Union City News: Race car drivers meet-and-greet

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On Friday, the Firehouse Pipes hosted a meet the driver event. Drivers who would be racing at the Winchester Speedway on 26th were on hand to meet the public and sign photographs.

Eighteen-year-old Kyle Weatherman has turned a lot of heads in his short time in ARCA, and certainly back in May 2015 at New Jersey Motorsports Park where he earned his career-first win in his first road course attempt driving for Cunningham Motorsports. Weatherman also sewed up the 2015 Short Track Challenge championship presented by Protect Plus following his runner-up finish at DuQuoin Labor Day 2015 and earned the 2015 SCOTT Rookie of the Year title.

In fact, ever since Weatherman first showed up on the ARCA tour in 2013 at 15 years old, he’s been a continual newsmaker, finishing fourth in his series debut at Salem. After another fourth-place finish at Winchester, late in the ’13 season (he turned 16 in August of ‘13) he earned back-to-back runner-up finishes at Iowa and Salem.

He also came out solid in 2014, driving the Roulo Brother Racing Ford, with six top-10 finishes in eight starts, including finishes of fourth at Berlin, seventh at Madison, eighth at Kentucky in his superspeedway debut, ninth in his first dirt track start at DuQuoin, tenth at Salem and tenth at Lucas Oil Raceway.

Weatherman switched from Roulo Brothers Racing to Cunningham Motorsports for the 2015 season, starting the year out with back-to-back fifth-place finishes at Mobile and Nashville, prior to four runner-up finishes at Salem, Iowa, Springfield, DuQuoin and Kansas. He also finished fourth at Winchester, fifth at Toledo, seventh at Lucas Oil, seventh at Kentucky, and won at New Jersey. He also earned three Menards Pole Awards presented by Ansell at Nashville, Iowa and Lucas Oil Raceway in 2015.

After nine races in 2016, Weatherman finds himself third in national championship standings behind only leader Chase Briscoe and runner-up Josh Williams. After running the first eight races of the season for Lira Motorsports, Weatherman switched to Mason Mitchell Motorsports just in time for Madison and finished second after leading 109 laps, more than any other in the field. Weatherman’s best finishes in 2016 outside of Madison include a pair of third-place finishes at Daytona and Toledo. He also finished seventh at New Jersey.

In 37 career ARCA starts overall, Weatherman has 19 top-five finishes, 28 top-10s and has led 547 laps in 17 races. Kyle is also a four-time national champion in the USLCI Legends Car Series with over 190 victories. Kyle is also the youngest IMCA Modified winner where he claimed two national victories when he was only 13 years-old.

Well, Weatherman didn’t win the race but he did come in third place on June 26. That’s back to back top three finishes!

To maintain the fast past of racing Weatherman is a senior in high school and will graduate this next year. When asked what the fastest time he clocked is, he responded 200 mph. Born in Wentzville, Missouri, Weatherman now resides in South Carolina to accommodate training. Training to stay fit to drive requires a personal trainer and working on upper body strength as well as cardio strength. When asked what excited him about racing, Weatherman responded the smell of the race, and of course the speed. Weatherman is certainly a driver to watch, charming, well spoken and down to earth, he will be a name you see in the future.

Other drivers at the event included Will Kimmel, 28 years old from Salem, Indiana, Chase Briscoe the point leader in the ARCA series. Briscoe is from Clarksville. Mason Mitchell was also in attendance. These drivers begin very young some as early as 8 years of age with many having the goal of reaching NASCAR venues.

2016 Union City Redefined July 4 Celebration on Sunday.

The Union City, Indiana, Emergency Services invite you and your family to join them at beautiful Harter Park in Union City, Indiana, to celebrate our country’s Independence Day on Sunday. An entire day of fun-filled family activities is planned. Offered in conjunction with Union City Redefined, live music on the stage beginning at 11 a.m., free swimming at the community’s pool, and a free giant slip-n-slide on the new snow hill. Several food vendors, inflatable activities for children, free parking all leading to the 10 p.m. fireworks display by Sky-Magic Pyrotechnics. Other activities include the playground, volleyball, shuffleboard, tennis, and a totally new 18 hole disc golf, all for family, friends, fun and fellowship

July 4th Preservation Society

At 11 a.m. on Monday (July 4), the Preservation Society will have a picnic lunch served until 1 p.m. Cost is $5 and veterans eat free. A military exhibit will be on display. Free prizes will be given to all veterans. Continue celebrating in Union City.

As Union City has become a community of volunteers, together you can make a difference. What have you done for your community this week?

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By Linda DeHaven

Union City News

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