FOX8 WGHP’s Chris Weaver is a longtime photojournalist, having been part of the team since 1998. He covers NASCAR and motorsports, including the Daytona 500, as well as politics and other news topics in the Piedmont Triad and North Carolina.
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Chris Weaver grew up in Eastern North Carolina with a camera in one hand and a police scanner in the other. He didn’t put two and two together and never pursued a career as a photojournalist, but it found him regardless. His plans to work on racecars for a living were derailed by his lack of understanding of advanced calculus, although people who knew him then say he was too busy with his hobby of photography and videography to study enough.
With the higher math’s not working out, Chris found a cool news videographer job in Wilson, N.C., at a local production company. He moved to Winston-Salem four years later to work for the local ABC affiliate as a news photojournalist. In 1998, FOX8 hired Chris to the photojournalist team where he’s been ever since.
Chris has chased hurricanes and politicians across North Carolina and has followed celebrities and sports events across the country. He has flown with the Thunderbirds and in the Goodyear Blimp. He flew in a plane that landed on an aircraft carrier in the middle of the ocean. He has interviewed every president since Bill Clinton and has told the stories of the poor and impoverished. Some of his favorite memories are telling the stories of people who have no one else to talk to and sharing visuals that help other people understand the world.
His knowledge of NASCAR takes Chris and the sports team to all the regional races and to Daytona every February for our in-depth and Emmy-nominated coverage of the Daytona 500.
His work over the years has been given many awards and accolades. He has received four Mid-South Emmy Awards and has been nominated for Emmys dozens of times. He is the recipient of two Edward R. Murrow awards and multiple RTDNAC awards. In 2013, he was named the NPPA East General Photographer of the Year, and, in 2022, he was the runner-up for the RTDNAC Photographer of the Year.
Chris and his wife Julie have five kids and three grandkids in their blended family.
When Chris isn’t chasing news, NASCAR or a grandkid, he spends his time doing yard work, working on cars, racing on his iRacing Simulator or bass fishing on any of the local lakes.
