Story By: A2DPR / ZACH NEWLIN RACING – YORK HAVEN, VT – Zach Newlin has dabbled in 410 sprint cars over the last few seasons in the seat of a few different cars. The opportunities came his way after several highly successful seasons at the wheel of his family’s 305 sprint car, follow by a successful debut season when the team moved up to the 358 sprint car division.
With an appetite that now had a taste for 410 sprint car competition, late in 2023 Newlin made the decision to resurrect the familiar 11z, but this time it would have a 410 engine under the hood.
Sunday night the team took the first on-track step in that journey.
Newlin was forced to dive right in Sunday night. Group time trials set the heat lineups for the 23-car field, so his first laps in the Ron’s RV Sales, Butler Hill Maple Farm, Tuscarora Roofing Co., Dillman Hauling, FIT Transportation, Grove Financial & Associates, Precision Auto Repair Services, Snyders Knob, Christine Booker Realtor, Newlin Bar Service No.11z were on the clock.
After timing 7th quick in group 3, Newlin started and finished 7th in heat three as well.
Newlin took what he learned from those laps, discussed the information with brother Lance Newlin, and the pair made adjustments for the 30-lap finale. It made a difference. He was able to climb as high as 16th during the first half of the race and ultimately finished 17th.
“It’s good to be back at the track with the family team. We have been working on building this RPM car all year as finances allowed. The final piece was the engine. We didn’t even get a chance to come out and test, so tonight was like a test for us.“, Newlin said.
“It took some time to get comfortable tonight but we definitely made a lot of progress by the end of the night. There are a couple components I want to change before we race again. Hopefully we can use the rest of this year to shake the car down so we have something solid to start 2024 with.“
Zach will be back in 358 sprint car action in the Mansberger Motorsports No. 21m at Williams Grove Speedway on Friday, September 1st looking to continue their climb up the season point standings at the track. Newlin currently sits 5th on that list.
While Newlin is still considering possibly racing at Port Royal Speedway on Saturday night September 2nd, his next 410 sprint car race will likely be Port Royal Speedway’s Labor Day Classic.
Newlin says his tentative 410 sprint car schedule includes the remaining races at BAPS Motor Speedway and possibly a couple other races.