Tinkle Family Racing and Lorz Motorsports with driver Zachary Tinkle made their first ever trip to race on the famous High Banks of Winchester Speedway in Winchester, Indiana with the Vore’s Welding CRA Late Model Sportsman Powered by JEGS, a track that holds a lot of sentiment to Zachary and his family because of Zachary’s Grandpa Larry Darr, who loved Winchester Speedway. Zachary raced in memory of his Grandpa this past weekend, with the team wearing special shirts of his Grandpa, who passed away last November after a battle with esophageal cancer.
Zachary and the team participated in the open practice on Saturday, getting out for two sessions in between some rain that cut the practice short. They got two more practice sessions on Sunday, with Zachary becoming more comfortable with the high speeds in each session. Zachary’s lack of experience at Winchester showed some in qualifying, qualifying 13th out of the 15 cars that took times.
The Labor Day Weekend World Stock Car Festival event at Winchester is a little unique compared to the other Vore’s Welding CRA Late Model Sportsman events, as part of Sunday’s racing card, the series had two, ten lap heat races to go along with Monday’s 40 lap feature. Zachary was in the first ten lap heat, and got to start on the front row when the 91 car of Rich Segvich could not make the starting field. Zachary took full advantage of his front row starting position, taking the lead at the drop of the green flag and never looking back to hold off Brandon Varney to get his first ever victory in a late model and first ever CRA win. Zachary’s win was a big hit in the pits as several teams showed their approval of his win with a standing ovation when he pulled in pit road.
“Well, my day turned out better than I expected,” remarked Zachary. “It was a lot of fun getting my first late model victory at Winchester. I especially want to thank all the awesome teams in the pits for cheering for and congratulating me!”
Zachary and the team then prepared for Monday’s feature, the first race of the Chase for the Championship for the series, on a very hot Central Indiana afternoon. Zachary was making laps, trying to stay out of trouble, and continue to gain experience, when the #69 car had something break, causing him to come down on Zachary on lap 18, making contact with the right front fender, pushing it down on the tire causing a tire rub. In order to continue to race safely, Zachary brought his car to pit road to have his team look at the fender and try to get it off the tire. The Lorz Motorsports Team was able to get the fender off the tire and Zachary was able to return to the race and get another top ten finish with a ninth place finish.
“This track is a beast, added Zachary. “ We learned a lot about trying to tame it when it tries to bite you! Thank you to all the Lorz Motorsports team for their hard work all weekend and to Josh Nelms for jumping in and helping. Thank you to the people that came in memory of my Grandpa Darr. Thank you sponsors Performance Friction Brakes Simpson Race Products Left Paw Press.”
Next Event: Vore’s Welding CRA Late Model Sportsman Powered by JEGS Race For the Championship Race #2 at Anderson Speedway on Saturday, September 15th.