Newlin’s Weikert Memorial Weekend a Tough One

Zach Newlin and the new BK Motorsports 410 sprint car team entered the 2-day Bob Weikert Memorial race weekend with very limited laps under their collective belt and very little time to get to know each other or their equipment.

Newlin’s first outing with the team at ‘The Speed Palace’ one week earlier was interrupted by rain a few laps into the feature event and his second outing with the team the next day at Path Valley Speedway was washed out by rain following time trials.

Add to that a field of some of the best teams in the country who had come to town to chase the top prize of $10,000 on Saturday night and $29,000 on Sunday night at Port Royal Speedway.

All that considered, the weekend was likely to be a challenging one, but you have to race to improve.

Weikert Memorial Format

Although the lucrative event is sanctioned by the All Star Circuit of Champions, the Weikert Memorial uses its own, unique format.  Full details are included below, but here are the key points for the car counts at Port Royal Speedway’s event:

• single flight time trials, order determined by pill draw
• points awarded following time trials
• 10-lap heats, top 8 in each starting lineup is inverted 8 from time trials
• passing points awarded following heats
• top 10 in points after qualifying participate in a redraw for their A-main starting spot
• 11-20 in points after qualifying line up in A-main heads up by points
• remaining drivers race the B-main with the top 4 finishers tagging the back of 30-lap A-main

May 28:  Weikert Memorial Night 1, Port Royal Speedway / Port Royal, PA

      (41 cars, Qualifying 29th, Heat 11th, B-main 17th)

During Saturday’s qualifying, Zach Newlin wheeled the Grove Financial & Associates / Dillman Hauling / Centre Roofing & Contracting / Mattas Motorsports / Victory Auto / Ron’s RV Sales / The Roast Post / FIT Transportation / Kirby Kitner Excavating / Christine Booher, Realtor / T&M Homebuilders / Strange Oval / Walker Performance Filtration / Newlin Bar Service, BK Motorsports No.77 around the fairgrounds half-mile oval in 17.069 seconds, good enough for 29th of the 41 cars to go under the clock.

The inversion put the BK Motorsports entry on the pole for heat number one.  The initial start was called back when Newlin hit the gas, but his front row mate did not.  Newlin was sent back one row per All Star rules.  

In the end, that was the least of Newlin’s problems.  When the race finally went green, he immediately experienced a left rear vibration.  The shaking of the left rear tire was visible from the stands.  Newlin navigated his way out of the racing groove and pulled off the racing surface.  The team later determined the wheel was bent, causing the unbalanced rotation.

Having been credited with an 11th place finish in the heat race, Newlin’s point total suffered and landed him in the 18th starting spot in the 12-lap B-main, from which only the top four finishers would advance to the A-main.  The Millerstown, PA driver took advantage of the seat time, ultimately finishing his night in 17th.

May 29:  Weikert Memorial Night 2, Port Royal Speedway / Port Royal, PA

      (44 cars, Qualifying 29th, Heat 10th, B-main 19th)

On night number two of the Bob Weikert Memorial event, 44 teams were pit-side.  Once again Zach Newlin registered the 29th quickest lap in the field, and once again he had the pole for heat number one.

Newlin led the first lap of the heat race and held his own in the early going but faded during the latter half and crossed the line in 10th.

Starting deep in the B-main again, this time 16th, the 12-lap event would serve as valuable seat time.  Newlin was doing just that, making laps until lap nine.  He had a run off turn two and was looking to clear the two cars just in front of him.  As Newlin moved to the low line and was almost past the pair, contact with another car sent Newlin’s No.77 into a nasty series of end-over-end tumbles, throwing off a shower of sparks as the metal impacted the inside concrete barrier.  Thankfully, Newlin crawled from the wreckage under his own power.

“We are just trying to figure this car out and get some laps.  I just came back from a concussion from another wreck here (in March).  I thought I had him cleared.  Now we have a junk race car.  It sucks.  We were supposed to start the makeup feature later tonight.“, a disappointed and frustrated Newlin said in an on-track interview on FloRacing while crews worked to clean up the scene.

Up Next

Plans are for Newlin and the BK Motorsports team to return to Port Royal Speedway this Saturday, June 4th.  They are working hard to get a another car ready in time.

Zach’s next 358 sprint car race in the Mansberger Motorsports No.21m is slated for Friday, June 10th at Williams Grove Speedway.

Season Stats

6 races, 0 wins, 0 top 5’s, 1 top 10’s, 2 top 15’s, 3 top 2