Zachary Tinkle and Lorz Motorsports Get third Straight CRA Late Model Sportsman Top Ten Finish
Tinkle Family Racing and Lorz Motorsports with driver Zachary Tinkle made the trip to New Castle, Indiana Saturday for the third event of the season for the Vore’s Welding CRA Late Model Sportsman Powered by JEGS. The series competed on the 3/8’s mile Mt. Lawn Speedway, one of the most historic short tracks in Central Indiana. The challenging layout is more like a road course than an oval.
Zachary had previously raced in the series season opener at Mt. Lawn Speedway on May 27th getting a season high fifth place finish in that event. Zachary and the team decided they needed as much practice as possible to continue Zachary’s learning and to continue gaining experience, so they came to the tracks open practice on Saturday afternoon. Zachary made several runs in the excessive heat, learning more each time he was on the track.
On Sunday, the series had a 45 minute practice session, then another 25 minute session as they prepared for the first event of the series new Triple Crown Series, which will feature three 100-lap, $2000 to win events, and a points fund that will pay the Triple Crown Champion $1000. Sunday’s Raintree 100 was the first leg in the Triple Crown, the second will be on July 14th at Anderson Speedway, and the Championship event will be back at Baer Field Motorsports Park on August 18th.
The series has the honor of helping revive a Central Indiana tradition in the Raintree 100, which was ran at Mt. Lawn Speedway from 1971 through the 2013 season. Many of Indiana’s greatest racers have stood in victory lane for this prestigious event, in all 24 drivers had won the 43 Raintree 100’s to date prior to Sunday’s event.
Zachary did several runs in both practices trying to get his car dialed in for the 100 lap event. Zachary qualified 10th out of the 15 cars who took times. The team and Zachary then prepared to battle in the heat of the day, as the heat index was well over 100 degrees for Sundays race.
Zachary again accomplished all his goals during the Raintree 100, he completed all the laps, and got his third straight top ten finish with the series, in the three events the series has had so far in 2018. Zachary had some good on track battles with several cars during the race, gaining more valuable experience with every lap and had hardly a mark on his car.
With his third straight top ten finish with the series, Zachary has now moved into second place in series Championship points, he is 17 points behind fellow series rookie Chris Shannon, the current series Championship points leader. Zachary has a four point lead over third place Tony Brutti.
Zachary was very happy with his racing in the Raintree 100, “It was an honor to be able to be a part of the Raintree 100. It was a great race, and my team and myself learned a lot and gained more valuable experience. It was hot, I have to thank all the fans who sat out in the heat to watch the race and my team for working so hard under the extreme conditions. I also want to thank Advocate Medical Group genetics department for being our gas supporter at Mt. Lawn today!”
Zachary and the team have will have some time off during the July 4th Holiday week coming up.
Next Event: Vore’s Welding CRA Late Model Sportsman Powered by JEGS at Anderson Speedway on Saturday, July 14th.
About Zachary Tinkle:
Zachary Tinkle was the 2017 Central States Region (CSR) Super Cups and 2016 Rockford Speedway Wild Wednesday Super Cup Champion. Tinkle was the 2015 Illinois Super Cup State Champion for the Short Track Auto Racing Series (STARS) and 2015 Rockford Speedway National Short Track Champion for Super Cups. Rockford Speedway awarded Tinkle the “Lead, Follow, or Get Out Of My Way” award for his 2015 season. He was named 2015 Most Improved Driver and 2014 Rookie of the Year for CSR. Tinkle currently is a development driver in a pro late model for Lorz Motorsports in the Vore’s Welding CRA Late Model Sportsman Series competing for the series championship and for Rookie of the Year honors and select JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour pro late model races.
About Lorz Motorsports:
Lorz Motorsports is a driver development team based in Midlothian, IL created by former ARCA racer Mike Lorz. The team has fielded drivers in multiple series levels in CRA (Champion Racing Association) including current ARCA/CRA Super Series driver Austin Kunert and Vore’s Welding CRA Late Model Sportsman Series and JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour pro late model driver Zachary Tinkle. In 2017, the Lorz team won the Pit Crew of the Year Award. Previous successful participants in their program include NASCAR® drivers Michael Annett and Landon Cassill.
About CRA Late Model Sportsman Series:
2018 will be the will be the 12th season of competition for the Vore’s Welding CRA Late Model Sportsman Powered by JEGS that crowned its first Champion in 2006. Past Champions include Keith Sterkowitz in 2016 and 2011, Billy Hutson in 2007, Tony Dager in 2008, Charlie Hanna in 2009 and 2010, K.C. Spillers in 2012 and was the 2017 Drivers Champion, Mark Lambert in 2013, Greg Van Alst in 2014, Jason Atkinson in 2015, Eddie Van Meter in 2016 and Jason Neal was the 2017 Owners Champion.
2018 will be the eighth season of competition for the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance. Past Champions with the series include 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year Erik Jones in 2011, NASCAR Xfinity Series competitor Daniel Hemric in 2012 and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series competitor Cody Coughlin in 2013 and again in 2016.