250 Words: Phoenix
In Anaheim 1’s 250 Words last week, DC closed by saying that “how quickly Hepler (11th) and Metcalfe (19th) can rebound could be the story of Phoenix.” Although both of those riders did vastly improve (Hepler was fourth, Metcalfe third), the story of the Phoenix Lites turned out to be a rider that didn’t receive much attention at Anaheim because he didn’t even make the main event!
Torco Racing Fuels Honda’s Jake Weimer was a pre-season title favorite coming into the season, but his championship hopes diminished greatly after a dismal outing in Anaheim, where he separated his shoulder and failed to qualify for the Lites main. Weimer came into Phoenix with nothing to lose, and it showed.
Jake came out of the afternoon practice sessions with the fourth-fastest practice time, and followed that up by a fourth-place in his heat race. He then pulled the holeshot in the main, but slipped to third-place for the next nine laps, staving off the attacks of Brett Metcalfe, Jason Lawrence and Justin Brayton. Weimer inherited the lead after mistakes by both Hepler and Ryan Dungey, and weathered a last-lap attack by Anaheim winner Dungey to take the first win of his young career.
The win catapults Weimer to sixth in points, but he’s still 22 off the leader Dungey. Although it seems like a long-shot for Jake to win the championship, don’t count him out. If you recall, last year’s Eastern Regional champion, Ben Townley, started off the series with a DNF and rebounded to win Round 2, then ultimately the championship, so anything is possible!
