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| 14 year-old Dalton Zehr to run at least a partial 2005 ASA Late Model Series Season | by Matt Prieur
PENDLETON, Ind. -- A growing trend in the world of stock car racing is the influx of young, up and coming drivers working their way through the ranks of the local short tracks. Drivers still going to high school have the tendency to avoid the world of high school sports such as Baseball, Basketball, Football, and Hockey and do something that some kids can only dream about. 14-year-old Dalton Zehr is one of those drivers living that dream and he’s still an eighth grader at Daytona Beach (FL) Christian School!
Dalton started racing at age seven in Caldwell, Idaho, his hometown, in Box Stock Outlaws (winged dirt cars) in his first race he placed second and proved that was no fluke as in his second race he won! Zehr then turned to Bandoleros at age 11 and started out with a bang. He won 10 races in a row and overall, Zehr won 17 out of 26 races that he entered. He won the track championship after missing one race that season, which was 2002. Dalton also recorded the highest points average in the nation in the Bandoleros division.
During the 2004 season and at the young age of 13, he turned his attention to the FastKids truck series and the winning didn’t stop there! He won seven out of the 17 races for the 2004 season. The Daytona Beach, Florida resident, finished in the top three in 15 out of the 17 races on his way to the 2004 FastKids Truck Series Championship over such drivers as Matt Martin, NASCAR Nextel Cup veteran, Mark Martin's son!
To begin the 2005 season, Zehr made the big jump to a full-bodied Super Late Model at New Smyrna (FL) Speedway on January 8th, which also happened to be his 14th birthday! He also ran during Florida Speedweeks this past winter, also at New Smyrna (FL). He made the main features each event and finished all nine shows held with a best showing of sixth. He tied for 10th in the final Speedweeks points standings with Indiana veteran, Scott Hantz, a former CRA Super Series champion and one of the premiere Outlaw Super Late Model drivers in the Midwest! In the Florida Speedweeks points standings, Zehr finished ahead of such standout drivers as former ASA National Tour driver, Travis Kittleson, as well as fellow ASA Late Model Series Rookie, Chase Austin, and NASCAR Busch Grand National driver, Michael Jourdain Jr.!
"Dalton will be racing the first three races of the 2005 ASA Late Model Series Presented by GM Performance Parts." Said Car Owner, Marty Zehr as he talked about his sons plans for the upcoming season. "After that, it depends on what we have for equipment and how Dalton is doing against the drivers in the series and if he’s up to the challenge. We’ll then make a decision on whether or not we’ll go and try for the Pat Bourdow Memorial Rookie of the Year title or not." Ended the elder Zehr.
It didn’t take Zehr to let the racing world that he was no joke in a Super Late Model as on April 8, 2005, he won his first ever Super Late Model feature at Orlando (FL) Speedworld over such top Florida drivers as Ronnie Roach and Jared Allison! He also won the 2005 FastKids Trucks Series opener back at New Smyrna and then backed that performance up with a second win in a row again at New Smyrna on April 16th.
Dalton is always a front-runner. He has finished every race he has ever started, with no DNF’s (Did Not Finishes) ever! Dalton is focused on racing. When he isn’t attending school, racing, testing at the track, or working on the cars at the shop, he is at home studying past races looking for ways to improve his racing skills. He not only has a very high skill level of driving, Dalton has a very keen sense for the mechanics as well.
For the 2005 season Zehr will pilot the Marty and Marianne Zehr, family owned, Chevrolet Monte Carlo in the ASA Late Model Series Presented by GM Performance Parts for at least the first three events of the season beginning with the UB Machine 100 at the Baer Field (IN) Speedway in Fort Wayne, Indiana on May 6-7. He’ll carry sponsorship of the side of his machine from Speed Racer Autoworks LLC, as well as Sign Post.
To learn more about Dalton Zehr and his 2005 season, click on his website at: www.daltonzehr.com
For more information on the upcoming 2005 season for the ASA Late Model Series Presented by GM Performance Parts, log onto: www.asalatemodels.com
Upcoming events:
May 7th – “The UB Machine 100” at Baer Field Speedway
May 14th – “The Snap-on Tools 100” Presented by Lane Automotive & Q106FM at the Calhoun County Speedway
May 27th – “The Bryden Motors 100” at Madison International Speedway
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