Less on track at Downs

By Douglas Miles

The Gazette

CEDAR RAPIDS - West Delaware High School junior Zach Less is proving to be a man of many talents.

Just three months removed from a top-five finish at the state wrestling tournament at 113 pounds, Less is making his asphalt track debut racing late models at Hawkeye Downs.

Despite their stark contrasts, Less sees some similarities in preparation for both sports.

“Just getting over the nervousness part,” said Less, 17. “I'm over that now. I don't get nervous before I go anymore so that's a plus.”

Less began Friday night with a late model heat victory, surging ahead for good at turn four on lap nine of 10.

“I just had to be patient and wait for the other cars to slip up and make my move,” Less said.

In the feature, Less finished second for the second straight week. Griffin McGrath fought off Less by a car length.

The heat victory continued a nice rebound for Less. Two weeks ago, his debut in the feature was cut short when a piece of metal on the track burst his right front tire, sending his car into the turn one wall on lap 23.

Wrestlers are renowned for stringent conditioning regimens to control weight. For Less, just because the wrestling season ends and racing begins, it's not a signal to start slacking off.

“Conditioning is the most important,” Less said. “It takes a lot of conditioning to wrestle, and you get used to that. In racing, it takes a lot, too, to be able to race all the laps and not get tired.”

Matt Petrzelka won the hobby stock feature for the third week in a row; Dave McCalla captured his second win in three weeks in the sportsmen feature