The Wes Burton story

Wes grew up in the small town of Chiefland, FL. His passion for racing developed at age 8 when is father bought Wes a go-kart. After turning his first lap, it was apparent that Wes had an amazing natural ability to hustle a racecar. The racing bug had bit Wes Burton.

With the help of his father and brother, Wes began what has become the story of his life: whipping the competition with a lot less money. Wes and family proceeded to rack up over 100 wins in go-karts from Florida to Delaware.

As Wes entered his teens, the family knew it was time to get away from the karts and move Wes into a full-size racecar. Their car of choice was an open wheel modified to race at Bronson Speedway and other surrounding racing facilities. Before Wes could generate a great deal of success, the under-funded family team suffered a devastating blow as they exploded an engine during a race. Wes was forced to watch from the sidelines for the rest of the year. Fortunately for Wes, his brother Randy helped a lot of race teams in the area and was able to keep Wes in various cars so that he could continue to develop as a driver. They got their modified back together, but Wes knew he was going to have to do something drastic to take advantage of his driving abilities. Wes looked for a role model who shared similar difficulties that he faced, and he found that in Alan Kulwicki.

Alan Kulwicki changed NASCAR. He was the first to step into the driver's seat with a mechanical engineering degree from an accredited college. Kulwicki showed that an under-funded team that was efficient could conquer teams that were based solely around money. Through Kulwicki's triumph, Wes realized that what he lacked in money he could make up in brains. Wes packed up all his belongings and headed north to Charlotte, NC. He enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Once at Charlotte, Wes's future instantly turned brighter. The school housed a 2 car Legends team program, as well as a Formula-SAE program. Wes was able to try out for the Legends team as a freshman and was faster than the rest of the team. He was instantly named one of the 6 drivers and helped turn the team into a top Legends team in the Charlotte/Concord area. Through his success with the Legends program, Wes was asked to drive the school's Formula-SAE open wheel car at the annual Detroit competition. FSAE is a competition where top schools from all over the country build Formula style cars from the ground up and compete against each other in various static and dynamic events.

Another turning point in the development of Wes Burton was when he was hired as a parts guru at Hendrick Motorsports. Wes was able to develop solid relationships with fellow co-workers at Hendrick and begin learning the in's and out's at a top-notch racing organization. Wes was promoted to machinist in Hendrick's premiere engine shop after graduation from UNC-C. Shortly after, he was moved into an engineering role for Rick Hendrick's NASCAR Busch Series program working with drivers such as Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Casey Mears, Adrian Fernandez, and others.

As Wes was fighting for his education, he made time to develop friendships with racers from all over the United States. Some classmates of Wes's were former Yates development driver Matt McCall and current part-time Busch driver Richard Johns. Wes also ran across a highly intelligent engineer from West Virginia who was forced to give up racing due to lack of funds. His name is Tim Jenkins. They both realized that neither could afford to go racing on their own, but if they put their small piles of money together, they may be able to race a little on the weekends.

First, the duo attempted to build a Hooters Pro Cup car. They figured parts could be readily available with Wes's Hendrick connection. As it turned out, no amount of hard work or help could fund an attempt at a Hooters Pro Cup event. The project sat stagnant in Wes's garage.

Meanwhile, Tim ran across a deal on a dirt modified. To say the least, the car needed a little bit of work. In fact, the car wasn't even allowed in the shop due to fear of infection. The duo scrambled and got the car together for the final few races of the 2005 racing season. They bought an engine out of a friend's tow truck and stuck it directly in the car. The only thing they changed was the oil and the cam shaft. Needless to say, it was a real surprise when they finished in the top 7 in the first 4 races they ran, with a best finish of 3rd at 311 Speedway in Madison, NC. Competitors were surprised when the heavy leaf spring car with a rich fire out the exhaust sailed by them on the high side.

Wes and Tim decided that they were going to step it up for the 2006 season and sold everything that they could. They purchased a used straight rail car out of Tennessee that came from Florida. They cut it apart and updated it to the best of their knowledge for the 2006 season. The 16B car was transformed into "The Riddler!"

When asked what kind of car Wes brought to Florence for their debut in June of 2006, he shrugged his shoulders and said "I don't know? I guess it's a Riddler." The name stuck with the car and the race team. "The Riddler" is unique in that the chassis is truly just a housing for the new points installed by Wes, Tim, and team. The car is extremely adjustable and the pickup points are exactly true to the desired geometry. In their first race, Riddler Racing with Wes Burton driving scored their first top 10.

However, that race at Florence was not Wes's first super late model race. Wes made his debut in March of 2006 in a Carl Addy prepared late model owned by Kent Bissell at Orlando Speedworld. Because the feature lineup was determined by points, Wes was forced to start in the back. Wes drove from 15th to 1st in 8 laps. He continued to lead until current ARCA racer Michael Faulk passed Wes on the final lap. Though disappointed for not winning, Wes knew it was an amazing debut for him in a super late model.

Since Orlando, Wes and the Riddler Racing team have raced in 4 different series at over 15 tracks. They continue to race in debt, pushing forward to make it in the racing world. They will continue to push and race one level ahead of what they can afford. Many victories will come and Riddler Racing will, in the end, come out ahead like the "Underbird" Alan Kulwicki through hard work, determination, and intelligence. Feel free to keep up with Wes Burton and Riddler Racing by reading our stories in the "adventure" section above.