Fresh off a first career win in Top Alcohol Dragster and runner-up finish in Top Dragster at the NHRA North Central Division Battle at the Beech at Beech Bend Raceway Park, Zach Sackman is set to pull double duty again at this weekend’s 70th Toyota NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. This time, Sackman will field 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 rolls into Indy with a bunch of laps under his belt at the Battle at the Beech divisional event in Bowling Green, Kentucky, where he drove one of Randy Meyer Racing’s A/Fuel dragsters to his first career win in Top Alcohol Dragster. He 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 just a different style of racing, but it’s good just to get runs down the track,” Sackman said. “You can always be better, and the more runs you make, the better you can be.”
The U.S. Nationals will be Sackman’s third time entering Jeff Pittman’s nitrous-fed Hickory Enclosed Trailer Sales ’68 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,” Sackman said. “From the moment I got in it, it’s been easy to drive. 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,” Sackman said. “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.”
Sackman thanked his parents, Darren and Marie, along with the team’s partners like Hangsterfer’s, Novak Electric, T&E Auto Haulers, B&B Concrete, Rolla Competition Engines, SB Custom Fab, and Harmonic Designs Inc.
This story was originally published on August 29, 2024. 
