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Zach Newlin’s weekend was supposed to kick off with 358 sprint car competition at Williams Grove Speedway in the Mansberger Motorsports No.21m, however Mother Nature claimed the victory Friday night, leaving the Millerstown, PA resident to turn his attention to Saturday night’s 410 sprint car race at Port Royal Speedway in the BK Motorsports N0.77.

July 30:  Living Legends Dream Race / Port Royal Speedway / Port Royal, PA

      [27 cars, Qualifying 26th, Heat 9th (9), B-main 5th (9),

        A-main #1 24th (23), A-main #2 20th (24)]

Newlin and the No.77 team have limited 410 sprint car experience and had been working hard to shorten the learning curve, with a goal of establishing a reliable baseline setup to adjust from.  That process had been stalled when the team was sidelined for six weeks for a variety of reasons.

Back in June with only a few races together, Newlin and the BK Motorsports team had a good heat race run and earned a mid-pack starting spot, but they were unable to maintain and faded in the main event.

Tonight, they were ready to get back to work finding a good balance in their X1 chassis at Port Royal’s Living Legends Dream Race.  The format for the 16th annual event took on a slightly new look for 2022.  The PA Speedweek time trial and heat race format would be used to set the lineup for the first of two twin 20-lap features.  The lineup for the second feature would be based on the finishing order of the first race but would use an inversion of either the top 4, 6 or 8 finishers of the first race.  The inversion pill would be drawn by the winner of the first feature.  

Twenty seven teams signed in to compete Saturday night, vying for their share of the $60,000 total purse.  Newlin’s night started off absent any luck.  He drew the highest pill, which meant he would go out last under the clock.  In the PA Speedweek format the field qualifies as one group, so a late slot in the order is not an ideal scenario for a team.

Newlin turned in the 26th quickest lap in qualifying in the Victory Auto / Grove Financial & Associates / Dillman Hauling / Centre Roofing & Contracting / Mattas Motorsports / Ron’s RV Sales / The Roast Post / Tuscarora Roofing Co. / FIT Transportation / Kirby Kitner Excavating / Christine Booher, Realtor / T&M Homebuilders / Strange Oval / Walker Performance Filtration / Newlin Bar Service, BK Motorsports No.77, which meant he and the team had some work to do if they were going to climb out of the early hole.

Just two laps into his 8-lap heat race, the hole got deeper.  Something didn’t feel right and the ill-handling racecar forced Newlin to the pits.

The 9th place finish in the heat race placed Newlin 9th on the starting grid for the 12-lap B-main.  He was able to advance a few positions and work his way into the 6th and final A-main transfer spot, then got a little insurance when a top five car dropped out.

It wasn’t the easiest path, but they were in the Dream Race.  That meant more laps, more experience, and guaranteed start money.

Newlin started 23rd in the first 20-lap A-main and was running 24th on lap nine.  Unable to move forward, the team made the decision to pull in, save their equipment for the second feature, and make adjustments to get better.  While racers want to race and never want to give up, it was the smart decision for the bigger picture.  It gave the team time to assess what they had learned and make adjustments for the second race, which gave them another opportunity to add to their notebook.

While the final finish didn’t show a dramatic improvement, Newlin indicated the car was definitely better in the second race.  He crossed under the checkers in 20th after starting 24th.

“We didn’t time well tonight and that’s tough to overcome, then we had the issue in the heat race and had to pull in, which made it even tougher.” Newlin commented.

“We had really good straightaway speed.  We’ve got bite and enough power, now we just need to get it rotating better in the corner.  We’ve been too tight.  I could enter the corner pretty decent but from the middle off I just have to fight it too much and we lose time & speed.  We’re putting our heads together and getting some other opinions to try and get this car balanced better.  Just have to keep racing and working on it.  We’ll figure it out.”

Up Next

Zach will be aboard the Mansberger Motorsports No.21m Friday night August 5th at Williams Grove Speedway for a first-of-its-kind Match Race for the 358 sprint cars, offering a total purse of over $20,000.  Per Williams Grove’s website, the much anticipated Match Race, including matched sponsorship funds from the speedway, will go 25-laps in distance while paying $2,021 to win and $696 to start.

Saturday night, August 6th, Newlin will be back in the BK Motorsports No.77 410 sprint car at Port Royal Speedway, where the new team will continue working hard to find the right balance and break through with a top ten run.

Season Stats

12 races, 0 wins, 0 top 5’s, 1 top 10’s, 4 top 15’s, 7 top 20’s

Losing a car is certainly not a setback any team wants to go through, but it is especially hard on a brand new team trying to establish itself, learn and build a notebook.

