Zearfoss is a consistent contender no matter where he races.
“That shows how hard our team works on our program and how we strive to be better every time we’re on the race track,” he said. “We’ve been working hard getting our program together with the X-1 Racecars. We switched to X-1s over the winter. It was a really big benefit for us, and we’ve been working on our motor program and everything in general. We are trying to be the best that we can at everything. Our cars are pretty good right now and our team works really hard, too.”
Zearfoss has been doing it with a very small crew.
“I have two full-time guys, plus myself,” Zearfoss said. “We’re in the shop every day. It’s what you have to do to be successful. Shane (Bowers) and Tye (Wolfgang) are very professional and they know what it takes to win races and be successful at the top level. We are fortunate to have two really good guys in our corner. We all work together. We have fun. That’s what it’s all about.”
Zearfoss has some major wins on his résumé, including the Williams Grove Summer Nationals against the Outlaws, the Brad Doty Classic and a Port Royal Speedway track championship after he swept the month of August in 2017.
“We’ve had a lot of good people in our corner to help make our family team successful,” Zearfoss said. “It’s very rewarding to be able to win races like that in your family-owned team. That makes it more gratifying to beat the big teams.
“I feel like we could have won more races than we have,” Zearfoss noted. “It’s experience. I’ve been racing 410s for seven years, but at the end of the day, you’re still racing with guys that have been doing it 40 years. I learn every time I’m on the track. I’m definitely putting a lot of effort into learning the race cars and changing my driving style to adapt to different surfaces.
“I feel like we’re on the verge of being really, really good. We’re a contender every time we roll into the race track now. We’ve got to keep working hard at it and luck will turn around.”
Zearfoss often reflects on the Park Jefferson victory that had no fans in the stands.
“It was a little different,” he said. “You’re not used to the silence in the stands. At the end of the day, about the only weird thing was seeing crew members actually clapping for you instead of fans because the crew members were sitting in the grandstands.”
About mid-summer, he decided to change his plan and race a true outlaw schedule, leaving the All Stars to chase the higher-paying races, including events with the World of Outlaws and in central Pennsylvania.
“It just made sense for us to chase money,” Zearfoss said. “We’ll be racing at home a lot more, along with the Outlaws and All Stars. It gives us more freedom to pick and choose what we want to do, if there’s weather, we’re not married to one series. Right now, it’s the best option for our team — chase the money.”
The uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic — and restrictions that may come with it — was part of his decision.
“Right now, we don’t know what’s going to happen, so the best option for us was to pull off the tour and chase the money when we can and get as much racing in as we can.”
Through July 27, Zearfoss had made 47 starts, more than any other driver.