MECHANICSBURG, Pa. — When the new season starts for the Lawrence Chevrolet 410 sprint cars at Williams Grove Speedway on March 16, a familiar face will return to the weekly sprint car wars at the track.
Brock Zearfoss will again be a weekly competitor at Williams Grove this season after spending the last six-and-a-half years racing primarily on the road with the World of Outlaws, All Stars and High Limit Racing.
It has been a combination of some self-made plans and weekly car owner Rich Eichelberger’s suddenly vacant No. 8 seat that has put “The Jonestown Jet” back on solid ground at Williams Grove again.
“It kinda just fell into place,” Zearfoss said.” I was contemplating coming off the road last year (2024) but we decided to just stick it out and try it again but we ran into crew chief problems and I was making my own calls from May on.”
Car owner Eichelberger had suddenly and unexpectedly lost track champion Freddie Rahmer after the conclusion of the Williams Grove season in 2024 and that was right about the time that Zearfoss teamed back up with old crew chief Jim Shuttlesworth to finish out the year.
The driver-crew chief pairing had been together before in the mid-2010s with much success and they quickly turned their reunion into a win during the Central Pennsylvania season finale at BAPS Motor Speedway in November.
“I heard Freddie left that deal and obviously Rich is a really good guy and I honestly never talked to him at all until I called him that night and I figured he’s a good car owner and it’s hard to get good car owners for one much less keep one in the sport anymore,” Zearfoss said.
“I just called him up out of the blue, I didn’t know what his plans were but I told him, ‘If you’d like to continue racing I’d be open to running Williams Grove or something.’”
That call led two a two-hour meeting that cemented Zearfoss’ return to the Williams Grove wars.
Zearfoss and Eichelberger will campaign two nights a week in the area while the driver also keeps his own No. 3Z on the track at additional area shows and some others on the road.
“I went down to his shop and we talked,” Zearfoss said. “I looked at is as a win-win and we can run 100 races and it saves us (3Z team) 50 races of money.
“I was looking at it as taking some off of our plate and keeping Rich racing and he was interested in it for sure.”
Zearfoss is pumped to get into the Williams Grove season.
“I’m actually probably the most excited to go racing in a season that I have been probably in four or five years. I’m confident that it’s gonna’ be good. I know its gonna’ be good,” he says.
“I feel like we have the right pieces in the right places. I think once we get goin’ here we’re gonna be really good. I know Rich is excited. I haven’t really been this excited to go racing since probably the first year on the outlaws tour.”
Zearfoss says getting back with Shuttlesworth and being able to bring him into the Eichelberger team was a key component to making his homecoming work.
“It brought a different level of confidence to the team and myself – having Jim come back and filling that role that we needed filled.”
“He knew what I needed. He understands me and I understand him and we just click. And it makes life easier,” Zearfoss relates.
“You can’t be on the road without a good crew chief and expect to beat those guys. And it was taking a lot of time from me,” the driver reveals.
“We decided to come home for a year or two and try to regroup. And I worked with Jim before and we had a lot of success and I just thought it was the right move.”
Zearfoss says both he and veteran driver/owner Eichelberger have their eyes set on the 2025 Lawrence Chevrolet 410 sprint track title at Williams Grove.
“Truthfully I know that’s one of his goals and we’ll do our best to do that,” Zearfoss says.
Eichelberger lays claim to the last two Williams Grove track championships with Rahmer at the helm.
“Rich has good stuff. And he’s not afraid to make a purchase if we need something else. I’d say we’re in good shape. He’s got plenty of equipment and it’s good quality stuff,” Zearfoss says of his new car owner.
“The position that we are in right now, I feel like we’re just in the best spot we’ve been at in the last four or five years.”
“At the end of the day there’s a little less on my plate and I can focus on driving again and doing what I need to do in the race cars,” Zearfoss summarizes.
Now 34, Zearfoss owns four career 410 sprint car wins at Williams Grove and a pair in 358 sprint action.
He pulled off a stunning upset aboard Aaron Long’s No. 58 when he trounced the World of Outlaws at Williams Grove in the 2017 Summer Nationals.
Leave a Reply