Zachary Tinkle Battles Heat and a Loose Car at Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville
Zachary Tinkle’s 2020 race season continued this past Saturday with the running of the Masters of the Pros 150 Presented by Day Racing Products at the famous Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville with the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance. The Masters of the Pros is one of the biggest Pro Late Model events in the country. 2020 was the first time that event had been held in the Music City.
The Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville is one of the iconic short tracks in the country and always attracts a good field of late models. The 2020 addition of the Masters of the Pros 150 attracted a great field of 42 cars, including many of the top late model drivers in the country showing up including Bubba Pollard, Stephen Nasse, Travis Braden, Cole Williams and former NASCAR racer Justin Marks.
Zachary’s crew had his race car prepared and ready to attend the open practice on Friday afternoon under sunny skies and extremely hot and humid temperatures. Zachary got more comfortable in the car at the big half mile track with each session, making gains on the car each time on the track.
Zachary had an additional practice session on Saturday, again under extreme heat and humidity that made it hard on all the competitors, but Zachary’s great body conditioning helped him remain focused and ready to race. Zachary was 25th fastest of the 40 cars that practiced on Saturday, including several regulars in the local Pro Late Model class that races at Nashville.
Zachary had a great lap in qualifying, he was 18th fastest of the 40 cars that took times, placing him in the top 20 cars that were locked into the 150 lap main events starting field through qualifying. The balance of the 32-car starting field was with point provisionals and the top four finishers in the 15-lap last chance race.
Zachary was running a good race when contact from another competitor caused him to spin in turns one and two. The incident with the other car knocked the toe out on the front end, making Zachary’s car very loose and hard to drive. Zachary had another single car spin later in the race. He brought his car to pit road were his crew adjusted the car to try and make it handle better.
Zachary soldiered on to complete the 150 laps in the event with a good 16th place finish with an ill handling race car.
“It was HOT at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway,” remarked Zachary. “I was really excited to qualify into the Masters of the Pros 150 race with the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour. The car was a little loose with the track and temp changes starting out. We were hoping to get that worked out, but I got spun early on going into turn two and it knocked the toe out of my car. I held on and did what I could do. We finished the race P16 with the car in one piece. We will live to race another day! Thank you to the crew for working hard through the blistering heat.”
Next Event: FastLane Auto Exchange Shootout at the Dixie 100 at Birch Run Speedway with the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour on Saturday, August 29th.
About Zachary Tinkle:
Zachary Tinkle is the 2019 Vore’s Welding CRA Late Model Sportsman Champion and 2019 Anderson Speedway McGunegill Engines Late Model Series Champion and Rookie of the Year. He also won the 2019 Vore’s Welding CRA Late Model Sportsman Triple Crown Championship. In his 2018 rookie season in the same series, Tinkle was named PGG Sportsman of the Year and voted Most Popular Driver; finishing 5th in the championship. In 2020, Tinkle is competing full-time in the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance.
About the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance:
2020 will be the 10th season of competition for the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance that crowned its first Champion in 2011. Past Champions include NASCAR competitors Eric Jones and Daniel Hemric, also Cody Coughlin, Jack Dossey III, Dan Leeck and Dalton Armstrong. The tour is the top crate engine asphalt template late model touring series in the country.