Time and again, Jim Weber has proven that he can be just as fast as Eddie Hoffman, Ricky Baker, Larry Schuler or Brett Sontag.
The Homer Glen resident has also won late model feature races just like those current and former Grundy County Speedway greats.
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But they have one achievement that he doesn’t, and he’d like to join their club before riding off into the racing sunset.
“I have good friends of mine who won that track championship,” Weber said. “It’s kind of like when I got my first win. You just want to clear that hurdle to be in that group of people who you have so much respect for.
“Like Eddie Hoffman … we have our battles on the track, but at the end of the day, I have all the respect in the world for what he’s been able to do. When Brett won championships, people went to the track knowing he was the guy to beat, week after week. And they knew they probably couldn’t do it.”
There’s a long way to go, but Weber is on top of the late model pack. He has a 402-391 points edge over Hoffman, with Keith Tolf, James Lynch and James Gregait all within 50 points.
Weber has one feature win, and it was a thriller. On May 26, Weber and Blake Brown were battling with three laps remaining when they did some heavy hitting in Turn 2. Weber got sideways, but was able to straighten out and hang on for the win.
Weber, 52, is talking about this being his final full-time season, but when I asked for a theme, he didn’t call it “The Last Dance.”
“I’d say the theme is more, ‘Perseverance,'” Weber said. “I’m just trying to get the car right. Even though we’re leading the points, we’re still trying to figure things out.
“This car has so much speed. We’re really fast in practice and we’re really fast in qualifying. But there is something missing that we can’t put our head around for the races.”
Weber grew up in Posen and graduated from Bremen. He and classmate Tom Smith started their racing careers in motocross — a dirt bike sport in which you jump often, you jump high and you land hard.
“We were pretty successful,” Weber said. “But that sport beats you up so much. I did it until I was in my early 30s. I probably had seven concussions, three where I was knocked unconscious.
“I broke both my knees, my shoulders. I had numerous injuries, and man, I’m still paying for it. But when you’re fast, you don’t think about it.”
Smith went on to be a Grundy County Speedway late model champion. Weber broke into late model racing as a teammate, crew member and eventual car owner for Sontag.
Sontag won five late model titles before retiring. Weber carried on, and now races alone with crew member Matt Picicci.
In 2022, Weber gave D.J. Weltmeyer a run for his money before finishing second in points.
“I learned a lot about racing with D.J. last season,” Weber said. “I only had one gear. I figured if I went out there and won, the points would take care of themselves.
“D.J. would go out and take what the race would give him. He was fast, but he was also consistent, over and over and over.”
Weltmeyer knew he was in a battle.
“The standings at the end showed that I won by 150, but that was because Jim missed the last week,” Weltmeyer said. “It was around 40 or 50 points during two months of grinding it out.
“Jim is fully capable of winning a championship. He has the equipment, and he improves every year. He’s a hard racer and makes smart moves.”
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With his motivation in high gear.