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HIGHLAND – Highland’s Chad Zobrist had a very good Saturday night at Highland Speedway when the UMP Summer Nationals card took place.
Zobrist won his first Summer Nationals late-model championship when he took the night’s feature race, driving for Zobrist Motorsports. Zobrist won his heat race before going on to take the win in the feature race, finishing ahead of Shannon Babb (Moweaqua, Ill.), Gordy Gundaker (St. Charles, Mo.), Jason Zobrist (Highland) and Jason Suhre (Highland) in the top five.
“It should be a pretty good show here tonight; there’s a lot of good cars here,” Zobrist said in an interview prior to the card. “I just hope it all works out.”
It certainly did for Zobrist; there was $10,000 available on the evening for the winner. “It’s one of the biggest show here all year long,” Zobrist said.
The 22-year veteran drives a Rocket chassis with a Chevrolet engine in the late-model class at the quarter-mile dirt oval. “My uncle started racing and he kept his car at the shop,” Zobrist said about what got him interested in motor racing. “I got interested in it from there; I drive mostly here and at Belle-Clair in Belleville; I used to go to Tri-City Speedway (in Pontoon Beach) and I just sort of switched to Belleville.”
Growing up with his uncle and working on his car helped spur Zobrist’s interest in the sport. “I just took an interest and just started messing around with it,” Zobrist said. “I started driving and it just built up.”
Zobrist doesn’t model his style after other drivers. “There’s a lot of good drivers out there; I just try to do my own thing and just try to win races,” Zobrist said. “I grew up driving with Randy Korte and he’s always been a great help to me.
“When I was younger, I did a lot more racing; my kids are getting older now, so I just stick around here.”
Tracks like Highland Speedway represent the roots of American motorsport; they provide local drivers some very stiff competition, Zobrist feels. “There’s some of the stiffest competition right around this area,” Zobrist said. “If you’re going to get in (the driving business), you might as well do it all right away.”
The drivers who were in Saturday’s races were “some of the best in the area and even further away,” Zobrist said. “It’s dying down a little bit fan-wise (auto racing in the St. Louis area); we need to get the fans back to the tracks – there are great shows every weekend; you’ve got to get to the racetrack (on both sides of the Mississippi River) – there’s a lot of good family entertainment.
“Get out and enjoy the sport of racing; we need some support for it to keep it going.”
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