BUFFALO TWP - Don't blame Jim Weller III if he continually sneaks a peek at the calendar.

The 19-year-old Sprint car driver from Liberty, Ohio, a regular at Lernerville Speedway, hopes to return behind the wheel of a race car in August, 10 months after nearly losing his life in a violent Sprint car accident.

Weller was competing in a national race on the dirt track at Lowe's Motor Speedway near Charlotte, N.C., Oct. 13 when his car spun into the wall repeatedly.

"I've seen him flip a race car a few times and never got out of my seat," his father, Jim Weller Jr., said. "He's always walked away from it."

The accident occurred less than three months after the elder and his son combined to win two heat races and two features on the same night July 30 at Lernerville.

The elder Weller was Modified points champion at Lernerville in 1997 and 1999. He remains a viable contender in that division, winning the Modified points crown at Sharon Speedway last year.

He has been racing for 23 years. He knows about accidents.

He knew this was a bad one.

"His car was spinning in such a way that it kept hitting the wall over and over," Jim Weller Jr. said. "I knew it was bad. Track personnel took me to him during the red light.

"I saw Jimmy hanging out of the car, unconscious. He wasn't breathing very well. I didn't think he was going to make it, I really didn't. The medical personnel probably saved his life on the track."

The younger Weller's head came into contact with the retaining wall or a pole during the mishap. Medical personnel ventilated him on the track and worked on him for at least 30 minutes before he was transported to the hospital.

From Oct. 13 through his Nov. 20 birthday, Weller doesn't remember a thing.

"It's like that part of my life never existed," he said. "I don't remember the race at all."

He knows well the effects the race has had on his life. Weller sustained a fractured cheekbone, two compressed vertebrae in his neck, two compressed vertebrae in his back and a brain shear.

"A brain shear comes from a violent jolt to the head that scrambles everything around," the elder Weller said. "All of his injuries came from the blow to the top of his head that compressed everything down.

"It was a freakish thing. As violent as that accident was, if that pole or wall never struck Jimmy's head, he probably walks away from it."

Instead, he spent seven weeks in The Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte. He was in a coma for three days while his parents stayed in the waiting room of the intensive care unit, awaiting word on their son's condition.

"Time stood still," Weller's father said. "We didn't sleep, we didn't eat, we didn't drink - We didn't care about any of that.

"I don't blame racing for what happened to Jimmy. There's an inherent risk when you get behind the wheel, sure, but this was one of those bizarre, freakish things."

Through rigorous therapy, the younger Weller improved at a rapid rate. Now he can't wait to get behind the wheel again.

While awaiting clearance to race, he's been helping his father out with the No. 31 Modified at Lernerville and other tracks.

"I'll start out at Sharon with their new Sprint series up there," Weller said. "The racing won't be quite as fast and I'll be able to get my feet wet again.

"Just being around the sport again makes me want to drive so badly. I'm hoping a lot of my driving skills come back to me, but there is a possibility I'll have to learn them all over again. I'll do it if I have to."

Weller received 800 cards from well-wishers while he was hospitalized in Charlotte. A benefit for him in Sharon, put together by Linda Barlow and Chad Wagner, raised $5,000 toward his medical expenses.

"There's so many people I have to thank, I couldn't possibly name them all," Weller III said. "My brother (16-year-old John) did so much for me while I was starting to walk again and make progressions.

"He's my hero. No way can I ever repay him."

And no way could he think about not racing.

"When doctors first told me there was a chance I could never race again. … Let's just say that picked up my rehabilitation pace," Weller said.

"I'm at the point where I'll be at no more risk physically than anybody else who climbs into a Sprint car. If I was at greater risk, I wouldn't do it."

Weller has the support of his family in his return to racing.

"I'm proud of him," his father said. "I understand his passion for it. I have the same thing."

"I'm glad they're on my side on this," Weller said. "I'd hate to have to do it behind their back."