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Wieck was a little guy when he figured out that he wanted to be a drag racer, and not only did he realize he wanted to race, but also that he wanted to make a living doing it. It could be viewed as one of those little boy "when I grow up" proclamations akin to announcing the intention of being an astronaut or a cowboy, but the SoCal born kid had a streak of ingenuity that was aimed, always, at landing him in the cockpit. "My dad took me to my first race, the Winternationals, when I was five years old," said Wieck. "I saw those first Top Fuel cars go down and I was like, game over; this is what I'm doing. It's almost like it possessed me or something. I don't know what it was, but I just kept going towards my goal." A little of that might have to do with the fact that drag racing is in the family; Wieck's great uncle was a gas dragster racer in the 1960s - Jerry Estep. Aside from the residual racing gas that made its way to Wieck's veins, the exhilaration of the sport is something that he is deeply attracted to.
It was nearly 10 years ago when Wieck took his then-girlfriend and now-wife Andrea to a Nostalgia race at Phoenix's Firebird Int'l Raceway, and that day was the turning point for the aspiring driver. There he observed Gene Davis making licensing runs in his Top Fuel dragster, and through Andrea's encouragement, Wieck approached Davis and struck up a conversation. During their talk, Wieck excitedly offered to work on Davis' team without charge, if he would only allow him. Three weeks later, Wieck was a member of the crew. After eight years of working alongside Davis, Wieck knew that the time was right to break away, steer his own ship and start working on his program. Working with Davis provided a greater understanding of the business side of the sport, and Wieck has a lot of gratitude toward the man who was an early influence in his career and for all that he learned during his time with the team.
"Gene thought I should have continued with him and run his Top Fuel car, and Top Fuel is my ultimate goal, but I didn't feel like it was the right way for me to break in. I wanted to be able to call my own shots - at least in the beginning - and to be responsible for any mistakes I make. I think I made the right decision." Wieck licensed at Frank Hawley's school in Super Comp at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway two years ago and bought a rolling chassis dragster that he began to build bit by bit as finances would allow and as supporters would contribute parts and pieces. This year he raced an Olds Cutlass in the Arizona Drag Racing Association, and believe it or not, it was his first opportunity to really, competitively drag race. He ran the Pro ET series driving for Jim Bear Chapman, and with just six events under his belt and two more to go before the ADRA season is complete, Wieck has already earned a final-round finish. He also earned the attention of Allstate Transmission and Auto Repair, who provided a transmission and engine, as well as the pledge of owner Jeff Wilson to join the team as crew chief on the Super Comp dragster in 2012. Southwest Diesel has also been a tremendous supporter and enabled the team to continue racing. "I've had a lot of luck, especially with being relatively unknown and getting people to believe in and get behind us. I feel really blessed," said Wieck.
A few of his sponsors have enlisted his help in the social networking arena, and between all of the pages that he manages, they have over 22,000 followers. Between Wieck's own personal and team pages, he is among the top 5 most followed/friended drag racing teams on Facebook. As a start-up team, Wieck knows he doesn't have a lot to offer yet, but he can assure sponsors an audience. Next year as he races for national and divisional points in Super Comp, Wieck won't have much alone time: DJG Productions will be following him closely behind the scenes as they trail the team and document the "ups and downs and everything in between" of the first year of a brand new operation that isn't backed by major funding. The documentary will be released in early 2013 and shown at film festivals, and filming is scheduled to begin the day before Thanksgiving. "It's a way for us to gain exposure, and for drag racing to gain exposure, too," said Wieck. "Hopefully, we will be able to get to some people who don't know much about it, and maybe we can make some new fans." Wieck has always been willing to do the leg work to make his dream of racing a reality, and when he was in high school and was given the assignment of interviewing someone who was in the profession that he intended to join, his streak of ingenuity put the phone book in his hands.
Wieck wished to thank his wife Andrea and daughters Jordyn and Jasmyn, as well as Jeff Wilson, Lauren Hutzley, Allstate Transmission and Auto Repair in Phoenix, Southwest Diesel, Mike Lewis of DSR, Virgil Harman, Betty Guillen, Bob Beckman, Jim Bear Chapman, his mother Yolanda Hill, father Doug Wieck, uncle Paul Reese, aunt Sylvia Reese, and his whole family and all of his friends who have been so supportive. "It was luck and having the guts to go up and go after it that started this," said Wieck. "But I couldn't do this without the support of so many people. A lot of people want to steer you away, but I've had so many people get behind me and say, hey, you can do this. I can't say enough about them, and I really feel that I'm where I need to be. I am meant to be here, and if we keep going this way, doors will open and we'll be able to do major things. "I want people to know that I am serious about this. I know I have a lot to offer because I love this sport so much. It has taught me my strengths, shown me talents I didn't know I had, and molded me into the person I am. That is something I'm really proud of."
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