When the 2021 JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour race schedule came out, Zachary Tinkle had the Kil-Kare Dayton 100 race circled in red as one of his favorites. Not only does Tinkle really like the quirks of Kil-Kare Raceway, he wanted to do a throwback paint scheme as a tribute to his Crew Chief, Gary Estes.
Tinkle’s Crew Chief Gary Estes won the Dayton 100 in 2004. Zachary had seen photos of the car and paint scheme months earlier and immediately had the idea. As an avid collector of die cast cars and critic of paint schemes, Tinkle thought it was really cool and representative of its time period. More importantly, it was a way for him to show his appreciation for all that he has learned from Estes since he became his Crew Chief in the middle of 2020.
To help with the task, Tinkle enlisted Steve St. John to produce and print the graphics. St. John has won awards for his paint schemes in races like the Snowflake. Steve worked hard to get the paint scheme as close as possible to the original. The team unveiled the paint scheme to Estes at Kil-Kare Raceway. As a man of little words, Gary’s response was, “Oh, yeah!”
Tinkle said, “I thought it was a cool tribute. He really liked the car and I’m very happy about that. People came up and said they liked. It was exciting to finally see the car in person. The whole team thinks it’s awesome and is looking forward to racing in the Dayton 100.”
The Dayton 100 Presented by Platinum Express at Kil-Kare Raceway in the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance is on Sunday June 27, 2021.
About Zachary Tinkle:
Zachary Tinkle was 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 competed full-time in the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance, finishing seventh in the series Chase for the Championship.