Phil Hutchison Drag Racing Action Online

Images Rhonda Hogue McCole and Phil Hutchison

You’re seventeen and in the final weeks of your senior year in high school at Forest Hills Eastern in Grand Rapids. Spring break rolls around, and choices need to be made. After a long cold winter, spend your off time relaxing? Heading to warm weather and the beach? Or in the case of Blaine Zaskowski, tow the families race cars from Michigan to South Georgia Motorsports Park south of Atlanta Georgia.

 Blaine Zaskowski is not your typical 17-year-old. The third-generation driver of a highly successful NHRA Division Three Super Stock family that utilizes a clutch and stick shift for motivation, the teen has been racing for most of his life from NHRA Juniors to Lucas Oil competition. 

At the NHRA Lucas Oil double points event, the young Zaskowski ran the table in Super Stock eliminator not once, but twice for his first and second ever NHRA wins. In addition to his first ever final round appearance, the wins in Georgia made Zaskowski the DragChamp Top 10 winner of the week and put the Michigan racer in first place in the Division Three Super Stock points. As hard as this is to wrap your head around, Zaskowski had to row his stick shift Mustang a total of twelve rounds to win this first two races. And there were three dozen cars running in Super Stock each day.

“Once I graduate in May, I plan to pursue my career as a service technician at a local Ford dealership,” Zaskowski said. “Because of my busy schedule this summer, we decided to make the trip to SGMP for spring break because I didn’t know how much time I would be able to spend going to races far away once I start working full time.”

After the long 14-hour trip down South, the team was ready to attack  South Georgia. There was a stout field of door cars in Super Stock with 39 cars qualifying for the first of two Lucas events. 

After Thursday’s qualifying, Blaine put his FGT/M Mustang in the 18th spot with a 10.115 -0.835 under the class 10.95 index. Grandfather Bill Zaskowski had his stick shift GT/K Nova in 29th -0.669 with a 10.081 on a 10.75 NHRA Index. Grandad had a good run going but a red light in R3 put an end to his weekend. 

Blaine beat the broken Corvette of Cory Taylor’s in the early rounds and Georgia racer Tyler Caheely in his Chevy S10 who was also doing double duty driving his B/AA Chevy in Comp.

In round three Zaskowski took out the ’87 Camaro of D1 racer Troy Huntzberry then the ’68 Cuda of Canadian racer Wendell Howes to meet the GT/MA Camaro of Don Shuford in the finals.

The Friday finals were over at the tree as Shuford left -0.003 too soon handing Blaine his first ever Lucas Oil win!

“I’ve been going to the races since I was a baby, watching my dad and grandpa, and have been racing since I was 6 in Junior Dragsters,” Zaskowski said.” I moved to a big car when I turned 16. I have probably only been to 10 NHRA races since starting in a big car.”

“We tested Wednesday to get back in the groove after the long winter off. I made a couple good qualifying runs Thursday, and eliminations came on Friday. I had a broke bye run in round one and was hoping to race my grandpa for the bye to the final. He lost to Howes but then I beat him and earned the bye to the final. I caught a break in the final when Don red lit and I got the first win of the weekend.”

After Friday’s win the Zaskowski team made a few changes. The major one was Blaine’s dad Brad, was behind the wheel of the GT/K Nova going into Sunday’s first round.

Brad Zaskowski’s is a tough customer in D3 Super Stock racing with his Stick Shift ’87 Camaro winning the D3 Division and the NHRA Gators in his career

When asked about the change in drivers, Brad Zaskowski said, “We were waiting on parts for the motor for my Camaro, so I brought dad’s Chevy II down to the race. Dad drove the first race and went -.002 red third round. Had he won that round, Dad and Blaine would have run 4th round for the bye to the final which would have been cool.” 

“We had the Mustang running the summer before he turned 16 and my brother Shane drove it. A month before Blaine turned 16, we had some time at the end of a race day for him to learn how to do burnouts. He had driven our cars around the pits and loading up before that and from working with other racers learning to race stick cars the burnout seems to be the hardest part to master.”

