Cameron Weaver
Following in the footsteps of a famous father in any field is often a difficult task for a son. That seems to be particularly true in racing as fans and fellow competitors alike tend to have extremely high, and sometimes unrealistic, expectations for the second generation driver.
Cameron Weaver is attempting to do exactly that as he looks to start his own career in Dirt Late Model competition. His father, Randy Weaver, measures his feature victories in the hundreds which gives his son a lot to live up to. But at the age of 20, the younger Weaver is taking his turn behind the wheel as he began steering a Crate Late Model just last season.
“I jumped straight into crates last year,” Weaver said in an interview with InsideDirtRacing.com prior to last Thursday night’s action at the Crossville(TN) Speedway. “I drove six crate races last year, and this will be my fourth race this year. That’s just where I came from, no previous experience, no karts or motorcycles or anything. We got a good deal on this crate car so I jumped right into it and here we are.”
Although by most standards in life Weaver is quite young, many other race car drivers began their careers on the track even before they could legally drive a car on the highway. So is this something the Crossville, Tenn. native has always wanted to do or did the bug just recently bite him?
“It’s always been something I wanted to do, but with dad racing it’s always been a real busy schedule and it just hasn’t ever really fit in for me to be able to race,” the driver of the No. 16 Late Model explained. “We just kind of put it off and put it off but when Brandon Overton started driving for us it kind of freed up my time and dad’s time because Vinnie Guliani, Josh Gunter and Grant Pearl were always out with him so we were like ‘Okay we can put something together and try to make a run at some of these things’. When I was sixteen I drove my cousin’s car one time here at Crossville practicing but then it got pushed off until I was nineteen. But yeah, I’ve been around it forever but timing was why it took so long to get it together.”
Cameron Weaver’s No. 16 Crate Late Model
Even though he hasn’t been driving for very long, Weaver has always been involved in dirt racing. As a youngster he could often be found at his father’s shop or on the road with with the championship winning driver. The only thing that interrupted his work in racing was the time he spent as a student and athlete at Stone Memorial High School.
“Every chance I could get throughout the summer I was with him going on the road and doing anything I could do at the shop,” Weaver recalled. “After school I would go to the shop and work and just be there learning so if I ever did get the chance I would know what I was doing.”
While the pressure and expectations may be high for second generation drivers such as Billy Moyer, Jr. and Hudson O’Neal, those young racers also have tremendous resources at their disposal in terms of the knowledge imparted to them buy their successful fathers. Weaver is happy to have that same resource in his corner as he begins his own racing career.
Randy Weaver
“It’s amazing,” he proclaimed. “I mean I can pull out there and think ‘Man, I really don’t know what I’m doing wrong’ and he’s right there to say ‘This is what it looks like you’re doing’ and telling me what it should feel like and telling me how we need to go about fixing it. It’s awesome. I’m very lucky to have that resource in my life and have him as a dad and as a teacher.”
Despite what some might consider a late start, the young driver believes he is learning his craft quickly.
“I feel like I picked up on it pretty fast having been at dirt races for 19 years before I got in one,” he stated. “But after a couple of practice laps you can start to feel if it’s a little tight and understand what everybody is meaning when they say ‘push’ because it won’t steer. And then when you’re loose you feel like you’re about to spin out.”
So how does Cameron Weaver deal with the pressure and expectations that go along with being the son of Randy Weaver?
“That’s what your trademark on the world is- your last name,” the second generation driver declared. “That’s how everybody knows who you are. When you go from Weaver to Weaver it’s definitely going to be some big shoes to fill. I think about it quite a lot and it really pushes me, but I think it’s a good thing. It makes me want to really put in the hours and the effort instead of just being out here halfway and just doing it because I’m his son. It pushes me to shoot for being as good as he was. I don’t think I’ll be there, but that’s what I’m aiming for.”
Weaver’s goals for the foreseeable future are very straightforward.
“The goal is to build our way up over the next couple of years, get some seat time, get some experience, and we’ll talk about going into supers from there.”
