TZN Motorsports was started in October 2003. That is when Zachary's Grandma took him to Promotional Day at Terre Haute. He was hooked from the start. Zachary's Dad and Step-mom took some time to come around to the idea--A year to be exact. In October 2004 Zachary went back to the Promotional Day to test-drive again. After seeing him drive, his parents bought him his first quarter midget.
Zachary completed novice training in the spring of 2005 under the guidance of Maggie Brown Zenor. His first race was April 16, 2005. He finished 2nd place, which is pretty amazing considering that his crew chief (Dad) pushed him out onto the track with 2 flat tires. That spring Zachary and Team TZN survived numerous challenges, including his crew chief being side-lined with a broken ankle, and in July he transitioned to asphalt in Kokomo, IN. Both Zachary and his car quickly adapted to the asphalt surface, and the decision was quickly made to split the remaining race season between dirt and asphalt racing.
Until this point Zachary had been driving a 1991 Stanley quarter midget. It was all metal, sturdy (nearly indestructible) and the ideal car for a novice driver. However there were few adjustments that could be made to improve the handling, and Team TZN knew that this car would not perform as well past Jr. Novice. Zachary had already proven himself to be a competitive driver, but had yet to win a feature race. On August 12, 2005 Zachary finished 2nd in the heat race in Kokomo, IN and after several adjustments to the car and tires, he went on to win the Jr. Novice Feature that day. Zachary started forth and moved to the front of the race and had a comfortable lead for the last 12 laps. It was some of his best driving to date.
Later that week TZN Motorsports purchased Cheetah I & Cheetah II and drove to Pennsylvania to pick them up. They each needed some work to be race-ready, so Zachary drove his final race in the Stanley car on August 19, 2005 at the 2005 Dirt Grands in Terre Haute, IN.
Zachary's first Jr. Novice race in his new Cheetah I was in late August at Kokomo. We were given 2 new Hoosier Racing Tires, and it was the first time that TZN Motorsports had ever had new tires on a car. (It was the first time that the low-budget TZN Motorsports had anything that was new.) The Cheetah responded great to the track surface, and Zachary reported the car was handling great. He was running 2nd behind his good friend Brynn Roy when he got a little impatient trying to pass 2 lapped cars, and he caused a caution. He had to re-start at the back, but within one lap he moved up to 3rd again. Then under a red flag he got rear-ended and pushed into a stopped car in front of him, and it broke a steering rod. The crew chief tried to fix it in the pit area, but the handling was not the same and Zachary finished 3rd, missing the transfer to the next race.
Zachary's first season was highly successful. He started 29 races and had 24 top 5 finishes with 4 wins. Zachary has gained much attention for his clean and aggressive driving style, but more importantly for his ability to avoid wrecks and take care of the car. He has come a long way, but still has much to learn. He has been improving in his ability to communicate with his crew chief on how the car is handling. Zachary is also learning how to keep his emotions in check, but that is all part of being a young driver.
TZN Motorsports spent the "off-season" racing indoors at Columbus, OH and Ft. Wayne, IN. Tony Stewart was racing a midget at the Ft. Wayne race, and Zachary thought it was pretty cool to be a fellow racer with Tony for the weekend. Zachary had brought one of his driver trading cards and gave it to Tony Stewart. Tony thought it was pretty cool that another driver wanted to give him their card.
Starting in 2008 we are scaling back the racing to only one car. We bought a 2005 Lightning Chassis that has been updated to 2007 specs. This car holds the distinction of being the first EVER World Formula Western Grands Champion in 2006 and was the holder of the fast time at the 2007 Eastern Grands. It will be Zach's last quarter midget. We are going to run it as our World Formula car until he retires from QMA.
TZN Motorsports is looking forward to this years racing season and hopefully many seasons to come. With our new car, a new motor, and hopefully some new sponsors, it is hard to tell where Zachary can go.
Last Update: 3/16/06
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