RPW Exclusive: Paul Wehnau Teams With Kyle Sheldon For DIRTcar 358-Mod Effort At Lebanon Valley In ’24

Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – AVERILL PARK, NY – Saturday night at the Lebanon Valley Speedway banquet, 2023 358-Modified track champion LJ Lombardo made the announcement that he would be stepping away from full-time racing this coming season in Paul Wehnau’s equipment.

While Lombardo had informed Wehnau of his decision a few months back (a story with LJ to come), the car owner was now, officially, faced with a decision to make. Does he continue to race with another driver in his equipment or put everything up for sale and just support the other teams he sponsors.

As rumors began circulating of LJ’s departure from the potent ride, and before Wehnau was able to make that decision, his phone began blowing up with calls and text messages inquiring about the seat.

“I had a lot to think about for 2024,” Wehnau said exclusively to RPW Wednesday night. “I love this sport and want to be a part of it so we’re going to run the Big Block for a handful of the bigger races with a couple different drivers.”

That still left the 358-Modified on the table.

“I still own the 358-Modified engine in Jeff Watson’s car so I will be at Lebanon this year,” he said. “So, we decided that we’d run our Small Block car the entire season.”

The question was now, who would be the driver.

Enter Kyle Sheldon.

“Kyle reached out a couple months ago and expressed his interest to drive for me if LJ wasn’t able to,” he said. “Kyle’s a great guy and has always just been a genuine person to me and my family. We kept in touch while I was deciding how the team would move forward.”

When Wehnau made his decision to race the 358-Modified this year, he called Sheldon.

“Kyle seems like a great fit for our team,” he said. “He currently runs a PMC, just like we do, in Big Block for Alex (Thomson). In the time I’ve gotten to know him, I think his personality will fit with my crew just perfect.”

When Sheldon heard there might be a chance the seat was open, he moved quickly to throw his name in the hat.

“I heard the rumor about LJ, just like many others did, so I grew a set and called Paul,” Sheldon said. “His stuff is top notch and any driver would be lucky to race it. When we got to talking, he didn’t rush me off the phone so I thought I had a shot.”

As things progressed, and Wehnau was narrowing his choice, it became apparent that Sheldon might be in the running.

“We stayed in touch, went to lunch and even had a couple of “PMC” beers together,” he said. “The next thing I knew, we were at Sheldon Oil in his Snap-On truck putting the whole deal together.”

To say Sheldon’s pumped to be racing for Wehnau in the 358-Modified class would be an understatement.

“The 18-year-old Kyle is screaming inside me right now because I have this opportunity,” he said. “I can’t wait to go this year with a championship-caliber car because Paul’s stuff has accomplished it before. I will do everything I can to live up to that.”

Probably the biggest catalyst of this situation was the chassis manufacturer, PMC Race Cars. Sheldon drives them in Big Block and all of Wehnau’s equipment is PMC.

“I think that was probably the backbone of putting me and Paul together,” he said. “I believe having Pete (Chuckta, owner of PMC Race Cars) in both of our corners was huge in making this happen. I’m extremely excited to be doing this with Paul in Pete’s cars.”

The 358-Modified operation will continue to be maintained by veteran Buddy Palmer this season and Sheldon’s ready to go. He can’t wait to drive for Wehnau and Palmer and have a shot at victories in their equipment weekly at the Valley.

“I can’t wait to race with Buddy,” he said. “He and I have always gotten along so well. He’s been a big help over the years with what I’m doing in Alex’s cars. There’s no nicer guy in the pits.”

The cool thing for Sheldon is that he can now run two classes a night on the high banks without running his Big Block Modified crew too thin trying to maintain both cars.

“This is a great thing,” he said. “We all get along and I’m hoping that we can take two different approaches so we can help each other be as fast as possible as a complete team. I am beyond excited to start 2024.”

Now, the focus shifts to the new season. Being that Paul’s 358-Modified machine enters this season as the defending champion puts a little bit of a bull’s-eye on Sheldon, but he’s ready for the challenge.

“It’s kind of championship or bust, isn’t it,” Sheldon said with a laugh. “Honestly, I really just want to have fun with Paul and his team, try to win some races and build a relationship that we can win for a long time.”

Wehnau echoed the same sentiments when the topic of goals for 2024 came up.

“I know what our team is capable of,” Wehnau said. “With that, having a new driver getting acclimated to a new team, I’d love to get a win and finish top 5 in points. Kyle’s a good shoe and I know he’ll be fine. I hope we can both grow wit this venture.”

There’s just one last thing to determine. That’s the car number. Any guesses?

“To be honest, that’s Paul’s last surprise,” Sheldon said. “I don’t know the number yet, but I’d love to see a 518 on the side of that thing.”

Even Wehnau doesn’t know yet.

“I don’t know what it’s going to be yet,” Wehnau said. “I’m waiting on the boss (Wehnau’s daughter) to tell me what she wants.”

Whatever number the car is, you can bet Paul Wehnau, Buddy Palmer, Kyle Sheldon and their crew will have a first-class piece ready to chase checkered flags and possibly defend the title in Lebanon Valley’s 358-Modified class.

However, they just want to smile. They just want to have fun, and I’m sure that’ll be the case.