racing team were more than ready for a turn of their luck.

“Even though I’m only in my first year of racing on pavement it seemed like a long overdue win,” explained Weldon. “Whether it was ignition trouble or just being in the wrong place at the wrong time, we surely had our share of bad luck.”

Like many young drivers, Weldon dreams of one day racing and winning at the top levels of NASCAR. He has a collection of NASCAR items in a case at home. Added to that collection is his first racing trophy. Some believe race car drivers have to learn to be winners. Weldon was asked if he learned how to win and if so what might he apply from his victory to future races.

“We definitely hit on some things setup wise and I owe that credit to my crew. Butch, Deon and John worked on the car all day to get it right. That’s a big element to winning races. But on the last lap it really comes down to how bad you want to win,” stated Weldon, referring to the green-white-checkered finish of the race. “I really tapped into my feelings to succeed in this sport and dug down deep leaving no option but to win. You hear those kinds of comments, but I never realized the truth in them until that race.”

The SS Racing team’s win certainly was no fluke according to Crew Chief’s Butch Miller and Deon Deneau. “I found some things last year working with Chase Austin at this track,” said Deneau, who won two races with Austin last year at Illiana Speedway. “This is a tricky flat track and takes a certain point of view when you approach the setup of the car.” Of course Deneau wouldn’t reveal much more than that on the obviously dialed in setup.

Weldon doesn’t come from a racing family, so all he knows has been self taught up until signing with SS Racing. Although the family may not be as hands on as other racing families, they are supportive of Andrew’s race car driving dreams. Weldon’s family wasn’t at the race to witness his win, but their support was evident when he came home to find signs they had placed on his mailbox that congratulated his birthday-race win. According to Weldon it’s his family and girlfriend Amy that keeps him level headed through the many ups and downs of racing.

“They were very excited for me,” said Weldon. “Needless to say there were a lot of cell phone calls after the race.”

Weldon heads to Illiana Speedway Saturday night for the fourth time in 2006. He has a record of 8th, 17th and the recent 1st place. The team doesn’t plan much change to the setup, but they remain optimistically realistic about the upcoming race. Weldon says he does feel a just a touch of added pressure now to win.

“It puts more pressure on me to stay on top of my game,” said Weldon. “But we know there’s some tough competition at Illiani and we always need to be on top of our game. Not much will change once we get back to the track. We’ll have the same approach as before just with added confidence that we are capable of winning.”

Crew Chief, Butch Miller surely knows how to win claiming over 400 victories of his own as a driver. But his first-ever victory as a crew chief was shared with Weldon. He hopes for repeat success, but maintains a developmental mindset towards Andrew’s program.

“Andrew shouldn’t feel any added pressure to win,” said Miller. “We’re looking to build consistency and get good quality seat time. If he ran a good clean race and finished in the top five I would consider that a successful night and be very, very happy.”

“Of course it was lot of fun running to victory lane for the first time as a crew chief,” added Miller.

Racing at Illiana Speedway gets under way at 7pm Saturday night. Gates open at 4pm. For further event info visit www.illianaspeedway.com To keep up date on the latest news results on Andrew Weldon stay locked onto www.SSRacingOnline.com

PR Contact: Shawn Stewart
shawn@racingsolution.net
619-857-1172