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Blurton Earns IMCA National Rookie of the Year Award

(Photos by Red)

Inside Line Promotions – GREAT BEND, Kan. (Oct. 4, 2016) – Zach Blurton accomplished one of his main goals for 2016 by winning the International Motor Contest Association National Rookie of the Year.

And he can still claim one of his other goals of capturing the United Rebel Sprint Series Colorado Region Championship.

A pair of top-three finishes a couple of weeks ago – a second at U.S. 30 Speedway in Columbus, Neb., with the Sprint Series of Nebraska (SSN) and a third at Dodge City Raceway Park in Dodge City, Kan., with the URSS – puts Blurton in the title hunt.

“We started the year with a goal of winning the National IMCA Rookie of the Year and we have accomplished that,” he said. “We also ended up second in the Kansas State points and 10th in National points. We ran 35 IMCA shows this year on an old 2005 car and one very bad fast Tornado Engine. We ran the same front end and rear end and wing all season and had no DNFs.”

On Sept. 23 at U.S. 30 Speedway, Blurton won his heat race before he drew the fifth starting spot in the feature.

“I got to third at the start and kind of settled in there for a few laps and then I took second and the caution came out so I went back to third,” he said. “On the restart I got second back and was all over the leader and I showed him my nose too early and he went down to the bottom and I couldn’t get around him.

“It was my first time at that track so I’m not too disappointed and we got beat by Jason Martin, who is a former World of Outlaws driver and he won the SSN championship. And we ended up third in the SSN points.”

On the ensuing night at Dodge City Raceway Park, Blurton drove from fourth to second in his heat race and he started sixth in the feature.

“I nearly got on my lid at the start of the feature,” he said. “Thankfully it got called back. I fell back to about eighth or ninth … I couldn’t get any momentum. But once I got going and got clean air I got a few cars and about halfway through I was able to pass three cars in one lap and I got to second. By then Jake Bubak had checked out. I couldn’t even see him. I messed up on the last lap and lost a spot. For as much as we struggled at Dodge City this year I was happy with the result.”

The weekend involved a lot of travel and it was Blurton, his fiancée and his future father-in-law as the crew.

“We didn’t get much sleep that weekend,” he said. “We were supposed to go back to Columbus, Neb., on Sunday and got a ways down the road when they rained out. It was a blessing in disguise. We needed to rest.

“Where we are at we have to travel a lot. We raced in five states this year – Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado and Nebraska – and traveled over 18,000 miles to accomplish our goals … sometimes traveling over 500 miles overnight just so we could run two shows in one weekend. It wouldn’t have been possible without all of our supporters, crew, family and great sponsors. A big thank you to all them. We still have one or two more shows planned for this year. I’m hoping to get at least one more win.”

What better time to get another win than the final race of the 2016 URSS season at Colorado Motor Sports Park in Byers, Colo., this Saturday. Blurton goes into the final point night leading the URSS Colorado Region standings by a slim four-point margin.

Blurton, who is fourth in the URSS National points and second in the URSS Kansas Region points as well, is also excited about what’s in store for 2017.

“We purchased a new toter and Stacker trailer … well new to us,” he said. “We plan to buy another engine and possibly a 360ci engine. Hopefully we will have news of a new sponsor so we can do more traveling. We need to gain that experience and it will help get my name out there.

“We are also going to team up with Randy Kaylor, who used to help David Gravel when he first started out. He and my dad kind of know each other through business experiences. We are looking at putting together a RaceSaver 305 schedule in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Iowa for like a two or three-week deal and work our way back home.”

QUICK RESULTS –

Sept. 23 – U.S. 30 Speedway in Columbus, Neb. – Heat race: 1 (1); Feature: 2 (5)

Sept. 24 – Dodge City Raceway Park in Dodge City, Kan. – Heat race: 2 (4); Feature: 3 (6).

SEASON STATS –

42 races, 5 wins, 14 top fives, 31 top 10s, 35 top 15s, 35 top 20s

UP NEXT –

Saturday at Colorado Motorsports Park in Byers, Colo., with the URSS

MEDIA LINKS –

Website: http://www.ZachBlurton.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZachBlurton

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ZachBlurtonRacing

APPAREL –

Visit Blurton’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ZachBlurtonRacing for more information.

RACING OPPORTUNITIES –

Blurton, who earned 2013 Knoxville Raceway 360 Rookie of the Year and 2012 NCRA Rookie of the Year honors, is seeking additional racing opportunities and is willing to travel. To learn more information, contact Blurton at 620-393-5249 or ZachBlurton@gmail.com.

SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Tornado Racing Engines

Tornado Racing Engines is an engine business in Utica, Kan., owned by John Johnson.

“John Johnson is the reason I’m able to do what I want to do,” Blurton sad. “He has given us a lot and I can’t thank him enough.”

Blurton would also like to thank Midwest Ag Professionals Inc., Ti22 Performance, Phillips Chiropractic & Physical Therapy Center, Jet-Hot Coatings, Randy Patterson Welding, Outlaw Wings, Billinger Repair Shop, Park Liquor, Rob’s Fun Center, Tornado Racing Engines and Rod End Supply for their continued support.

INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –

Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations and media management for motor sports drivers, teams, sponsors, tracks, series, events, organizations and manufacturers. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and the return on investment for your sponsors.

To meet the media relations needs of your program by joining Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or Shawn@InsideLinePromotions.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.

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