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“Steve Welk Scores Double Podium Finish in the Cooper Tires Formula Ford 2000 Championship”
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – Steve Welk scored two podium finishes in the final Cooper Tires Formula Ford 2000 race of the season at Road America this past weekend. Running with ArmsUp Motorsports, Welk scored a second place finish in a torrential downpour in Saturday’s final and a third place finish in Sunday’s final. The result was even more impressive considering this was the Elkhart Lake resident’s first start in the series since the 2004 season.
Welk started off the weekend by posting the seventh fastest time in qualifying on Friday afternoon. Saturday arrived with a steady mist for most of the day. Having been very fast in practice in the wet, a rain race would not disappoint the team at all. As the cars rolled to the grid for the race one of the weekend a downpour fell on the track. This was exactly what the ArmsUp Motorsports team had wanted. Immediately moving up from his seventh place grid position at the start, Welk crossed the stripe after the first lap in fourth. Two laps later Welk had his Van Diemen in second with his sights set on the leader. With six laps completed of the scheduled 12 a full course caution would be displayed giving the home town favorite one more shot at the leader. However by this time the rains had become severe enough that the race ended under caution. The second place finish was Welk’s best career finish in the Cooper Tires Formula Ford 2000 championship to date.
Based on his fast lap from race one Welk lined up his Linear Sport backed car third on the grid for Sunday afternoon’s race. After an early battle for the second position the ArmsUp Motorsports driver settled into third place with a few laps remaining. On the closing lap the former karting standout had to hold off a charging Noah Bystrom. After a few overtaking tries by Bystrom, Welk was able to hold onto third place just edging out his rival at the line to score his third career FF2000 podium finish.
“This was just an incredible weekend for me,” stated Welk after the race. “I really can’t say enough about this ArmsUp Motorsports team, they did an awesome job this weekend. John Mullen, my race engineer, also did an incredible job getting the most out of me and the car. I really have to thank Briggs & Stratton Motorsports, The Auto Haus on Velp, Stoelting, Welk’s Automotive and all my friends and family for all their support this weekend. This was just a lot of fun and can’t wait to get back into a racecar again.”
Steve Welk will return the wheel of his UEMSI Mazda Miata in October at BlackHawk Farms for the team’s final SCCA race of the season. Welk and ArmsUp Motorsports will now continue their efforts to join the 2007 Champ Car Atlantic Championship. For more information please visit www.SteveWelk.com or www.ArmsUpMotorsports.com.
Steve Welk has been involved in Motorsports for 16 years. Starting his career at the age of eight, Welk has remained focused on his goal of being a professional racecar driver since. In 2006, Welk formed Linear Sport, a driver development company that specializes in helping young drivers develop their racing skills. For more information on Steve Welk, please visit his official web site at www.SteveWelk.com.
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