KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Aug. 5, 2008) — Greg Weld, who raced his way into the sprint car record books then went on to start his own custom wheel manufacturing company, died Aug. 4 at 64 from undisclosed complications.
Mr. Weld won more than 100 sprint car races including the 1963 Knoxville Nationals, the premier event in sprint car racing, and won the United States Auto Club series (USAC) National Sprint Car Championship at the age of 23. He was the 1967 USAC Sprint Car Series champion.
He raced in the USAC Championship Car series in the 1965-1972 seasons, and had 36 career starts, including in the 1970 Indianapolis 500— his only start at the famed “Brick Yard—where he qualified as the fastest rookie and finished 32nd. Mr. Weld finished 11 times in the USAC's top 10, with his best finish in 4th position in 1970 at Sacramento.
According to the Associated Press, he finished his driving career at age 30 with a fourth-place finish in the 1974 USAC Silver Crown series. In his final race, he was runner-up to A.J. Foyt in a 50-mile sprint car race on the Indiana State Fairgrounds dirt track two nights before the 1974 Indy 500.
Mr. Weld was inducted into a number of halls of fame including the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1998.
In the shop of his dad, Taylor “Pappy” Weld, the young Mr. Weld developed a new kind of sprint car wheel—the original Weld Racing wheels—with a unique design that his company's Web site said “was lighter, truer and stronger than the competition," noting that “with those same wheels, Greg won the 1967 USAC National Sprint Car Championship.”
In 1967 he founded Kansas City, Mo.-based Weld Wheel Industries with $2,300 he saved from racing, according to his Web site. The company manufactured forged alloy wheels for various vehicles, including race cars, and over the years has been an active sponsor of the USAC, National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) and International Hot Rod Association (IHRA).
The Web site said “top pros took notice of the new wheel design and its unique features, which actually increased the strength and concentricity of the wheel while reducing unsprung weight.
“For Greg, challenging the limits of conventional thinking came as second nature. His next vision was forging racing wheels out of aluminum.”
Mr. Weld is quoted on his Web site as saying he “always knew we would succeed. That comes from believing in what you're doing and striving to do it better than anyone thought possible.”
In January 2007, he started a new firm, Greg Weld Competition Wheels.
His survivors include his wife Deb, former wife Marilyn Brockman-Weld, a daughter and two sons.
Services were to be held Friday, Aug. 8 at the Kansas City Baptist Temple, Raytown, Mo.