"Z-Man" Update With The ZTO Motorsports Team
by Steve Pados, GA Motorsports Media
West Park, NY- The ZTO Motorsports Team with their driver Zachary "Z-Man" O'Connell at the controls, took part in last week's big two day show at the Hamlin Speedway located in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. Running a dual heat format to determine the starting field, the 34 cars on hand did battle on the Friday night portion of the racing schedule. The "Z-Man" took finishes of an eighth and a third in his heat events and the accumulative total was good enough to place him in the 15th starting position for the 100 lap grind. A final B-Main was run on Saturday qualifying six more cars into the main event. Thirty cars took the green flag and each lap was paying a bonus to a designated position for each of the 100 laps.
Shannon Smith, the 2007 Kutztown Speedway Slingshot Champion, and the "Bushkill Bullet" Kyle Rohner paced the field down for the start of the event. Smith got the jump at the green and proceeded into the lead with Rohner in tow. As the two teenagers worked their way out to a comfortable margin, the racing at midpack was phenomenal. One by one those with an aspiration of finishing upfront made their moves through the heavy traffic and with it began the process of shuffling the racing deck with each passing lap. Cody Kline was able to break free and make a run into the top five. Ben Whitaker was another who found his way into the heat of the action. The first fifty laps were run with the cautions counting and the final fifty laps were run straight up.
At the halfway mark it was Smith checking out on the field with Rohner and Nate Christman following. The "Z-Man" was in a solid battle for 9th position at the time. O'Connell made the move to 8th place and moved into 7th place one lap later. One by one as the laps wore down, mechanical problems began to haunt some of the the top runners. Kline saw his great ride go down the drain when a chain came off, and a couple of laps later Christman broke a crankshaft ending his night. Right around the same time, O'Connell hooked a rut and began having braking problems with the signature numbered 327 race car. O'Connell sensing the problem, began to back off while still hoping to finish the race. Losing a couple of positions late in the race due to the problems, O'Connell managed to hang on and drive acros the finish line with a solid eighth place finish. After the race, the brakes on the race car totally locked up as O'Connell was driving to his pit stall.
Shannon Smith won the event comfortably and the $1,500.00 bucks that went with it. Rohner was second with Ben Whitaker third, Nunzi Allegrucci fourth, and Billy Clark rounding out the top five. Outside invader Brett Bieber was sixth with last year's inaugural winner of the event Billy Van Inwegen Sr finishing in seventh. The "Z-Man" was eighth and Marc Daniels was ninth and Dale Kober rounded out the top ten finishing order. O'Connell, who is in his rookie year at competing with the regular Slingshots, had the highest finish of the drivers in their initial year in the series.
Wednesday found the ZTO Motorsports Team back at the Accord Speedway for the unlabeled tour race. The "Z-Man" began the 20-lap main event from the sixth starting position and quickly found himself among the leaders with Jason Kosch setting the pace. RJ Smykla was applying the pressure early on after a small skirmish in turn two between he and O'Connell. One lap later Anthony Perrego and O'Connell got together in turn one and two and O'Connell found himself sliding up the embankment trying to hang on to his race car. O'Connell regained control of the race car but now was sitting back in 7th place.
The race came to a screeching halt when Smykla turned the leader Kosch in turn four and the Kosch machine was unable to continue on in the event. Smyka would earn a ticket to the rear of the field for the infraction. When the green flag was displayed, John Bellinger, who inherited the lead, quickly got off to a great start but a couple of the cars behind him were slow to go. O'Connell wisely stepped out of line and would find racing room on the inside of turn one as he completed the pass of two cars and was now back in the hunt and tracking the leader Bellinger. Bellinger had already checked out on the field and O'Connell spent the rest of the green flag laps trying to chase down the leader to no avail. Bellinger, a former Modified racer who was seeing the Speedway for the first time, was in for the win with the Z-Man" in with a sloid run in the runnerup slot. Charlie Lawrence was in for third with RJ Smykla robounding back for fourth place and Kyle Van Duser completing the top five.
At the time of the Press Release it was uncertain where the ZTO Motorsports Team would be competing this weekend. The team is still actively seeking a couple of new team members to help out with the racing program.
The "Z-Man" continues to excel in the classroom to go along with his increasing on track skills. He has maintained Honor Roll status for every semester and has now completed the 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 in-house race cars. 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
