Going into the finale event, Adam Carberry led Josh Weller by one point. In a complete 180 from the 2019 season each position during both races at Bridgeport Speedway would make or break the championship for the two contenders. Adam Carberry, the driver from Bensalem, PA who secured his first United Racing Club win earlier in the year at Grandview Speedway was poised and ready to take on the 2018 champion, Josh Weller, hungry for his second championship. Both races had highs and lows for the two racers, but when the dust settled at the end of the weekend, it would be Adam Carberry who would become the 2020 United Racing Club Champion.
In a year unlike any other, the 2020 season started with a total of nine cancellations due to COVID-19 and governmental restrictions on the amount of people able to attend events. The United Racing Club was able to finally kick off the season at Big Diamond in June and continued to run 9 full point shows, with one show up point race. Luck seemed to be on Carberry’s side this year – something that has seemed to plague the green no. 47 machine in years past. Though the team had the worst average pill draw across the season, that never seemed to keep Adam from moving up positions throughout the heat races and feature events. “We never rely on good pill draw to set us up for the night” said Adam, “starting towards the back makes you a better driver.”
Speed never seemed to be an issue for Carberry as he racked up 3 quick-times in hot laps, and always found himself towards the top of the speed charts. Adam started the season with a ninth place finish at Big Diamond Speedway, which ultimately would be his worst finish of the year. He then racked up finishes of fourth, eighth, sixth and another ninth before picking up his first win at Grandview Speedway. “It’s a great feeling to finally get our first win and really a big weight lifted off our shoulders” said Carberry, “just to get past that point and know we are capable of winning races when we have no issues is huge.” Carberry had to come from the eighth starting spot to win which in Adam’s words “made it even better since we passed a lot of good cars.” It was after that win that Carberry really thought he would have a shot at winning the championship.
After Grandview, it was all about consistency for the driver of the number 47. He knew that in order to win the championship he needed to continue showing speed, and continue to finish up front, and at Georgetown he did just that by finishing on the podium in second place. This set the stage, one point separated Carberry from Weller with only the finale weekend at Bridgeport remaining. Night one of Bridgeport went very well for Carberry and his team. They were able to set quick time in hot laps and ultimately finish second the arguably the best 360 driver in the country, Mark Smith. Adam was able to extend his lead over Weller going into the final night.
It all came down to one race, with less than 15 points between the two, Carberry knew he needed to keep Weller in his sights if he wanted to secure his first championship. Both drivers performed the same in their heat race, meaning they would only start a mere 4 positions away from each other in the feature. About mid-way through Weller was looking strong while Carberry seemed to be lacking the speed he showed the night before. However, everything took a turn when Weller and Grasso got into a small tangle on the backstretch causing injury to Weller’s car for the remainder of the race. Carberry was able to pick spots off for the rest of the night and end the race in ninth with Weller only one spot ahead of him in eighth. That one spot was enough to secure Adam the championship.
“I honestly never thought we would win the championship,” said Carberry, “we literally just hope we can make as many races as possible and with the last 3 years being problem plagued we just wanted to finish races so we could learn and I could get comfortable.” Adam would like to thank his dad, Ken Carberry, for being the reason he is competitive and able to stay racing all year. He would also like to thank his wife, Allison for being supportive every year, his crew Kyle, Mike, Ken, and Dave who always come to help no matter what. Adam sends a special thank you out to R&S General Contractors for being their one and only sponsor for years, DMY Performance for great motors, Coleby Frye for doing his shocks, and Butch and Pete from GME Steerings. Look for the number 47 to be just as fast, if not faster in the 2021 season as he looks to defend his championship.
On behalf of the United Racing Club, Congratulations Adam! We know you will represent the club well as the 2020 champion.
Keep an eye on URC’s social media for updates on the 2021 schedule, as well as banquet and rules meeting information. See you next year!
Photo credit: Jesse Carberry
- Casey Robicheau on Dec 11, 2020
- Article Date: 12/10/2020 by Casey Robicheau