Wellman’s furniture company partner, Mark & Julie Shambarger, were very much into racing and Mark worked as a mechanic on open wheel race teams for twenty years, including the Buddy Lazier team that won the Indy 500 in 1996, Newman Haas and Dreyer Reinbold Racing.

Derek was Roger Yasukawa’s spotter in 2006 when Roger finishing 19^th. In 2007 Wellman Racing was formed and a partnership with Dreyer Reinbold Racing led to a successful qualifying run for the 2007 Indy 500 where they came in 21^st.

A couple of Wellman’s clients were into racing as well, and after some hard work and brainstorming sessions, it all came together for Wellman Racing in 2007.