Jason Welshan
Jason Welshan had a remarkable season in 2014. The Maryville, Tenn. driver tallied 34 victories in the three Late Model classes in which he fields cars. He was a threat to win virtually every time he showed up at a racetrack around the east Tennessee region, particularly in his Crate Late Model.
The season currently being put together by the 36-year-old racer would be considered great in the eyes of many, but for Welshan, it isn’t up to the lofty standards he sets for himself.
“It’s been a little slow right now,” Welshan admitted in an interview with InsideDirtRacing.com prior to the recent UCRA event at 411 Motor Speedway. “We’ve just got six victories to this point and I think that last year we were around 15 at this point. We’ve kind of got off to a slow start and had some bad luck. We’ve been in position to win races, but we’ve just not sealed the deal.”
While the factors that he cannot control haven’t worked out in Welshan’s favor so far this season, he believes the things he can control are as good or better than ever before. He contends that each of his Late Model programs are progressing nicely.
“Our steel head(Limited Late Model) program is getting a little bit better.,” the driver proclaimed. “I think we set on the front row with two poles about a week ago then ran second one night and was going to run second the next night but hit some oil and spun out.
“Our crate program is as good as it has been, but we just haven’t got the finishes we were hoping for,” he further explained.
Welshan also believes that a new chassis recently brought into his stable is showing positive signs for his Super Late Model efforts.
“We’re trying to do a little bit more Super Late Model racing with our Rocket, we’ve got a brand new blue/gray Rocket,” he said. “We had some things off on it when I first put it together but we got it figured out after we talked to Mark Richards. Last weekend here at 411(Ultimate Supers) we were going to have a top-5 finish but had a little fire problem. We got that straightened out and went to Bulls Gap for the Southern All Stars race and ended up fourth, and had a shot at running second. I’m real pleased with the way that’s turned around.”
Welshan’s #29 machine
Despite the lower number of wins, Welshan still maintains a positive viewpoint on 2015.
“All in all, I can’t complain about the way the season is, but it’s no where close to what 2014 was.”
After coming off such a successful campaign as the No. 29 team had in 2014, how is it possible to set goals for the next season?
“I’m always one who sets the bar high,” Welshan declared. “We won 34 races last year and I set the bar to win 35 this year, but it’s not going to pan out that way. I’ve told my guys that we’ve been down here but we just need to be patient. I feel like we’ve been tested because we did have such a good year last year, and the previous three years we’ve won 25-plus races. We could do no wrong in 2014, but I think everything has caught up to us this year. So 2015 is about patience. I feel we’re fixing to turn the season around.”
