Tinkle Family Racing and Lorz Motorsports with driver Zachary Tinkle made their second visit of the season to the famous High Banks of Winchester Speedway, for the Vore’s Welding CRA Late Model Sportsman Powered by JEGS New Stars event and the 50 lap Season Championship event. The event was part of the huge 47th Annual Winchester 400 Weekend, one of the biggest short track racing events in the country. Winchester is 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 and the family always look forward to competing there.
Zachary and the team participated in the practice sessions on a cold blustery fall day at Winchester on Friday, with plans to compete in the series New Stars event, for drivers who have not finished in the top five in a series event at Winchester. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans. Rain moved in shortly after the second series practice/group qualifying and would not stop. Friday’s main feature events were rescheduled to Saturday, but the New Stars event was canceled since the 50 lap Season Championship event was already scheduled for Saturday.
The team worked hard to get the car dialed in by participating in Saturday’s two practice sessions. Zachary qualified 18th out of the 23 cars on hand, the car was just a little off on its speed on Saturday in the cold air. Zachary looked to finish off the 2018 racing season with a good run in the 50 lap feature Saturday evening.
Zachary brought his car home in 12th place, moving up six positions during the race. With his finish Zachary finished fifth in final Vore’s Welding CRA Late Model Sportsman points and second in DGR-Crosley Rookie of the Year points with the car in one piece. Zachary’s streak of top 10 finishes ended, but the team completed the season with no DNF’s!
“It was a chilly weekend at Winchester Speedway and Mother Nature didn’t cooperate Friday so the New Stars race was cancelled,” remarked Zachary. “Luckily, the weather was nice long enough for us to take some Pizza King Indiana samples and coupons around to teams in the pits so they could experience one of the best things about Indiana before the rain. The team worked hard to get the car dialed in on Saturday, but it just wasn’t feeling it. We finished twelfth and, considering the luck of some other racers during the Winchester 400 weekend, we were thankful we survived the Vore’s Welding CRA Late Model Sportsman race. Thank you to Pizza King, Performance Friction Brakes, Simpson Race Products and Left Paw Press for your support at Winchester Speedway this past weekend and all season.
Next Event: 2018 CRA Awards Banquet Presented by Shepherd Insurance, which will take place on Friday, January 11th in Indianapolis at the Crowne Plaza Downtown at Union Station.