It was June 27, 1998 when Roger Welch brought home a trophy for his wife Jennifer's birthday. He won Sunshine Speedway's last Wet'N Wild event, starting on the pole and leading the entire race. With cars sliding all around him, he drove with caution and prevailed as the king of the wet asphalt. Roger began racing Enduros back in 1996 and soon became a top five driver. It was common occurance to see him charging from the rear to the front of the field in 15 laps to battle with drivers who had been racing much longer than he. Since, he's enjoyed 5 feature event wins along with two Buddy Team Enduro race wins with fellow driver, Herman Brame.

Now 31, Roger is racing weekly in the Street Stock class. He commented, "I love Street Stocks 'cause I love to beat and bang and you can do that with these cars. In Open Wheel Modified and Late Model, you have to worry about damaging expensive cars, in Street Stock, it's expected. This class is so competitive, I just love it. All the guys go out there to win and noone dominates the class which makes it even more interesting. On any night, any one of those drivers can take the checkered flag. Take Dan Partelo, last week he got on the pole and ran a consistant line and won." When asked how his car (a '75 Malibu) was running, "I was really worried last week, we had a brand new motor but it just felt like it had a miss in it. After the race, John Makula came up to me and commented on how fast I was running and how hard it was for him to get by me, that made me feel great! You know how fast Makula is and if I was able to hold him off, that's cool!"

His first year in Street Stock, Roger finished 18th in points, the goal for this year is to finish in the top ten and admits, "I'd love to win a championship one year, that would be great!" "I love racing, the adrenaline rush, it's better than drugs. I still get butterflies but once you get out there, there's nothing like it, it's such a high."

Welch was born in Dayton, Ohio but moved to Florida at the age of 5. He grew up playing baseball and softball until getting into racing. Roger and Jennifer have been married for 12 years and have three children, Christina,11, Amber,11 and Roger,10 months. I asked if he planned to get his son into racing and after seeing the child's room, completely covered in racing memorablia, it's hard to imagine him not. "I'd like to see him get involved in racing but you just never know with kids, what will interest them as they get older," Welch explained. At the track to support Roger every week is his mother and step father, Kathy and Chuck Johnson and Rex and Michelle Hawkins, along with Jennifer and his daughters.

Roger has been employed as a salesman at Bob Lee's Tire for nine years. His car is sponsored by Bob Lee's, Signature Mortgage, Seal Best, Rainbow Muffler, www.akaflaboy.com and Robinson Performance Machine.

Helping out on the #98 Street Stock are Jody Butler, George Robinson and Rex Hawkins, Welch's teammate who drives the #99 Enduro.

On a personal note, my first real meeting with Roger was not a favorable one. My husband, Tracy, won his first feature event and Roger came in second. Tracy was disqualified in tech which turned the win over to Roger. Well, he could have been the nicest guy in the world but I wouldn't have seen it. I was furious and being women, Jennifer and I shared a few words. But as usual, the guys were fine, they couldn't understand what all the huff was about, that's racin'! Tracy and Roger never seemed to have a problem with each other, they got along great but Jennifer and I did what alot of women do, we just glared at each other.

As time went on, I got to know Roger and Jennifer and realized that they were great people. We now get along great and often laugh about that night. I always tell them, "Yeah, that was supposed to be our win!"

Time spent racing has often been the cause of divorce. If a wife doesn't understand her husband's passion for racing, she tends to feel ignored. The night I did this story, I had to track Roger down at a race shop to interview him. It was 11:00 and he was still working on cars. I asked if there was something wrong with his car, she answered, "No, that's just Roger, when he's done working on his, he helps everyone else out, he's just like that." "I hate it," she said sarcastically. I knew what she meant, she didn't hate racing, she didn't hate Roger helping others, she understands, it's his passion and she accepts that. Evidence of this is the scrapbooks she keeps of all Roger's race pictures and programs. She even has a picture of daddy's Street Stock tucked in Little Roger's baby album.

Roger Welch is a special guy, he's laid back and friendly, always greeting people with a smile. More than willing to lend a hand, always willing to give advise to new drivers who ask. Next time you're in the pits, stop by and say hi, I think you'll be impressed.

Good luck this year Roger, we'll be looking for you at the awards banquet, collecting that top ten trophy!

-By Patti Brill
Trisha56@aol.com

(Patti Brill writes for the Tampa Tribune and is producer for Short Track USA)