On Saturday, September 12, 2015, Zachary Tinkle had a stellar night at the Anderson Speedway in qualifications and the feature race.
After having issues with and making last minute tire and exhaust pipe changes, Tinkle went out onto the track and qualified as the fastest qualifier for the evening with a bad fast track time of 15.342.
Because he was the fastest qualifier, Zachary had to roll the dice to see where his inverted position in the field would be. He started the feature race out in 8th position. In the first lap of the race, he took the field three-wide on the front stretch and had passed two cars by the beginning of the second lap. By lap 3, he had made his way up through the field to be in the 3rd position. Just before lap 6, he had clinched the second position in the race.
He then had to close the gap as the leader had gained a lot of ground. He caught up with the leader by lap 12 and stuck his nose to the inside of the #2 going into turn 1 and passing him just after turn 2 almost losing position to the #13 car that went to his inside and tried to make a move and pass him. He maintains the lead, but this is where the battle for the top spot between the #53 and the #13 car begins. Tinkle remains out front until lap 18 when the #13 gets to the inside of Tinkle and passes him right at the start finish line.
The two are side by side racing for just over 2 laps of the race, when Tinkle does an amazing cross-over move in turn 2 and gets to the inside of the #13 car. The two go side-by-side again with Tinkle pulling out front by lap 22. The number #13 chases the #53 down throughout the rest of the race even through lap traffic and tries to make a last minute move just before the start finish line, but doesn’t have enough momentum. Zachary Tinkle takes the trophy for the Anderson Speedway Feature Race.
In his post race interview, Tinkle said, “I have to give credit to Jamie. He drove an awesome race. He just washed up a little bit and I took advantage of it…was able to stick my nose there and take the lead back. I want to thank all my sponsors, Left Paw Press, Michele V. Wagner Photography…
When asked how he likes racing at Anderson Speedway, Tinkle responded, “It’s my favorite track ’cause, you know, I’ve got a lot of family here… it’s a really emotional track for me. This is one win I’m gonna cherish forever.”
Video of the race and the on-track post-race interview can be found on Zachary Tinkle’s YouTube channel: