MOORESVILLE, NC (October 28, 2015) – After a first year of ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards competition that included two wins and a total of 22 top ten finishes, Lira Motorsports is looking to build on their success as they plan their driver roster for 2016. Having already announced that Clayton Weatherman is testing an ARCA car with the team on November 3rd, and that Kyle Weatherman was tapped to be one of the drivers in the team’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut on November 20th, it should come as no surprise that the brothers from Wentzville, Missouri will both figure into team plans for next year.
Sixteen-year-old Clayton is slated for a partial schedule of ARCA Racing Series events in 2016. The ARCA Series rules currently state that drivers age 16 are eligible to drive in competition on tracks one mile and under, as well as on road courses. Once he turns 17 in early June, he will be eligible to race in events at Pocono Raceway and Kentucky Speedway.
The schedule for older brother Kyle, who is eighteen, is still to be determined. A schedule of both ARCA Racing Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series events is likely, with Kyle and the team still working on developing marketing partnerships for both series. Kyle, the ARCA Racing Series’ 2015 Rookie points leader, collected one win and thirteen top ten finishes in 15 starts, en route to finishing 10th in the driver points standings for the year.
In a recent interview with Race Chaser Online, Kyle commented “I’m really pumped up about it — for me personally, this is huge for my career… Their shop is awesome and every crew member that works over there is dedicated to what they do… They started out the year with [just the one] ARCA team and now they’ve got four ARCA cars and soon to be two Trucks in their shop — even though there’s a lot going on, everyone has a task at hand and they make sure they accomplish it. That’s awesome to be a part of.”
The team is expected to make additional driver announcements in the months leading up to green flag of ARCA’s 64th consecutive season at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016. Team owners Carlos and Amanda Lira have previously stated that they intend on fielding multiple entries in the ARCA Series in 2016, as they did in 2015. The team will enter Daytona next year with all four of the ARCA Series car numbers it owns in the top twenty in ARCA Series owner points standings (10th, 12th, 14th and 20th).
The team has also stated that it intends to field two entries in the 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Daytona as well. A Truck Series schedule for the team beyond Daytona is yet to be announced.
For information about marketing partnerships available with Lira Motorsports for 2016, please email LiraMotorsports@gmail.com.
