The public address announcer enthusiastically announced that Dillon Welch had just set the new “Fast Time” during qualifying Friday evening at the Milw
aukee Mile. The crowd’s reaction was a mixture of surprise and support. Afterall, Welch had never been on a track of this size before. It was fast and tough, the kind of track that usually leaves rookies scratching their head. An average speed of 124.8 mph was strong, but there were still some gunslingers left to qualify, including Darren Hagen who had run the fastest lap of the weekend in practice. But one by one the final half dozen qualifiers fell short, and the public address announcer chimed in with the words that the 17 year old Welch had pulled off the big surprise by winning the pole for the USAC National Midget race at the famed and historic Milwaukee Mile.
“It’s a thrill,” a smiling Welch said afterwards. “To be fast-time at any track is an accomplishment, but especially here where there is so much great history.”
Welch was carted off to Victory Lane for a photo with Kyle Larson who had recorded the fastest qualifying time for the Silver Crown race. There was a press conference promoting IndyCar’s ladder system, a radio interview, and many handshakes as the weekend progressed.
In the 25 lap Feature on Saturday, Welch would start from the pole and have the responsibility of dictating the start of the race. Coming through turns three and four in anticipation of the green flag, Welch mashed the gas on his Z-Line Designs/The Studio/St. Vincent Sports Performance machine. USAC officials believed Welch got too good of a start however, and put out the yellow as the cars screamed down the backstretch. They would try the start again. This time, Caleb Armstrong who was starting on the outside of row one, jumped the start and again USAC waved it off.
“The third time it was obvious USAC wanted us to get onto the straightaway before starting so that’s what I was prepared to do,” Welch said. “The pole sitter is supposed to set the pace but when Caleb took off in the middle of 3-4 the officials just let it go, and I was left a sitting duck.”
By the time Welch got to turn one, he was in fifth place.
“I was so mad but I knew I had to gather myself and go to work,” Welch said.
At one point he had slipped to eight place, but Welch kept digging and worked his way up to a sixth place finish.
“If you had told me I was going to finish sixth in my first race here, I would have been ok with that,” Welch said afterwards. “But the way the start went down, it’s tough to be pleased when I know we should have finished better.”
Frustration aside it was a positive weekend for the young racer. His first experience on a mile track, his first pole, and the learning of a tough lesson.
“My goal is to get better everyday,” Welch said. “I definitely feel like I took a step in the right direction. Marc DeBeaumont gave me a good car, and I raced it as hard as it would go.”
This week, Welch will climb back in the car for a race at another big, fast track, Iowa Speedway, and he hopes to provide some more surprises.
