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JIMMY
ZACHARIAS WINS BRONSON SPEEDWAY KICKOFF TO SPEEDWEEKS RACE
The Race Really Does Not Count Until Lap 50
by Denise DuPont |
 Modified
teams headed south this February away from the snow
and cold of the Northeast to the sunny warm state of
Florida. Before heading to the 51st Annual World
Series of Asphalt Racing at New Smyrna Speedway,
teams made a pit stop at Bronson Speedway for some
high banked short track competition. This year is
the second annual tour type modified race event at
Bronson Speedway and the modifieds doubled their
presence at the track.
Earlier this month track owner and promoter, Ann
Young, announced that the race winner would pocket
$2,400 including the Northeast Race Cars & Parts
$200 gift certificate. It was also conceivable that
if the leader of lap 49 led that entire final lap to
the checker, the leader would earn the $490 Bill
Mitchell bonus. The winning team would pocket $2,890
plus a set of Hoosier Tires, 10 gallons of Sunoco
Race Fuel and the 5th starting berth in the Richie
Evans Memorial 100 at New Smyrna Speedway.
In addition to the winning purse, Brad LaFontaine of
Northeast Race Cars & Parts presented a $200 Gift
Certificate to all who start the “Kickoff To
Speedweeks 50” Powered By Sunoco Race Fuels race.
 After
qualifying sixth, Jimmy Zacharias from Candor, NY.
started on the pole after pulling the lucky number
one during a redraw of the top six qualifiers.
Starting first Zacharias led the field to green and
secured the lead. It did not take Ryan Preece of
Berlin, CT. long to challenge Zacharias for the top
position. The two had fun exchanging the front spot
until finally Preece settled in the lead and
Zacharias in third.
“I saved my tires a little bit at the beginning when
I got the lead and then Ryan came up and passed me.
Then he back it down so I backed it down.” Confessed
Zacharias. “We played cat and mouse for about ten to
fifteen laps. Then he took it and I said go ahead. I
have lost a lot of races burning up my tires last
ten laps into a race. The race really does not count
until lap 50. So there is no point in going for it
early trying to run for the win. So I saved the
tires a little bit. I probably beat my tires a lot
more than I wanted trying to get back to them so I
backed off. That is racing.”
Hard racing continue until lap 39 when a red
flag/caution was thrown for a driver (Cory Lane)
getting out of his car while stopped in the infield.
Drivers were warned at their pre-race meeting
meeting that if they stopped on the track or in the
infield they had to remain in their cars or a
caution would be brought out.
Once the driver got back in his car, the green flag
was thrown and racing resumed. But Preece’s modified
was not as stout as it was before the caution. He
and Hirschman picked up where they left off racing
hard. The two made contact on lap 45 bringing out
the last race caution. Both driver’s pitted with
only Hirschman returning to the rear of the field.
 Zacharias
was sitting in third when the incident occurred and
he inherited lead. He depended on his spotter’s
judgment and calls and the call made just before the
accident saved him. “Wayne Darling was spotting for
me and he came on the radio with about 15 laps to go
and he told me just to back it off a little bit and
let them two duke it out because something is going
to happen”, explained Zacharias. “He called it
right. If it wasn’t for that we would have been
right there in the middle of it and all three of us
probably would have been right on top of each other.
It would been worse. So all and all, he told me to
back off and I listened to him and we came out on
top. It wasn’t pretty but we will take it.” Said
Zacharias about being in the right place at the
right time, crossing the finish line first and being
the big winner of the night.
Chris Young of Calverton, NY time trialed fourth and
drew to start on the outside pole. He quickly slid
back as the seasoned drivers took over the top
positions. Hanging in the top five Young drove a
solid consistent race and was able to finish second.
“It was exciting.” Expressed Young with a big smile
on his face. “I got an outside pole on the last
restart with five to go. It was like a mid-range
restart. It was too fast for low gear and too slow
for high gear. So I was in low and coming out of
four we bumped wheels just as I was shifting and
then I just did not get the lift to get the tranny
into high and I lost a couple of car lengths. By the
end I had run him back down but I just did not have
enough time to get back by him. I could have passed
him once I got to him but to make up three car
lengths in that amount of time and to try and get by
is just not enough. I wish that I could have got
him.”