It took a lot of hard work on a short holiday week, but BK Motorsports and Zach Newlin rebounded from a hard crash on June 29th to be ready for action again at Port Royal Speedway just six days later.

June 4:  Port Royal Speedway / Port Royal, PA

      (17 cars, Heat 7th, A-main 11th)

Zach Newlin lined up outside row number two for the first of two 8-lap heats Saturday afternoon at ‘The Speed Palace’.  The Millerstown, PA native lost a couple spots on the opening lap and wasn’t able to recapture them.  With all cars transferring to the A-main, there was no reason to overdrive the new car.  It was a good opportunity for Newlin to shake it down and figure out what adjustments they could make for the A-main.  He crossed the line in 7th.

During the opening laps of the 25-lap main event, Newlin moved forward from his 12th starting spot into 11th and began looking for a way to crack the top ten.  As some teams surged toward the front and others faded through the field, Newlin held serve around 12th.

Newlin was moving around, trying the high side, the middle and the low line, searching for a combination that made the car happy.  Drivers feel how the car responds and the crew sees the attitude of the car from their vantage point.  All of that information lands in the team’s notebook, helping them make informed and improved decisions at the next race.

Newlin moved up a spot to 11th as the race entered the final 10 laps, but he wasn’t able to break into the top ten before the checkered flag fell.  The goal for the night was to take what the car would give, get seat time, and continue building a notebook, so the 11th place finish was certainly a positive result.

A team cannot improve sitting at the shop, so with all the boxes checked on Saturday night, Newlin and the BK Motorsports team headed for Path Valley Speedway on Sunday with 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 No.77.

June 5:  Path Valley Speedway / Spring Run, PA

      (19 cars, Qualifying 9th, Heat 4th, A-main 15th)

Sunday’s return of the 410 sprint cars to Path Valley Speedway brought 19 teams to compete, including the BK Motorsports No.77 piloted by Zach Newlin.

Newlin registered the 9th quickest qualifying lap, matching Mark Smith’s 8th best lap of 10.792 seconds, but losing the tiebreaker to Smith.

Newlin was on the inside of the second row for the green flag of the third and final heat race of the day.  He went on to finish 4th in his first career 410 sprint car race on a quarter-mile track.

Zach Daddy took the green flag for the 40-lap feature from the 12th position.  In a relatively uneventful, workmanlike A-main, Newlin logged a 15th place finish. 

“I feel like I wasn’t aggressive enough, but right now we’re trying to make laps and learn.  We need to race to improve.  If we tear up equipment, we can’t do that.  We’re not going to race defensively but we are going to race smart.”, Newlin explained.

“We’ve definitely got some things to figure out with this car, but my comfort level is getting better.  This car has some differences from the last one I raced, so we’re all adjusting together.  It was good to get a couple nights where we could make a lot of laps and learn how it responds to adjustments.  It’ll take some time, but the ingredients are there and we will figure out the right recipe.”

Up Next

Friday night June 10th, Zach Newlin will be in the seat of the Mansberger Motorsports No.21m for the 358 sprint car Summer Series race at Williams Grove Speedway.  

The following night, Newlin will be back at Port Royal Speedway in the BK Motorsports No.77 410 sprint car on Camera and Autograph Night.  The pits will be open to all ticketholders for one hour prior to the evening’s action.  Stop by for a photo with Zach, say hello, and get an autograph!  

Season Stats

8 races, 0 wins, 0 top 5’s, 1 top 10’s, 4 top 15’s, 5 top 20’s

It was a long wait.  60 days to be exact since Zach Newlin’s well-documented 410 sprint car crash at Port Royal Speedway that sidelined him, but let’s not dwell on the past.

Zach Daddy has returned, and all is well.  

“I felt great.  It was good to get behind the wheel again.“, Newlin said after climbing out of his 358 sprint car after his 20-lap feature Friday night at Williams Grove Speedway.  “I’ve been feeling good doing day-to-day stuff, but I was ready to get back in the car and make sure I was race-ready.“

May 20:  Williams Grove Speedway / Mechanicsburg, PA

      (Mansberger Motorsports 358:  27 cars, Heat 5th, A-main 7th)

After a few cancellations over the prior months due to weather, Friday finally brought the first race of the season for the 358 sprint cars at Williams Grove and 27 teams signed in to compete.

