When Daryn Weatherman first built Weatherman Motorsports around the racing careers of sons Kyle and Clayton, the idea was to let his personal family become the nucleus of a much larger racing team family. The team family had to mirror his own; they had to be driven, focused, hard –working and dedicated to taking an under-funded team all the way to the top. Excellence was the foundation of their organization. The success Kyle and Clayton saw on the track attracted some pretty solid names in the racing world who shared the vision and lent their expertise.
Carlisle McNair came into the equation when the boys were fairly young – racing Bandoleros and Legends cars. A longtime family friend, McNair has a deep love of racing and is a skilled investor. He saw the passion the boys had and the driving instincts that came naturally to them. Wanting to be a part of the realization of their dreams, he has been a loyal sponsor of Weatherman Motors for years. He sees the absolute potential for this team to go all the way to the top.
That potential is being realized. With the 2016 ARCA Series in full swing, Roush Fenway development driver Kyle Weatherman is in the forefront of the pack with a solid shot at the series championship. Currently in third place behind Chase Briscoe and Josh Williams, Kyle plans on giving the two frontrunners a run for their money. Kyle was midway through last season when he realized he had a shot at Rookie of the Year. With a motivated team behind him, Kyle shot for Rookie of the Year and hit his mark. That experience has left them all convinced they can do it again – this time for the series championship.
One key element helping to propel this team to that championship goal is Greg Purkey of Purkey Motorsports who is, as Daryn Weatherman calls him, “a true artist.” Purkey is the fabricator and car chief. He builds the body of the car from scratch, a path he got started on in the late 80s when he went to work for a cup team. It was a natural path for him, as he’d grown up building racing dirt cars. In 1994, he went to work hanging bodies on race cars. Over his 20+ years of experience, he’s worked with various household names like Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Johnny Sauter, and Jamie McMurray. Certain that the Weatherman brothers will also become household names, Purkey is excited to be “fielding cars prepared for 2015 Scott Rookie of the Year Kyle Weatherman of Weatherman Motorsports for upcoming events in the ARCA Series.” He continues, “We expect nothing less than to go win with Kyle.”
Tony Furr, Kyle’s crew chief, has tons of astounding history being a winning crew chief. He was the crew chief for legendary Cale Yarborough MotorSports from ’95 -97, he won the Firecracker 400 with John Andretti in ’97 and went on to work for Hendrick MotorSports from ’97 – ’03 where he was the crew chief for the #5 car and then later the #25 car. He has worked with a variety of Sprint Cup teams since.
As his experience indicates, to gain his involvement, there has to be a really strong possibility for long-term achievement. Another valuable member of the team is Lee Keach of United Nissan. Like Carlisle McNair, Keach has been a longtime supporter of the brothers Weatherman dating back to when Kyle was eight years old and Clayton was only six. He saw their promise in the sport and has been a dedicated and loyal part of their success thus far. Keach is on board with chasing after the vision of taking the ARCA series. As an investor in the team, he supplies lots of parts and pieces that make the car a winning machine.
Two other pros who are confident in this team are David King and Andy Hillenburg of Fast Track Racing. Fast Track is a high performance driving school that is closely tied to ARCA. David, who has a background in marketing and track promotion and is the manager of Fast Track, assembles needed personnel and equipment for Weatherman Motorsports so that everything goes smoothly at the track. Andy, a past ARCA champion, is both Kyle’s spotter and his driver coach. He is Kyle’s eyes and ears throughout the race and not only believes that Kyle has what it takes to steer into the championship, he looks forward to an exciting path locking arms with Weatherman Motorsports. “The thing that’s unique about the Weatherman family is that not only do they have one good little race car driver, they have two. That’s like hitting the lottery back-to-back.”
All of these incredibly talented professionals, combined with longtime sponsors Turn One Condo #204 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and St. Charles Glass, play into the potential for Kyle to exit this season with championship in hand. All eyes are on the July 9 race in Iowa where the Weatherman Motorsports team is on the hunt for a tremendous victory that will bring them one step closer to becoming the season champs.
Weatherman Motorsports PR
