"Z-Man" Takes Maiden Voyage In 305 Sprinter
by Steve Pados, GA Motorsports Media
West Park, NY- Last Saturday at the Glen Ridge Motorsports Park in Glen, New York, 14 year old driving talent Zachary "Z-Man" O'Connell, took his first laps in the ZTO Motorsports 305 Sprint Car entry. The race car, just out of the renowned Chip Gross Graphics Shop, looked great as the ZTO Team unloaded and prepared for the test and tune session the CRSA had set aside at the speedway for the day. Veteran Mini Sprint campaigner Pete Sindt was on hand with his 305 entry and agreed to shake the sharp looking signature numbered 327 race car down early in the day to make sure everything was locked in place. Sindt took a few hot laps with the car and brought it back to the pit area and acknowledged to the team the car felt real racy under his control. This set the stage for the "Z-Man" to try his hand at sprint car racing. Taking his time and making sure he located all of the buttons at his disposal for his maiden run, O'Connell felt at home in his new office. Getting pushed off, the car fired and O'Connell, being the lone rookie on hand to take part in the practice session, paced the track for a few slow laps and with each passing lap added a bit more foot to the new racer. Becoming more comfortable, O'Connell hammered the throttle and got up against the wall at the end of the front chute, damaging a wing and a wheel in the process. A quick trip to the pit area found the crew, headed up by Crew Chief Paul O'Connell, quickly assessing the damage to the racer, changed the right rear, and straightened out the cosmetics on the damaged wing. O'Connell waited his turn and once again returned to the the raceway, this time being more cautious as he put the new 327 through it's paces. While the learning curve for the new division is an entirely new experience, the quick-thinking youngster enjoyed his first indoctrination into the world of sprint car racing.
The new surroundings for the ZTO Motorsports Team will be challenging this year as they become educated into the world of sprint car racing. Each new track where they compete will offer new challenges to the "Z-Man" and for the entire team as they look forward to the new hurdles that are in front of them. With continued help via phone from veteran sprint car crew chief Ray Brooks, the team felt they learned quite a bit from the opening test and tune session at Glen Ridge. The ZTO Motorsports Team would like to extend their thanks out to everyone who lent assistance to the team at the speedway. Craig Rochelle and his Team were helpful throughout the day and the team would also like to thank John Perry and Pete Sindt for their help as well.
The "Z-Man" will put the ZTO Motorsports Slingshot through it's paces this coming weekend as the New York based Team returns to the Hamlin Speedway on Saturday night. While it is unclear at this point how much Slingshot racing will be done once the CRSA season opens, the ZTO Team will make as many races as possible. The new season for the CRSA kicks-off on May 30th with the teams once again returning to Glen Ridge for the opener. The 14-race schedule will find the series making stops at Penn Can, Accord, Utica Rome, Five Mile Point, Orange County, Virginia Motor Speedway and the Rolling Wheels Raceway in the states with a weekend swing into Canada in July. O'Connell is planning to make as many Accord Speedway Midweek Madness Shows and will be among the entrants when the Wednesday night shows begin on June 4th. For O'Connell, the June 4th race will be a kick-start for him at Accord as the "Z-Man" will return on June 13th when the CRSA 305 Sprinters make an appearance at Gary Palmer's "Gem in the Catskills".
With the school calendar now loaded with the many things the "Z-Man" is involved with at school, O'Connell remains focused on the books first. During the past week O'Connell played a part in the school's Jazz Concert. Continued efforts with the Jimmy Johnson Foundation now take a part of his spare time and learning the basic fundamentals of working on a Sprint Car to go along with the Slingshot, give the young driving talent a tremendous workload.
The new Team T-Shirts will be available soon at the racetracks where the "Z-Man" is competing and through the team's website: www.zacharyoconnell.com
The "Z-Man" continues to excel in the classroom to go along with increasing on track skills. He has maintained Honor Roll status for every semester and will soon be completing 8th grade at the Highland Middle School, situated in Highland, New York. The Honor Roll status is part of an agreement worked out by his parents for the capacity to drive the race car. Zach will end his 5th year in the school band this year as he plays the jazz trumpet. Zach is heavily involved with the school newspaper, "The Blue Review" as an at-large reporter and has done an extensive amount of work with the school yearbook. He is also a member of the Ski Club and the Mile Club. Zach also competes in the Port Ewen Athletic Basketball Association. When not playing sports or completing his homework, the "Z-Man" likes to take the drive down to the S&S Speedways to continuously hone his skills in racing, as he finds the more laps he runs indoors, the more adept he is becoming on the racetrack during the summer.
ZTO Motorsports would like to thank the great supporting cast of sponsors who have come on board with the relatively new racing team. The list includes, Apple Greens Golf Course, Lowes Home Improvement of Kingston, D&D NAPA of Highland, Stock Car Fantasy, John J Pezzo, CPA, P&Z Rental Management Inc, Northern Dutchess Archery, Hig-Fab, Fast Dirt Racing Promotions, Port Ewen Athletic Association, and GA Motorsports Media.
For more information and further updates regarding the "Z-Man" Zach O'Connell and the ZTO Motorsports team, log onto their website at: www.zacharyoconnell.com
