MINOOKA, Ill. – Through the grace of his One Hero, Minooka Community High School student Jake Weber flies in the air, kicks up mud and jets around his local track on an electric blue, 200-pound dirt bike.

Weber started racing motocross in 2003. His neighbor picked up a four wheeler and Weber, intrigued, fell head first into the world of extreme sports.

What really sparked his attention was motocross, especially the thrill of taking the bike over a muddy hill and the rush of battling out a race with 42 other screaming bikes.

“It’s an adrenaline rush,” Weber said. “You get going and you’re banging the (motocross bike) bars in the air and having fun. It’s really fun.”

Motocross also functioned as the gateway between the Weber and Dean families.

Pastor Lary Dean, founder of Extreme Church Ministries, is a talkative, exuberant man; he rides dirt bikes, plays a heavy guitar and hosts an onsite ministry at the Joliet Motorsports Park.

“If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t keep doing it,” Jake’s father, Jeff Weber, said. “There’s a lot of garbage at the tracks – drinking, drugs. I hooked up with Lary right away. It’s like … you have a pastor racing?”

Unlike many Christian pastors, Dean races motor bikes and preaches in the form of Motochurch, his personal brand of preaching.

“The way he does his sermons is fun,” Jake Weber said. “He’s really energetic and he really catches my attention in the way he says things.”

Dean, or “Rev” as Weber affectionately refers to him, helped bring the Webers closer to their faith, and Jake soon joined the Extreme Church Ministries Only One Hero Racing team.

“Rev brought us much closer to the Lord and we go out once a week (for church) with him,” Jake Weber said. “We walked up to him and ever since then, me and his son Michael, we clicked, and so did my Dad and the Rev.”

Jake’s bike, a YZ-125, bears the striking white Only One Hero Racing team insignia across his sticker, and he rides proudly for the group.

“People have asked me and I tell them, there’s only one hero, and that’s God,” Weber said.

Only One Hero Racing, which is in the development stages, is still coming together. Dean said that he hopes someday to form a professional team.

Yet Jake Weber is a promising racer having podiumed in the top three in the area qualifier. Weber then placed 11th in the 125 C Modified Class regional qualifier, barely missing the nationals cut.

“It was a really tough weekend,” Jake said. “In one of my classes I ended up crashing in the first corner and ended up not finishing the race. I rode hard and did as best as I could to score 11th. It was a rough track.”

Qualifying motocross competitors then advance to nationals held in Hurricane Mills, Tenn.

“I’m pretty confident I can make it, so all I need to do is pursue my dreams and try hard,” Weber said.

Weber missed last year’s qualifier due to a broken ankle, but he’s since recouped and recovered. It hasn’t been the only time for the aspiring Christian racer and it certainly won’t be the last time.

“This is our family sport, we live, eat and sleep motocross,” Lori Weber said. “We’re together constantly as a family and I hope we can do well with it.”