Why would Zeth Sabo haul nearly 7 hours, from Tiffin, Ohio, to Lincoln Speedway in Pennsylvania, to race his 410 sprint?
“I needed to knock the rust off me, the driver, and get our car up to par,” Sabo said. “One race in December and then being off until the season opener doesn’t work for me.”
Just before Christmas, Sabo ran non-wing 600s at the Rumble in Fort Wayne, where he finished 13th and ninth in his features. However, that was 70 days prior to the Icebreaker. That’s an eternity for a racer who regularly competes twice a week from March through the end of September. Sabo races at Ohio dirt ovals such as Attica Raceway Park, Fremont Speedway and Millstream Speedway. Sabo was the only driver from the Buckeye State to make the trek to Lincoln Speedway last weekend.
“We didn’t expect to do very good at Lincoln Speedway,” Sabo said. “Lincoln Speedway may be an awkward racetrack for me. Its shape, its tight corners and its long straights make it a challenge to drive, which can only be good for a driver to experience.”
Sabo first tried his hand at Lincoln last year, where he made the show, starting in 17th and finishing 20th.
“We heard about the Icebreaker last year and went to check it out to get ready for the season here [in Ohio],” Sabo said. “It was great to race with drivers I never raced with before.”
With some experience under his belt, Zeth Sabo upped his game this year at Lincoln. He started first with seasoned local Lance Dewease alongside him. Sabo finished the feature in eighth.
“It was fortunate we started up front,” Sabo said. “I’m satisfied with the finish but would have been more satisfied if we finished in the top five.”
There’s always next year, and if Sabo continues improving, he may just achieve his goal.
Outside Groove Note of Transparency: Zeth Sabo is of no relation to our photographer Steve D. Sabo.
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
