Vince D’Adamo: What type of cars do you currently race and which kind have you raced in the past?
Jim Weiler: Currently I race part-time in the NASCAR K&N West Series, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and Inex Legends cars. I also make the occasional appearance to the local indoor Kart track. In the past, I’ve raced street stocks, modifieds, sprints, midgets, Mazda Miatas, stock cars and Karts both on asphalt and dirt.
D’Adamo: When did you first take an interest in racing?
Weiler: I first took an interest in racing when I was 10 yrs old. My parents took me to Petaluma Speedway the local dirt track to watch the races and I’ve been hooked ever since. I was and still am fascinated by the looks of the race cars, the colors, the smells, the noise the excitement. It really grabbed all of the senses.
D’Adamo: What do you do professionally?
Weiler: I consider myself a professional race car driver because I have made it to the highest levels in NASCAR. Unfortunately it hasn’t been consistent enough to pay the bills so to pay the bills I work for Comcast Cable Company.
D’Adamo: Between your personal and professional life, how much time do you have to devote to racing?
Weiler: As passionate as I am about racing it has really become both my personal and professional life.
The only way I am able to make this possible is to have a great support system in my family and friends. If you are a true racer, racing is your life. Long hours are spent working on the cars, looking for sponsors and most importantly spending time with the fans. To make it all work you have to surround yourself with people that share the passion of racing.
D’Adamo: In most any sport, you hear the term "relationship." How vital is that relationship between yourself and your pit crew?
Weiler: It’s extremely vital. There are some people that feel racing is not a sport. Its very much a team sport as it takes an entire team to create success out on the race track. It’s similar to football where there are 11 players on the field and each player has a job. There is an important relationship between coach and quarterback to lead the team to victory. Racing is no different. Each member of the pit crew has a job to help the team reach success. There is an important relationship between driver and crew chief that will lead the team to victory. In both cases if one part of the team underperforms, it can affect the entire team’s performance.
D’Adamo: While those with shallow knowledge of racing only think of speed, how much is involved in terms of strategy?
Weiler: I think there are three parts to success in auto racing, speed as you have mentioned, luck and strategy.
In professional racing, teams have a strategist that is responsible to compose a strategy that will give the best possible result. Teams have race day strategy meetings to ensure the entire team is on the same page with what strategy will be used to acquire the best possible outcome. There are factors such as luck, driver skill, and championship points implications that can help form a strategy for the team. Long and short term goals are another factor. Some teams will have a more aggressive strategy focusing entirely on the win while other teams take a more conservative approach and focus more on points or preservation of equipment. All the best strategy plans can be thrown out the window and changed when weather, human error and other factors come into play.
D’Adamo: Within your family, who have been the most influential people?
Weiler: The most influential person within my family has been my daughter Victoria. Her love,
encouragement and support has really helped me keep going when I was at my lowest points and wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue racing. She is my biggest cheerleader and no matter how I finished in a particular race, she is always proud of me. It makes everything OK and helps me move forward with not only my racing goals but life goals.
D’Adamo: Name a historical figure, dead or alive, in or out of sports you would most like to meet. What would intrigue you about meeting him or her?
Weiler: Alan Kulwicki former NASCAR champion who lost his life in a plane crash in April of 1993. I have always rooted for the underdog and Alan was just that. He was an underdog that rose up and beat the odds winning a NASCAR championship with a underfunded small team. The intrigue is how he was able to pull off such an amazing feat when nobody ever thought he could do it. I would want to know what makes a man like that tick. How he was able to overcome insurmountable odds to be a champion and how he was able to focus on his dream being one of the largest underdogs in the field. I would want to know all this to apply them to my own racing career and life.
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