Zach Blurton can still remember the feeling of his first win with the American Sprint Car Series like it was yesterday.
July 3, 2022. WaKeeney Speedway. WaKeeney, KS.
From green-to-checkered, the No. 2J car paced the nation’s best 360 Sprint Car racers around the 4/10-mile, marking the native Kansan’s first career national Sprint Car series Feature win in front of his near-hometown crowd.
His friends, sponsors, and most importantly — family — gathered around him for a special embrace in Victory Lane. One that stuck out from all the others came from his father, John Blurton, Zach’s present-day crew, and winner of several Sprint Car races in his career, who was there to share the special moment with his son.
“In the winner’s circle, the hug that he gave me… it’s just one of those things that you’ll never forget,” Zach said. “I know he’s proud of me and what I do and what we get to do, and he still supports me every single day, and pushes me to be better.”
Next Friday, Aug. 15, the American Sprint Car Series returns to WaKeeney for the first time in two years, where Blurton will once again race in front of his friends and family against the nation’s toughest touring 360 Sprint Car stars.
“It’s a town of [1,700] people, but they come out and support it, and the local towns around there do too,” Blurton said. “They really do it when Sprint Cars come, and Sprint Cars don’t come very often. But they pack the place.
“It means a lot to the town and a lot to me and a lot to my sponsors to have one so close.”
As a regional traveler at the time, Blurton had never followed a national schedule. That win showed not only himself, but his partners, that he was ready to take on the task.
“I’ve always had my family-owned team, and we have a bunch of supporters and stuff now that, since then, have let me go out and do the full ASCS deal,” Blurton said. “It definitely gave me the confidence (to know) that I can do it.”
Blurton let that confidence shine again in May, when he led the field green-to-checkered at Salt City Speedway in Hutchinson, KS — another of his more familiar home-state venues — for his second career Series victory. That night, not only was his father in Victory Lane to see it, so was the next generation of the Blurton family.
“Being able to win now, in front of my own kids… how happy they were at Hutch earlier this year to get a trophy,” Blurton said. “That’s all they ask me — ‘Dad, win me a trophy.’”
Blurton, now 30 years old, hails from the town of Quinter, KS — a 20-minute drive west of WaKeeney on Interstate 70. WaKeeney Speedway isn’t special to him only because of its nearby location — it’s the place he learned to race.
“Right away from when I first started racing, we raced there very often in 305s — three, four, five, six times a year,” Blurton said. “Not only being the closest track to where I live now, it’s also a track that I have more laps at than any other track there is.”
Like several Kansas race venues, WaKeeney has a unique element that came into play during his 2022 triumph — a “home-field advantage” as Blurton refers to it.
“Nine times out of 10, the wind blows out of the south, and the racetrack runs north and south,” he said. “The wind blowing into (Turns) 1 and 2 tries to push the car down the racetrack, and as you go down the back straightaway, you carry a lot more speed with the wind at your back. It doesn’t let the car get into the corner as good with the wind trying to push you off the top of (Turns) three and four. It’s definitely something that you have to get used to because it does affect things.”
The Blurton race team is about as homegrown as it gets. With only himself, his father and their neighbor as crew members, it’s a full-time effort for a part-time job. But they’ve won twice before with the Series at home in Kansas, and they’re ready to do it again.
“I wear every single hat. I’m a truck driver, I do the maintenance, I do the washing, tires, whatever it is,” Blurton said. “I’ve got my dad and Justin, that goes with us — that’s my neighbor — and they bust their ass. I’m just fortunate to be able to do what I do, but it’s definitely a lot at times.
“It’s what I’ve known for the longest time, and I know we can do it because I’ve done it before.”
Don’t miss the American Sprint Car Series at WaKeeney Speedway on Friday, Aug. 15. Tickets for the event will be sold at the track on race day. If you can’t be there, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.
