Brock Zearfoss has shown some speed and confidence in early-season Sprint Car action in Florida and central Pennsylvania.
That comes with the territory when you are passing cars. The problem for Zearfoss is that he hasn’t started close enough to the front to get the desired results that match the performance of his car.
On Saturday night, Zearfoss got a chance to rectify that during the Open Wheel Nationals at South Dakota’s Park Jefferson International Speedway.
The Jonestown, Pa., ace was in the right spot at the right time. Aaron Reutzel ran out of fuel, and Zearfoss took evasive action to pass Kerry Madsen and the slowing car of Reutzel to go from third to first and cruise to the win in the 25-lap Main event.
“You go down to Florida, and you have good speed,” Zearfoss said. “You come home and have good speed. It was just unfortunate things … pill draw doesn’t go your way, stuck mid-pack and have to fight your way through, and you can’t have that in today’s racing.
“You’ve got to start up front to have a chance. We had the speed to do it, we just didn’t have the starting position to finish it off. We had that same speed tonight, and even with the two, three months we had off, it was right back to business.”
Continued Zearfoss, “We didn’t miss a beat. I knew that would be the way it was with this team. I’m fortunate to have guys like Shane [Bowers] and Tye [Wolfgang] by my side and keep the confidence being off as long as we have been.”
Reutzel started fourth on the grid and surged past Kerry Madsen for the lead on the first circuit, only to have it wiped out when rain hit the speedway.
After a short delay, the race resumed. Madsen jumped out front on the complete restart, with Parker Price-Miller, Zearfoss, and Reutzel in tow.
The second caution flag flew on Lap 6 when Blake Hahn came to a stop on the backstretch. Price-Miller got beside Madsen on the restart, but he couldn’t pull off the pass at the exit of Turn 2.
Two laps later, Price-Miller made it stick. He shot to the inside of Turns 3 and 4 and came away with the lead. One lap later, Reutzel ripped past Zearfoss for third in heavy lapped traffic.
Another caution flew on Lap 10. Reutzel used the restart to take over second from Madsen and set his sights on the leader. The Clute, TX, driver caught and passed Price-Miller coming out of Turn 2 on Lap 17, but the caution flew when Cory Eliason spun and Hunter Schuerenberg tipped over in Turn 4.
Price-Miller was placed back in front on the restart and opened up a half-straightaway lead. After another caution on Lap 20, Price-Miller ran out of fuel and rolled to stop, handing the lead to Reutzel.
It appeared Reutzel was going to cruise to his third 410 victory of the season in the states. That all changed when he ran out of fuel in front of Madsen heading into Turn 3, which forced Zearfoss to shoot wide and into the lead.
“I wasn’t sure what was going on there,” Zearfoss said. “I saw him slow down, and they got together. I knew I needed to get by them as soon as I could, because if they got apart from each other, one was going to go one way and one was going to go the other.
“So, I just needed to react, and I just went where they weren’t. Once you commit to a position on the racetrack, you kind of have to ride it out. Fortunately, they didn’t split apart until I was almost past them.”
Reutzel pulled into the infield, and the race remained green. Zearfoss had plenty of fuel — five gallons to be exact — and had no problem polishing this one off.
Zearfoss owned the final five circuits and earned a $6,000 payday for what was a busy week of work. Madsen finished second, with Austin McCarl, Ian Madsen, and Channin Tankersley completing the top five.
“I knew it was a cool night, I knew there would be a lot of cautions, and I knew the motor was rich,” Zearfoss said. “It’s cold, and the motor is rich, so you have to be smart about that.
“The way the times are now, it’s tough for everybody. I’m fortunate to have some kind of work to be able to bring some kind of income when we aren’t racing. The last two days before we left, I worked 12 and 14 hours and then got up at 6:30 a.m. before we left and worked again.
“The work never stops. You’ve got to keep digging. It’s all about how much you want it, and I’m just hungry.”
Sprint Car Feature Finish, 25 Laps: 1. Brock Zearfoss; 2. Kerry Madsen; 3. Austin McCarl; 4. Ian Madsen; 5. Channin Tankersley; 6. Anthony Macri; 7. Kyle Offill; 8. Jake Blackhurst; 9. Jody Rosenboom; 10. Chad Boespflug; 11. Cody Ledger; 12. Chris Martin; 13. Dylan Norris; 14. Scotty Thiel; 15. Aaron Reutzel; 16. Parker Price-Miller; 17. Kameron Key; 18. Hunter Schuerenberg; 19. Cory Eliason; 20. Brant O’Banion; 21. Anthony Fiore; 22. Brendan Mullen; 23. Blake Hahn; 24. Wade Nygaard. DNS: Kameron Key.