Story By: A2DPR / ZACH NEWLIN RACING – PORT ROYAL, PA – Zach Newlin finally got to put a long-awaited two-race weekend under his belt for the first time during the 2024 season. He has had plenty of those in the past during his successful 305 and 358 sprint car days but when you are working to build your own 410 sprint car team, they don’t come as easily or frequently.
Friday and Saturday he doubled-up with the Mansberger Motorsports 358 and his own 410 sprint car to get some quality seat time.
SO CLOSE
Friday night Newlin returned to the seat of the Mansberger Motorsports 358 sprint car for his 5th race of the year in the No.21m. After starting the season with a runner-up finish, the team has battled bad draws, incidents, and handling issues as they have worked to get back to racing at the front of the pack.
Newlin kicked off the night by claiming a 4th place finish in his heat race, which was all he needed to put his team in the redraw.
For a change, luck worked in Newlin’s favor and put him on the pole for the 25-lap Summer Series main event.
From the drop of the green, Newlin found himself in 2nd and chasing leader Adam Carberry. Numerous times throughout the event the Millerstown, PA native pressured the leader but it seemed each time he was about to strike, the caution lights would come on.
Newlin tried a final charge in the closing laps but jumped the cushion and packed his right side wheels with mud. Doug Hammaker took advantage of the opportunity to slip by, dropping Newlin to a 3rd-place finish.
“Those cautions sure didn’t help us tonight. Seemed like every time I would catch Adam (Carberry) and be ready to challenge for the lead the yellow would come out.”, Newlin said of the podium run.
“I could catch him (Carberry) on entry but he was a little better off the corner than I was. After the late caution, I knew I didn’t have many laps left, so I went to the cushion to try to build up some momentum for one last shot but that bit me. I got over the cushion and packed some mud in the wheel. That gave Doug (Hammaker) the chance to get under me.”
“I have to give a shout-out to my daughter for pulling the pole in the redraw. We haven’t had much luck pulling pills this year, so it was nice to have a little luck for a change!”
DIALING IT IN
Newlin made his second appearance of the season and second in a row with his family-owned 410 sprint car at Port Royal Speedway Saturday night.
In his debut the week before, Newlin experienced electrical or ignition issues that hampered his efforts to begin to build a notebook for the Ron’s RV Sales, Butler Hill Maple Farm, Tuscarora Roofing, Dillman Hauling No.11z.
Although the team thought they had found the issue from the previous week, Newlin’s night got off to a tough start when the issue resurfaced. As a result, he ranked 26th after qualifying and finished 9th in his heat.
In the B-main things began to turn around. Newlin charged from 8th to 5th by lap two and survived a restart after a caution to claim a transfer spot and put his bright green No.11z in its first A-main of the season.
Newlin exited the feature event after just seven laps when the problem returned. He was credited with a 23rd-place finish.
“The caution in the B-main probably saved me. The car started having issues again but it settled down during the caution and then ran well after that.”, Newlin commented.
“Unfortunately it started happening again early in the A-main. We will get it figured out in the shop this week.”
UP NEXT
This weekend Newlin will climb back into the seat of the Mansberger Motorsports No.21m 358 sprint car Friday night at Williams Grove Speedway.
Newlin said the team will sit out of the upcoming Pennsylvania 410 Sprint Speedweek.
“We’re not equipped for time trial shows right now. The engine we’re running is down on horsepower compared to most of these guys. We have to be smart about when and where we race to get the most laps to develop our notebook and our program.”, Newlin shared.
Stay tuned to Zach’s social media outlets listed below to be the first to know when schedule updates are posted!