Cameron and Randy Weaver following Cameron’s Smoky Mountain win in March
Ideally during the course of a young race car driver’s career, there should be some sort of progression as that individual gains more experience. That progression can occur in multiple ways. The driver can remain within a particular division and simply get better in that form of competition over the course of time. Or, the driver can gain some degree of mastery in one division then seek to move higher up in the ranks of the sport.
Many stall out when they attempt to move up the racing ladder. Either they plateau within that one division or they have great difficulty finding success at a higher level. This is sometimes brought on by trying to take on too much too fast either in the form of scheduling or the level of competition.
One driver who appears to be progressing at an appropriate pace as he moves from division to division is second-generation up-and-comer Cameron Weaver. The 23-year-old son of Randy Weaver did not start racing as early in life as many of those he competes against so the Crossville, Tennessee native is now working hard to earn his own place in the highly competitive world of Dirt Late Model racing.
In doing so, the young driver raised some eyebrows in 2021 by scoring ten feature victories. That came on the heels of a three-win effort in 2020.
The high water mark in 2021 for this rising star came in mid-summer when Weaver picked a $10,040 win in the J.T. Kerr Memorial race for 604 Crate Late Model cars at 411 Motor Speedway on June 26th. He immediately followed that up with a $3,000 American Crate All Star Series feature win at the Crossville Speedway on July 2nd in the J. Paul Smith Memorial. Prior to those wins, he had earned $1,500 in a 604 feature at Smoky Mountain Speedway on in early March.
The Kerr Memorial triumph at 411 was particularly special for the younger Weaver as he held off his father to claim the checkered flag.
Obviously, Weaver hopes to build on last season’s success as he embarks on the 2022 campaign. To do so, he plans to continue his upward progression by adding in some Super Late Model shows to go along with more Crate events as well as some Topless Outlaws Dirt Late Model Series races for Limited Steelhead machines.
“I hope to do that,” Weaver told InsideDirtRacing.com. “It’s been a long off-season. We’ve been excited to get back. We want to do some testing with a couple of Super guys and we’re excited to branch out a little bit and do some Super stuff. We’re still going to run some of the bigger Crate races and a lot of the Topless Outlaws stuff. We’re just excited and we built up a pretty good notebook last year. We’re going to try to stay around what I call my wheelhouse, around the east Tennessee area and a couple of Georgia tracks to see where we stack up.”
The learning curve will likely be a steep one as Weaver has very little experience in the most powerful of Dirt Late Models. Still, he is excited for the opportunity.
“With a Super motor, none,” Weaver replied when asked exactly how much Super Late Model experience he has. “I’ve taken this car, which is my Steelhead car, and ran two races that were pick-and-choose. I took it to Boyd’s and I took it to Talladega one time. When dad drove for Parker Martin, I drove his (SLM)car and made five laps practicing in it and that was my first time behind a Super motor. I’m excited for it. I think it’s going to be fun.”
While the rising star has his highly successful father to rely on for advice, he also knows that the is no substitute for gaining his own experience.
“It’s really hard,” he said of making the transition from one division to another. “The only thing I drove before this Steelhead stuff was Crate, I went straight into Crates. The Steelhead probably makes about 200 to 250 more horsepower than my Crate motor does. I took that jump and I ran okay, I won three or four Steelhead races last year at Boyd’s and I-75 so I was thinking that 250 jump ain’t that bad. Then when I got to drive dad’s car, the one he was driving, and it was another 250 horsepower on top of that, and that extra 250 is a big jump.”
Cameron Weaver in his No. 116 machine
Another thing that makes the transition to Super Late Models challenging is the level of competition. Weaver hopes to do most of his racing in that division with Chris Tilley’s Valvoline Iron-Man Late Model Series and Ray Cook’s Schaeffer’s Oil Spring Nationals and Southern Nationals.
“If you look at the competition around here and you look at the races and the money being put up around here, it’s great,” he declared. “You’ve got Tilley’s series, you’ve got Ray Cook’s stuff, and you’ve got Lucas Oil coming into 411, you’ve got Ultimate coming to Smoky Mountain. There’s going to be a lot of good Super races in this region.”
So what will make for a successful 2022 for Cameron Weaver?
“I hope to have wins in multiple divisions. We’re not going to run for points. We’re just going to pick and choose like we did last year and go where I think is best for myself, my race cars, and my race team. Hopefully we can get a couple of Super wins, a couple of Steelhead wins and a couple of Crate wins.”
Respond to this post on Twitter by following @RichardAllenIDR and @MichaelRMoats or by liking the InsideDirtRacing.com Facebook page.
Also, NASCAR and pavement racing fans can check out InsideCircleTrack.
