A near double-up victory at the NHRA North Central Division race one week ago set Zach Sackman up for a strong weekend at the 70th annual Toyota NHRA U.S. Nationals, and he’s taking full advantage of momentum as he’s entered in Top Dragster and Top Sportsman on drag racing’s biggest stage.
Last week at Beech Bend Raceway Park in Bowling Green, Ky., Sackman scored the first Top Alcohol Dragster win of his career and logged a runner-up finish in Top Dragster. In Indy, he’ll be fielding his family’s Hangsterfer’s Metalworking Lubricants Top Dragster and Jeff Pittman’s Hickory Enclosed Trailer Sales ’68 Chevelle in Top Sportsman. It’s the 29-year-old’s first time contending for a double-up win at the sport’s most prestigious event.
Sackman will roll into Indy with plentiful laps under his belt in the Randy Meyer Racing’s A/Fuel dragster he drove to his first career Top Alcohol Dragster win. Sackman defeated rookie Joe C. Maynard, motorsports icon Tony Stewart, and veteran Jared Dreher to earn the win. He also made it through four rounds of Top Dragster competition to meet Blake Peavler in the final round, where he went red.
“Driving the A/Fuel car is a different style of racing, but it’s good just to get runs down the track,” said Sackman. “You can always be better, and the more runs you make, the better you can be.”
The U.S. Nationals will mark Sackman’s third time entering Pittman’s Chevelle in Top Sportsman. He reached the final round in both prior appearances in Chicago and Norwalk.
“Jeff Pittman has given me a good opportunity to drive a very good race car, as well as racing our Hangsterfer’s dragster,” said Sackman. “From the moment I got in it, it’s been easy to drive, and I couldn’t get in a better car. I hadn’t driven a door car in six years, so to get in one and it’s going right down the track, it makes it easier for me. It’s one less thing to worry about because I know the car’s gonna go down the track every time.”
Sackman, who’s now in his 10th season behind the wheel of the Hangsterfer’s Laboratories Top Dragster, came close to pursuing a national event double-up in Top Sportsman and Top Dragster at Norwalk, where he reached the semifinals in Top Dragster and was runner-up in Top Sportsman. He’ll face perhaps the toughest fields of the season this weekend, but he’s hoping for another chance at a double-up at the Big Go.
“A double-up win is so rare, and to do it at Indy would just be unbelievable,” said Sackman, who thanked his parents Darren and Marie, along with Hangsterfer’s, Novak Electric, T&E Auto Haulers, B&B Concrete, Rolla Competition Engines, SB Custom Fab, and Harmonic Designs Inc.
“I wouldn’t know what to say. I don’t even want to think about that. I’m just trying to go out there and race and do the best I can.”
The 70th annual Toyota NHRA U.S. Nationals will take place Aug. 28-Sept 2 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park and can be streamed live at NHRA.tv. Round-by-round results can be found at DragRaceCentral.com.
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