It’s been an interesting journey for Zachary Tinkle, and now his journey is about to reach new heights.
For the past two seasons, Tinkle has mainly drove for start-and-park teams in ARCA, most notably for Wayne Peterson and Andy Hillenburg. For 2023, he plans to go far and beyond.
On 6 December, Tinkle announced that he will return to Andy Hillenburg’s team in 2023, for a full-time schedule in the ARCA Menards Series East. Along with that, he will also run in select races in the main ARCA Series, which will be combination races with the East Series.
Tinkle also plans to run the full races under his own power.
“Racing with Andy Hillenburg and the Fast Track Racing team was a tremendous opportunity in the 2022 season. If it weren’t for Andy, I would not have ended up ninth in the ARCA Menards championship standings. This gave me the chance to get to know him and the team. I have full confidence in them and I think we’ve put together a great program for 2023 and I can’t wait to get back to the race track.” stated Tinkle during a press release.
Team owner Andy Hillenburg stated that “There are a lot of great up and coming drivers, but once in a while, one gets a little closer to your heart. I’ve watched Zachary since early on in his career and he has done very well while having to do it the hard way – much like myself earlier in my career. I really want to see what Zachary can do with a solid and planned effort. This is going to be a fun year!”
When asked about how he feels about driving the No. 11 car, Tinkle stated that “I’m very honored that Andy trusts me to run Fast Track’s flagship number. I take great pride and responsibility to living up to the history.”
Tinkle began racing go-karts at the age of 10, quickly progressing his way into late models, in which he won three titles in the Champion Racing Association in 2019.
The 2023 ARCA Menards Series East season will kick off on 25 March, at Five Flags Speedway.