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Weimer Family Business: Georgian Father-Daughter Duo Battling for Pro Trucks Checkereds

By Chuck Corder

From the very beginning, Jami Weimer resisted her father’s pleas to get on the track.

Typical for any 5-year-old American girl, Weimer gravitated to the sport of gymnastics rather than the sport of racing.

Much to her dad’s chagrin, of course.

“When I first got into it, I wanted Jami to race,� 52-year-old Brian Weimer said

“She wanted nothing to do with it.�

That all changed two years ago when Jami Weimer, 20, got behind a Pro Trucks steering wheel.

Now, the Cumming, Ga., native is one of the series’ budding stars at Five Flags Speedway, which is where she’ll be at Friday night.

“Five Flags is second to none,� said Weimer, who sits fourth in the season point standings. “I hate traveling 6 hours each way to race but it’s so worth it to come. It’s my favorite track to run on and I always have a blast coming there.�

The Pro Trucks will race for 25 laps Friday with the Super Late Models in the Deep South Crane Rentals Blizzard Series competing in their third of four 100 lappers this season. Sportsman (25 laps) and Bombers (20 laps) round out the night’s schedule.

Gates open at 4 p.m. Friday and admission is $15 for adults; $12 for seniors, military and students; $5 for children ages 6 to 11; free for kids under 6.

Weimer’s enthusiasm in the Pro Trucks has renewed dear ol’ dad’s interest back into the sport following a mini retirement.

Brian Weimer has been the model of consistency with podium finishes in all three 25-lap features this year. He currently holds a 27-point lead over Texan Andy Wojtaszczyk in the points standings.

Not bad for the former Richard Petty Driving School instructor.

“It a lotta fun,� Brian Weimer said. “I’m certainly trying to get (Jami) better because seat time’s big in this sport.�

The two first raced against each other at last year’s Pro Trucks Snowball Derby. That came barely a year after Jami Weimer first climbed into a Pro Truck.

It seems whatever sport arouses her interest, the younger Weimer takes to it like a duck takes to water. She was a dynamo gymnast as a kid, and continues to nurture that passion by serving as a coach for an elite Georgia team.

While Jami collected hardware on the floor, vault and beam during her childhood, Brian did his part on the track by winning a Bandolero track championship his rookie season at Lanier (Ga.) National Speedway.

“She was darn good at gymnastics — she’d win every meet,� Brian Weimer said. “We’d have contests to see who could get more trophies. She’d kick my butt.�

She was kicking his butt again, but for the first time on a race track, last month at the famed half-mile asphalt oval.

With eventual winner Okie Mason well out of reach, Jami and Brian battled down the stretch during the June 26 feature to see who would come away with runner-up honors.

While Brian Weimer took a few peeks to slide by his daughter in those closing laps, Jami Weimer held her line tight and never wavered despite immense pressure from her father.

“If I could’ve gotten to her on that last lap, I would’ve moved her,� Brian Weimer said, only half-jokingly. “She wasn’t going to beat me. I’m still catching hell over that.�

For her part, Jami Weimer got to celebrate finishing one spot ahead of her dad just five days after Father’s Day.

“Oh, 100 percent I believe that he would’ve put me in the wall if it was for the win and he knows I would do the same thing to him,� she said. “We are very competitive on the track, but once we pull into the pits together, all is good.�

It seems the pair’s bond extends well beyond the typical father-daughter relationship. The duo is virtually inseparable, and it has been that way since Jami was 5.

Each worked their way up in a short time from Legends and Bandoleros before falling in love with the Pro Trucks less than two years ago.

Jami Weimer made her Five Flags debut toward the end of the regular season last year. She made an emphatic statement, leading 22 of the 25 laps before settling for second behind Howard Langham.

After piling up so many victories in Legends and Bandoleros, she’s eager to experience that same kind of joy in the Pro Trucks.

“I’ve been so close with two seconds at Five Flags,� Jami Weimer said. “My first-ever victory was one of the happiest days of my life. I saw how proud it made my dad, seeing his only child racing and in victory lane, it was very special. I couldn't believe it. I made a whole extra lap just to be sure it was the checkered flag.�

Brian Weimer doesn’t have to worry about a lack of interest from his daughter any longer.

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