Beamer wants to contend for gold

By Ed Turner For the News & Messenger
Published: August 14, 2008

Jeff Beamer is picking it up in U-Cars at Old Dominion Speedway. The 34-year-old Harper’s Ferry driver has climbed to fourth in points in the division after posting his sixth top five of the season.
“Billy Ingle, Randy Jesse and a couple of my friends have really helped me out this season,” Beamer said. “I’ve taken racing a lot more seriously and have practiced more and learned a lot.”
In fact, Beamer has improved significantly over the season. In his first six races, he had two top fives. In his last five, he has racked up four top threes, including a win. Beamer said that Ingle has given him feedback on what he was doing wrong and what he was doing right. 
  “I learned a lot from the guy,” Beamer said. “And I have a lot more confidence and a lot more know how than I did at the beginning of the season.”
Beamer’s most exciting race occurred on his birthday on July 19th when he notched his first win. It was especially satisfying because he had invited his mother, his stepdaughter and other friends to the track. His fiancée, Jody, was also there to see him arrive in victory lane.
  “That was something else,” he said. “I was on a nice cloud. The thing that I liked about that race was that I didn’t start first. Starting sixth made it more challenging because I had to work through the field.”
This season hasn’t been all roses for Beamer. He had a motor go bad, an axle pop out in one race, a spindle break, and a wreck. The crash bent parts that took several races to find.
“But out of all the bad things that happened this year, I was still able to learn and know what to look for in the future,” Beamer said.
  In his last bad finish, a 10th on July 12th, Beamer’s shifting linkage broke. But that made him more determined and he started checking everything on the car before unloading it from the trailer. He also practiced hard before the next race, testing air pressures and other things.
  The next week, it paid off with his first victory.
“That night, I wanted a win,” he said. “I was hungry for it.”
Beamer had always been a racecar fan. But in 2001, Ingle introduced him to demolition derbies, which his family was involved in. He and Ingle put together a car in four hours for a derby and then Beamer came in second overall.
Beamer ran about 20 derbies and collected at least five trophies. Then, in 2006, Ingle encouraged him to run U-Cars, and Beamer was quickly hooked.
“You think it’s going to be easy until you get out on the track,” Beamer said. “But it’s not like holding a joy stick in NASCAR 2008.”
  That first season, Beamer ran a few races and then, in 2007, went full-time and finished eighth, with one top five. He outdid that in the first two races this season, with a fourth and a second.
Now that he’s moved up to the next skill level, he’s eager to keep the strong finishes coming.
“It’s a fun hobby,” Beamer said. “But I’m there to contend and to go for the gold.”