Lineups for the 8-lap heats were set by pill draw.  Six cars would transfer from each, with the top four finishers going to a redraw.  Zach Newlin lined up outside row two for the first heat.  He held 4th through the first half of the race but lost the spot and finished 5th, just outside of the redraw.

Newlin started 13th in the 20-lap A-main and immediately showed the team had made the correct adjustments after the qualifying race.  He steadily moved forward, working his way into the top ten.

Long runs seemed to be Newlin’s friend. During one lengthy green flag period, Newlin made significant moves forward, rolling the bottom of turns one and two very effectively to make up ground.  A caution seemed to kill his momentum.  

When the race returned to green, it took it a few laps for Newlin to challenge the cars in front of him.  In the end, he crossed the line in 7th and closed out a nice return performance.

The team later discovered a very slow leak in the left rear tire, which explained the improvement on the long runs.  The tire was losing pressure under caution but during long green flag runs, heat would cause the pressure to build up again, bringing the handling of the car back to where it was best.  

“I think we had a top-5 car if we hadn’t had the leak in the left rear.  That’s racing.  It was still a good first night back.“, Newlin commented.

May 21:  Port Royal Speedway / Port Royal, PA

      (BK Motorsports 410:  34 cars, Qualifying 6th Group B, Heat 6th, B-main 3rd)

On May 21st, Zach Newlin not only returned to 410 sprint car racing, he debuted his new ride, the Grove Financial & Associates / Dillman Hauling / Centre Roofing & Contracting / Mattas Motorsports / Victory Auto / Ron’s RV Sales / The Roast Post / Kirby Kitner Excavating / Christine Booher, Realtor / T&M Homebuilders / Strange Oval / Walker Performance Filtration / Newlin Bar Service, BK Motorsports No.77.

BK Motorsports is a new entry in Central PA sprint car racing.  The team’s owner, Brett Knable, has been involved in the sport for many years in several different capacities, but team ownership is a new frontier.

Newlin’s sharp looking black, white and orange X1 race car was among 34 cars that entered competition at ‘The Speed Palace’ Saturday night.  With only 24 spots open for the night’s main event, the new combination would have to earn their way in against a quality field.

The event format divided the field into four groups for timed hot laps and heat races.  The groups were established by pill draw, then teams would remain within their own groups for the duration of qualifying events.  The four fastest cars in each group would be inverted to set the first two rows of each heat race lineup.  Each of the 8-lap heat races would transfer the top five finishers directly to the A-main, with the top two finishers entering the handicap procedure.

Newlin timed 6th quick in Group B, placing him 6th in the lineup for heat race number two.  Newlin was unable to advance into a transfer position, which relegated him to the B-main to try to make the field for the night’s finale.

Newlin started on the front row of the 12-lap B-main and held the 2nd position firmly for most of the event.  On one restart, he pulled alongside leader Kassidy Kreitz, but was unable to take over the lead.  On the final restart with one lap remaining, Ryan Smith found some extra speed and stole 2nd away from Newlin.  The Millerstown, PA native rode home in 3rd, putting himself and his new team in the show in their inaugural race.

Zach took the green for the 25-lap A-main from the 23rd position.  In the early laps in that situation, patience is important.  That’s especially true for a new team who needs laps to learn what they have.  Newlin took what came to him, picking up a few spots in the early going.

Two red flags for incidents paused the action over the course of the first half-dozen laps.  The race briefly went back to green, but rain arrived and interrupted the action.  The weather moved in to stay, causing the race to be suspended with 8 laps complete and 17 remaining.  Newlin was running 17th at the time and that is where he will restart when the race is resumed and completed.

“I have to thank Brett for the opportunity to run his car.  He has good stuff and I think we can build something really good here.  It was a decent night for our first time out.  The first night out you’re kind of working blind.  You have no notes to go on for that particular car, so you use what you know and hopefully get it close.  I feel like we did that, so now we know what we have, and we can adjust from here.”, Newlin shared.

Up Next

Zach and the BK Motorsports team will race the two-day Bob Weikert Memorial at Port Royal Speedway, competing with the All Star Circuit of Champions.  The lucrative weekend in honor of the legendary car owner and his famous No.29 pays $10,000 to the winner on Saturday and a whopping $29,000 to the victor in Sunday’s finale.

Following Sunday’s Weikert Memorial main event, Port Royal Speedway will resume the suspended 410 sprint car feature to complete the remaining 17 laps of the May 21st event.

Season Stats

4 races, 0 wins, 0 top 5’s, 1 top 10’s, 2 top 15’s, 3 top 20’s