Greg Weld - RIP
#1
Posted 04 August 2008 - 20:11
Advertisement
#2
Posted 04 August 2008 - 20:43
Some people just can't forgive or forget, I guess...
#3
Posted 04 August 2008 - 21:12
On top of being a standout Sprint Car driver, there is some interesting trivia around his Champ Car racing.
He drove the last Novi, attempting to qualify it at Indy in 1966.
In 1969, there were five dirt races on the USAC Championship schedule...Greg Weld was on the pole for four of them (and the other one he did not compete in!)
Also in 1969, at Milwaukee, the race was red flagged on lap 2 after a large pile-up coming onto the backstraight that was triggered by a suspension failure on Art Pollard's car. Pollard took over Weld's car on the restart...and went on to win the race.
#4
Posted 04 August 2008 - 22:07
RIP, Greg! Too young to die, for sure...
#5
Posted 05 August 2008 - 18:27
#6
Posted 07 August 2008 - 05:55
Link to a very good rememberance by Robin Miller:
http://auto-racing.s...ring-greg-weld/
#7
Posted 07 August 2008 - 15:09
#8
Posted 07 August 2008 - 16:34
#9
Posted 07 August 2008 - 17:41
Robin Miller covers this in his piece to a degree. The growth of Weld Wheels led to him cutting back his schedule before he was 30. His last race was a USAC Sprint race in 1974, where he finished 2nd to Foyt.
Yes, he seemingly was "there and gone". Essentially, five years on the road to the top and only about nine overall in top level racing, retiring at 31...but keep in mind how long he'd been racing by the time.
I have to wonder if there was a bit of "burn-out" too, I don't know. As Don mentions, this was an era when drivers that were the new, young stars were rarely inside of their late 20's (for example, Rutherford was 27 when he edged Greg Weld for the 1965 title). Brother Kenny was racing heavily through the 1970's, a standout in Sprints and on the Eastern modified circuit.
The story of the championship battle in that final round at Ascot is something in itself.
He had become something of a recluse, so it came as great surprise when he turned up at the Jungle Park Reunion last September with the Leffler/Dunseth sprint car (which I've read he helped restore). But, to sort of correct my earlier post, I've learned he made it to at least one or two more "old timer" gatherings this year, including being a speaker at the big annual shindig at Indianapolis (the Bench Racing Weekend).
#10
Posted 07 August 2008 - 17:46
Jim, you're not, per chance, ignoring everything outside USAC, are you?;)Originally posted by Jim Thurman
His last race was a USAC Sprint race in 1974, where he finished 2nd to Foyt.
Then tell me who finished 6th in the 1976 Knoxville Nationals, will you?
#11
Posted 08 August 2008 - 16:56
No, Michael I wouldn't do that ;)Originally posted by fines
Jim, you're not, per chance, ignoring everything outside USAC, are you?;)
Then tell me who finished 6th in the 1976 Knoxville Nationals, will you?
I was quoting the following passage in the Robin Miller piece:
"...driving became less and less a priority for Greg, who finally quit in 1974 after running second to A.J. Foyt at the Fairgrounds in a sprinter."
#12
Posted 08 August 2008 - 19:42
As young as he was , the disciplined and educated Weld had also matured , personally and professionally . He had married a young woman named Marilyn and they lived in Kansas City where he had invested his own winnings in a factory to build lightweight 12 spoke "Weldwheels" for racing and street use . Said Greg later " I wanted to be in buisness more than I wanted to be a racer."
Link to NSCHoF
http://www.sprintcar.../Inductees.aspx
The Bio's are all pdf files , you'll have to find the one you want and click on it to download .