Archive for category: Sprint Cars

Zach Newlin and his family have been patiently and diligently working to build their own 410 sprint car program over the past two seasons.  It has been a challenging and often frustrating undertaking, but it is also a journey that has the potential to be one of the Millerstown, Pennsylvania team’s most rewarding experiences in racing.

Unfortunately, Newlin’s 2025 season ended abruptly and prematurely with a bent race car.  The good news is, he and the team had made a breakthrough that night before the crash and went into the offseason with optimism for the future.  More on that in a bit.

HOW DID WE GET HERE?

Newlin and his family’s decision to resurrect their team in 2023 came on the heels of opportunities to drive winged 410 sprint cars for a few other owners from late 2020 through mid-2022.  

The popular driver known as ‘Zach Daddy’ had some high points in those rides, the foremost being making his first World of Outlaws A-main, which came at Port Royal Speedway in the Allan Pryde No.29 in 2021.

During the offseason following the 2022 season, Newlin and his family, who had previously fielded successful 305 and 358 sprint car programs, decided it was time to control their own destiny.  Despite knowing it would be an uphill battle, both financially and competitively, it was the path that was calling them.

“We built our own 305 sprint car team and had a lot of success.  We had a lot of fun doing it, too.  When we decided to go 358 racing, it wasn’t as simple as a bigger motor.  There was a learning curve, but we managed to win a race in our first year,” Newlin said.

“We knew building a 410 team would be the hardest thing we’ve ever done in racing.”

Newlin’s racing resume is a solid one.  He has been racing for over 25 years, and he has been successful from go-karts to micro sprints to full-size sprint cars.

In 358 sprint car competition from 2020 to 2023, Newlin has won twice at Williams Grove Speedway and earned the track’s Rookie of the Year honors in 2020. In that rookie year, which consisted of eleven races, Newlin finished in the top ten an impressive eight times.

In 305 sprint cars from 2015 to 2019, Newlin is a 2-time PA Sprint Series Champion, a 2-time PA RaceSaver IMCA Champion, and a 4-time BAPS Motor Speedway Champion. In addition, he amassed 15 wins and 100 top-ten finishes during those seasons.

STRATEGIC CHOICES

“We have always made the most of what we had.  We have never had the budget to have top-of-the-line stuff at any level, but we have been successful because we worked hard, took care of our equipment, and made smart choices,” Newlin shared.

Newlin not only has a day job, but he also owns his own business, Newlin Bar Service, which offers titanium torsion arms, torsion bar dyno testing, and exclusive cleaning tools for sprint cars and micro sprints.  While all of that is going well, the economic times have left him with a little business debt to prioritize, which means less funds are available for racing.

“I won’t run myself or anyone into the ground financially to race more,” Newlin said. 

“We pick and choose when and where we race to make sure every time we unload, we are going to add the most value to growing our program.  We need to maximize laps to make progress.”

Newlin’s engine is down on horsepower compared to the top teams, so he has to factor that in when picking his battles.  He is always looking at track schedules and sizing up each event to determine his team’s potential to make laps and money.

“All the internal engine parts are new, but the block is twenty years old, and the heads are pretty old too.  It’s not a bad engine by any means, but it’s limited on how much it can produce,” Newlin said.

Sure, the number of race nights he can take on is limited by budget, but even a larger contribution from a sponsor wouldn’t necessarily mean adding races to his schedule.

Newlin’s team is also limited because there are so few shows available these days that fit the criteria for teams like his.  For example, they have to consider expected field sizes that provide a reasonable chance to make the feature, plus they have to weigh their odds based on the start money and tow money offered by the track.  

“We have to look at all the factors before we decide to go racing.  We can’t just go because we want to.  We have to race smart right now until we can build this thing up,” Newlin explained.

“If we had the funding to buy some new components like a rear end and wheels, that would make a big difference.  We often race on used tires to save money, so funds to buy new tires would be helpful, of course.  Our suspension, the shocks, bars, and arms are up to date, but it would help a lot to upgrade those other components.”

Newlin noted that the team is definitely looking for additional marketing partners for 2026, but was clear that more funding would not necessarily mean adding races to the team’s schedule.  Upgrading components and racing on new tires when it makes sense would definitely help improve their performance, but the team’s ability to add races would require a much larger influx of funds to help change the factors in the decision process they currently have to go through to choose when and where to race.

COMING TOGETHER

Zach and his crew chief, brother Lance Newlin, wrestled with their Butler Hill Maple Farm, Ron’s RV Sales No.11z throughout 2025, tinkering with the setup, motor, and everything in between to find the right combination.  It seemed nothing helped the car reach the potential they felt it could.

Finally, good news.  At Port Royal Speedway on August 30th, they made a discovery about their fueling system.  It only took a few laps to confirm they were onto something.  

The bad news?  Now they would go back to square one to find the right setup for the newfound RPMs.

“We discovered an issue with our pill selector.  The engine not running properly impacts the setup.  We chased the setup, but now we know that was never going to really solve the problem,” Newlin explained.

“Most of the year, our setup was off and we were down horsepower, but we were still running decent lap times.  With just this fueling issue resolved, I’m confident we will have the speed we need to be more competitive in 2026.  When we get the setup dialed in on top of that, we can be in position to make more shows and race for top-15’s and top 10’s consistently.”

“We know we can’t win races with the engine and components we have, but those are realistic goals if we get the most out of our equipment at the shows we choose to run.”

FORGING AHEAD

As we mentioned, Newlin crashed out of his last race in 2025, but just one month later, preparations for 2026 are well underway.  The team purchased an RPM chassis with less than twenty races on it to replace the one that was bent in the season-ending crash in September.  Newlin has already had the frame painted, installed the XC Gear Monkey Bars system, and mounted his seat.

The XC Gear Monkey Bars system is an anti-vibration race seat mount that is specifically intended to reduce injuries. It is designed to lessen the effect of constant vibration on the driver and to mitigate high-impact forces during a crash.

The team’s engine will soon be on its way to Hershey Racing Engines to be looked over and ensure it is ready for 2026.  Meanwhile, they will begin to assemble their car, going over every component thoroughly, replacing what they have to, and upgrading what they are able to.

Newlin stuck close to home at Port Royal and Selinsgrove Speedways in 2025 for two reasons.  First, those two tracks offered the best opportunities for him to get laps and make money.  Second, the team’s truck wasn’t ideal for traveling very far.  The team will have a better truck in 2026, so that would allow them to go a little further from home, if it makes sense to do so based on other factors.  

Another positive note regarding the 2026 season is that the Mansberger Motorsports No.21m 358 sprint car is expected to return to competition with Newlin at the wheel.  The 21m team sat out the balance of 2025 after car owner Dan Mansberger lost his battle with cancer.  Dan wanted the team to continue without him, so his son, Nathan, will oversee the team to ensure that happens.

“I love racing with those guys (Mansberger Motorsports) and I can’t wait to get back to the track with them.  Dan was such a good guy, and we miss him.  I was so happy to get his car back to victory lane, and we are going to do everything we can to do it again,” Newlin said.