 Pole
winner Matt Hirschman came to Bronson Speedway to
try to conquer the high banked short track. But his
plans were destroyed when he was caught up in a late
race incident. Both he and Preece are smooth drivers
and unfortunately they were caught up racing hard
for the win. “Coming out of turn four we touched.”
Hirschman stated about the race mishap. “My car
hopped up on his side and after that we were both
just along for the ride. So there was no intent at
that point of either of us making that happen. Ryan
was just all over the race track and he certainly
did not give me a lane. I know several times where
he would come across my front bumper and I checked
up or lifted because I did not want to spin him out.
Normally if I would feel that it would not have been
my fault if he did spin. If he spins because of
contact with me you are going to go to the rear and
I know that.”
“But I do not race that way and he knows that.”
Hirschman is known for his clean race style on the
track and his ability to win when he can without
taking any risks. “I definitely know a bunch of
other drivers that would have punted him out of the
way or drove into the corner and slammed into him.
Where I went as low as I possibly could. We did not
touch at all but we did come together coming off of
turn four. We did not need that (incident) that is
for sure. So it makes a lot more work for us”.
 Ryan
Preece qualified one spot out of the pole and redrew
for a position five start. He wasted no time
charging through to the lead and it appeared that he
was the car to beat. Then during the last ten laps
the #6 modified was all over the track with what
appeared to be handling issues. Preece explained
what happened: “My car was a tick free. The red
flag-caution did not come out quite where I wanted
it. And actually I did not want a caution at all. I
still do not know why that caution came out, but
what are you going to do.”
So what happened that took Preece out of the race?
“Coming off of turn four we were both a little high
on the track but what are you going to do. We just
touched wheels. Getting into turn three, I knew he
was there and I knew that it was over so I kind of
rode the outside.”
Being the professionals they are on the track, the
two driver got together after the race to understand
what occurred. “We spoke after the race and he
thought not that I pinched him but that he was
pretty low and I felt that I was as high as I could
be coming off the corner.” Stated Preece. “Then we
touched wheels. It was a racing incident and by no
means do I think that he would stuff me or would I
wreck him. It is not really worth it. If you look at
both our pasts, we don’t really wreck race cars. So
I do not think that either of us would really do
that. It just happened. Unfortunately the car just
got too loose too soon. If that caution did not
randomly come out it may have been a different race
but you never know. That is why it is called
racing!”
So modified team will regroup, prepare their cars
and head onward to speedweeks and racing at New
Smyrna Speedway. See you back On Monday for more
modified racing.
Notes from Bronson Speedway:
What did you think of Bronson Speedway?
Jimmy Zacharias
“The track is unique. This is the kind of racing and
tracks were I come from back home – small track with
high banking. Where Matt runs short tracks but Ryan
is use to bigger tracks. The track really did not
give me an advantage because it would have come down
to me, Matt and Ryan anyways. And those two are two
of the best drivers that you can race with. Nine
times out of ten they are probably going to beat me
but we came out on top for this one.”
Matt Hirschman
“I did like the track and I liked racing here. It
was fun track to dive so I have no regrets of
coming. I enjoyed the track but I did not want to
leave here that way.”
What did you think of competing on the
American Racer tires at Bronson Speedway?
Chris Young
“The tires were consistent. I will give them that.
My hands were full consistently. We were trying to
get the car to turn earlier in the day and I still
have not gotten it to cut going into the corner so
that compounded our loose off issue and yet
complemented each other. So that was why my hands
were so full.”
“As the tires, they held up. If you look at my
times, my times towards the end of the race were
very close to how I was running at the beginning.
There was no big drop off like the guys on the
Hoosiers had. If everybody was on them, it would had
been a very different race. Economically they are
more affordable. So price wise here at Bronson, they
are good that way. “
Did the track use up your tires?
Ryan Preece
“I would not say that I used the tires up during the
race because they look great. Last year on the tour
on the car I ran z-link and I probably should have
made one more adjustment in the tire department. But
I felt that the car was really good and I did not
need to.”
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Source:
Denise DuPont / TheChromeHorn.com
Posted:
February 19, 2017 |
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