Story By: A2DPR / ZACH NEWLIN RACING – MECHANICSBURG, PA – Zach Newlin may have finally ditched the monkey that had been on his back for the past year.
Friday night, Newlin established some momentum in the Mansberger Motorsports 358 sprint car by backing up a hard charger award with a podium finish in consecutive starts at Williams Grove Speedway.
Heat race lineups for the 27 cars signed in at Williams Grove Speedway were set using the track’s handicapping system. Given his tough start to the season, Newlin benefited by getting a front row starting spot for the first heat race of the night. The top six cars would transfer to the main event.
Although he slipped to 2nd on the opening lap, Newlin was persistent and eventually chased down leader Brady Dillon.
Newlin executed a last lap pass in the Manchester Hydraulics, Marlow’s Metal Fabrication, Safety Kleen, Lee Chassis Repair & Components, Will’s Lawncare, Mansberger Motorsports No.21m, taking the heat race win and the pole for the feature in one swift move.
Doug Hammaker shared the front row of the 20-lap A-main starting lineup with Newlin. Hammaker beat the Millerstown, PA native to turn one on the opening lap and claimed the top spot.
Newlin settled into 2nd and kept the leader in his sights past the halfway point of the race. As they reached lapped traffic, he watched for an opportunity to challenge for the lead but it never materialized. Instead, Chris Frank capitalized and slipped past Newlin into the runner-up spot on lap fourteen.
Zach Daddy kept a firm grasp on 3rd through the checkered flag, holding off Derek Locke and Tim Glatfelter, who rounded out the top five.
“Well, we still have a lot of work to do but that was a good run for us. I should’ve run second there but I hesitated in traffic.“, Newlin said. “I’m glad it didn’t go any longer because we were about out of fuel.”
“We’re still figuring some things out with this car and I’m trying to make better decisions behind the wheel. Those things are just a product of not racing enough and not having enough laps this year.”
Newlin has won at Williams Grove Speedway before in 358 sprint car competition. That was in his own car in his first season in the division. If he and the Mansberger team can keep this trend going, he may get back to victory lane before too long.
Zach Daddy and the Mansberger Motorsports team will head to BAPS Motor Speedway Saturday night, May 27th to compete in the ‘Dirty 30’ 358 sprint car special event, which boasts a healthy payout for the division.