"Einstein" Eclipses 400 Races, Sets Sight on 600

 

Whether you realize it or not, if you've been to even a handful of
Sports Car Club of America Club Racing events over the years, you know
Mark Weber. 

It might be name recognition, as Weber has spent the better part of his
SCCA tenure as a photographer whose work has appeared in almost every
major motorsports magazine in the country.  

It might be through stories about long-time racers told around SCCA
paddock campfires or in tech sheds.  

Chances are, however, that if you know Mark Weber, it's by his
unmistakable casual look - a trademark untucked Hawaiian shirt, shorts
and a thatch of gray hair that so savagely roams his dome that no comb
has dared come in contact with it in years.  It's a look that Albert
Einstein himself would have marveled at.

If that description doesn't match anyone you know, it's not Weber's
fault.  Some people refer to him as "the photographer," and he is
everywhere on a race weekend, either competing or scooting from spot to
spot with cameras in tow.  

Take a walk with Weber around a track, and it quickly becomes clear that
he has a story or two about everybody, which isn't surprising
considering his 30 years of SCCA experiences and 400 SCCA Club Races - a
plateau he topped June 5 at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kan.  

The stories come easily because, for Weber, being at a track, any track,
on a race weekend is a little slice of heaven.

"The people at the race track, some of them I've known for 35 years,"
the 51 year old from St. Louis said. "Some of them are my very best
friends in the whole world, and that's a pretty dandy thing.  I don't
know as many people in St. Louis as I do at the race track."

Weber's SCCA journey began in 1970.  He was a pioneer of sorts,
venturing into motorsports whereas no other member of his family had
ever done so previously.  

 Though no one had ever paved a way for him to follow, Weber's path, from
a very early age, was guided by his keen interest in cars.  

 "I'm the kid who never grew up," Weber said.  "I went from model cars,
to slot cars, to go karts at the age of 12 and then to big cars.  I
thought cars were cool and a neighbor took me out to Mid-America Raceway
for a USAC stock car race.  Then, I found out there was SCCA sports car
racing there as well two or three times a year. 

"I went to a few of those as a spectator, and then went to a place
called 'European Car Parts' where I could buy parts for my Sprite that I
drove on the street.  There was a little poster that said 'St. Louis
Region SCCA, call this number.'"   

Weber called it, attended a local meeting and joined the Club soon
after.  

Nearly 35 years have transpired since he first obtained his membership,
and Weber has witnessed change ebb and flow its way through the Club.  

 

Two things stand out most notably, he said - the level of technology in
the cars he now competes against and the preparation time that others
spend in building their rides.

 

"The saying goes 'if the rule says the part is free, it's far from it,'"
Weber said.  "When I started Production car racing, you could build your
own racecar and be productive.  Now, you have to engineer a car.  It's
not like the good ol' days where the rules were restrictive enough that
a backyard mechanic could build a car to the edge of the rules and be
competitive.

 

"Now, you look at any car that might win a national championship in
Production Car racing, and those cars aren't just built, they're
engineered with test days and more test days.  I'm not an engineer.  I
want to go race something.  I don't want to have to spend all of my time
on the setup."

 

Besides various issues with cars, Weber has been known to speak his mind
with club leaders on various levels when he felt things weren't quite
right, but that's more the exception than his norm.

 

Weber is a wealth of knowledge, which he good-naturedly imparts to
others as part teacher, two parts comedian and all motorsports
enthusiast.  

 

Amazingly, the wildest characteristic Weber possesses may not be his
joke repertoire or his hairstyle. It could be his penchant for not
sitting still.  

 

Whether it's early-morning ice hockey (consider it a sunrise league) a
couple of times a week in St. Louis (even competing against St. Louis
Blues players on occasion), shooting race photography all over the
country for a myriad of clients, working ride-and-drive logistics events
for RealTime Racing and Logistics or doing his own racing, Weber is
hardly ever home. 

 

"Last year I was on the road about 265 days, and this year is going to
be worse," Weber said.  "That number probably included a few vacation
days, but very few.  All the other days were car related. It's plenty of
days on the road, and I don't really know how long I can keep doing
that."

 

A typical Weber weekend played itself out a few weekends ago when he
wrapped up a photo shoot in Detroit before flying to St. Louis to load
up his race car and arrive in Topeka, Kan. after midnight for a National
race on Sunday.  

 

As soon as the race was over, he reloaded and drove back home that
evening, just so he could grab a few hours of sleep before playing
hockey at 6:30 a.m.  

 

There aren't many insomniacs who would attempt to live that way, and
Weber admitted that maintaining that lifestyle has taken a toll on him,
but he's far from ready to give it up.

 

"The problem is, I keep managing to pull those schedules off," Weber
said. "It keeps working, so I keep doing it."  

 

Whether the rest of his life keeps up its hectic pace or not, Weber says
his race plans are to keep competing against the young guys until he
hits 600 races.  It will take some time, but it's a goal Weber feels
confident he can achieve by averaging about 12 races a year and
continuing to compete in two classes (F Production and G Production).

 

"I started competing when I was 21," Weber said.  "And for a long time,
20 years or more, I would do 40-45 events a year, whether that was a
one-day thing or the Runoffs.

 

"So, I am in my 32nd season now and have 18 to go for 50, where I would
be 70 at the end of that season.  Right now, I feel good and figure I
will race 18 more years.  But when I'm 70, I will reserve the right to
say 'Hey! Let's go another year and see how we feel.'  I think I still
have the energy to make 600 races in 50 years, which would be a pretty
sweet number."

 

Yes, Mark, it would be.