They came from miles around to watch D.J. Weltmeyer drive in the Bettenhausen Classic and celebrate his first late model title.
And when I say miles around, I mean many miles.
His uncle Bob came all the way from Alabama for the Sept. 17 event at Grundy County Speedway. His uncle Dan
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was there, too. His dad, Dave, was there as usual, serving as mentor and pit crew member. Another uncle, John Brolick, is the track tire specialist.It was all worth it.
D.J. drove the wheels off his No. 16 car, coming from well back in the field to finish third.
“I just told him, ‘That’s the hardest I’ve ever seen you drive a race car 100 laps,'” Bob Weltmeyer said. “He drove a good race.
“It’s good to see him win a championship. I thought he would some day, with David being his dad. But it all came from his grandpa, my dad (Norm). That’s what drove us all. That’s why I came up here from 700 miles away to watch D.J. do this.”
What a racing legacy. What a family.
During his career, Dave Weltmeyer won three late model titles at Raceway Park, two at Grundy and one at Illiana Speedway. Dave, Ray Young and Mike White are the only three drivers in Chicagoland racing history to have achieved that triple play.
Bob Weltmeyer, meanwhile, won two late model championships at Raceway and one at Illiana. Dan Weltmeyer, the youngest brother, won a hobby stock title at Raceway in 1983 before becoming a successful late model driver. John Brolick won two late model championships each at Raceway and Grundy.
Another Weltmeyer brother, Jim, was a top late model driver when he passed away in 1989 at age 32.
Some 20 years later, along came D.J.
“I remember David telling me one day that he was going to put D.J. in a go-kart,” Dan Weltmeyer said. “Then when Dave was starting to get out of it, he let him hot lap his car. I was there one time. He was a little inconsistent, but he was just a kid.
“The second time he came out, I said, ‘Yeah, he’s going to be another Weltmeyer.’ And that kid came a long way in a short time to be a very good race car driver. His grandfather would be so proud. It gives me goose bumps.”
D.J. Weltmeyer, a Kouts, Indiana resident, won two features during the 2022 season. More importantly, he was a consistent top finisher. Over 16 feature races, he was fourth or better 14 times.
“You don’t know what you’re going to get when the year starts,” he said. “Being in the hunt every night was awesome. I missed out on things like going jet skiing on the lake. I was watching every step I took so I didn’t roll an ankle. My life was crazy those last two months.”
D.J.’s title came on the 40th anniversary of his father’s first Grundy championship.
“Yeah, wow, 40 years,” Dave Weltmeyer said. “This was so exciting. We opened up the season pretty decent, and I told him, ‘Let’s see where we’re at in July, and if we have a shot, we’ll stay with it.’
“We were going to travel a little bit, but when an opportunity like this comes, you have to go for it. D.J. did a good job. He raced clean, never went to the back, and we had a good year.”
For the newest Weltmeyer champion, it was all about “we.”
“My dad was a large part of the puzzle,” D.J. said. “We worked on the car together every night. He spotted for me. We had some new help come in and had our super consistent old help. With all of that support, everything clicked.”
And now, D.J. makes five.
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