“Blaine’s first burnout was almost perfect, so we had him back up and he did 3-4 more, we let the car cool down and he did 3-4 more. Burnouts were no problem… just after he turned 16 the end of June 2024, we went to a test and tune at the Mid Michigan Motorplex where we eased into launching the car, going to 330’, going to 1/8 mile, going to 1000’ then finally the full 1/4 mile. At the end of the day, I think he ended up making 7-8 runs and looked like he had driven the car for years.”

Dad continues, “Everything just came together for him in Georgia, over the past year and a half driving he has won a bunch of rounds, been runner up at one of our Great Lakes Stock/ Super Stock races and runner up at a JRP combo that was run on Pro tree. He has also lost a lot of races where the numbers just didn’t fall his way, but he was definitely right there. With him running Juniors since he was six, I always said he will have 10 years on track experience before getting in a big car and it’s crazy how easy he made the transition.

“Having great sponsors makes all this possible. Browell Bellhousing, McLeod Cutches and Mickey Thompson Tires”

During the second half of the Georgia double header on Sunday, Blaine beat some of the best taking out D2 hitter Jeff Adkinson’s COPO Camaro and Brett Candies Cobra Jet in the early rounds. Zaskowski followed these wins with victories over former NHRA World Champ Kevin Helm’s Olds and Michael Volkman’s Mopar to set up the final against Cade Candies.

Candies, like Zaskowski, is part of a NHRA legacy with granddad Paul Candies owner of the famous Candies and Hughes Funny cars and father to NHRA racer Brett Candies. Cade is the third generation of the famous Alabama team and driving his ’13 COPO Camaro beat NHRA regulars Victor Cagnazzi, Kent Hanley and Doug Duell to get to the finals.

With all this NHRA history, the final promised to be a race of the Generations. At the green Cade left -0.018 too soon handing the seventeen-year-old driver from Michigan his second NHRA win in a matter of two days.

After the win Zaskowski said, “Sunday’s race I had tough competitors every round, on the 3rd round bye run we made some changes with the clutch and clutch linkage to help my reaction times.”

“After the bye run, I had Kevin Helms, I hit the tree good and was able to run 1 over the dial. Semi finals I had another good light and was able to get the win. Final round I missed the tree a little, but Candies was early, and I was able to win.

The ’67 Nova GT/K is famous for great wheel stands and consistency 

Dad Brad adds, “The second race I drove the Chevy II, Blaine and I were on opposite sides of the ladder, but I lost a good race second round. It’s been so fun working with Blaine on his transition from 10 years of Junior racing into a big car.”

When asked why a Ford, since the Zaskowski team has a history of owning Chevy’s, Blaine said, “My dad is the money man, and since our engine builder mostly does Ford engines, he figured we should have a combination that our engine builder knows well.”

“The car is a 1985 Ford Mustang FGT/M. The engine is a 2010 4.6L 3 valve. It has a Liberty 5 speed transmission. Dad and I are responsible for most of what is done to the car, other than our engine work, which is done by Jimmy Ronzello/JRP. Mike Pustelny/MPR Race Cars also did some chassis work for us.”

Blaine continues, “I’d like to thank my dad. He has been supporting my passion for racing since before I can remember. He pushes me to be the best driver I can be.”  

“He has been supporting my passion for racing since before I can remember, without him there is no way I could have won a round without him.

Blaine’s girlfriend Nex Ashley,made the trip along with the Zaskowski gang to enjoy the warm weather and the historic NHRA wins

Blaine’s mom, Amy Zaskowski said, “Watching my son double up wins at the Division 2 LODRS doubleheader at South Georgia Motorsports Park was a very proud moment for me as a mom—especially knowing he’s only 17 years old and this is just his second season in a big car.”

“When given the choice of where he wanted to go for his senior-year spring break, he chose to go racing, which speaks volumes about his love for this sport. Competing at this level, driving a 5‑speed, and seeing his dedication pay off on the track is very fun. It makes the moment even more meaningful knowing he’s a third-generation driver, proudly following in the footsteps of his Grandpa Bill Zaskowski and his dad, Brad Zaskowski who also raced that weekend. Being part of that weekend with him and the rest of the family reminds me just how special this racing legacy is and how grateful I am to watch it continue.”

Proud Grandparents with Blaine in the Georgia Winner’s Circle 

Amy adds, “It was really a cool weekend. My husband and his dad were just sharing the Nova for the race. Brads car wasn’t ready yet, so he took dad’s car down with us. Dad decided to come up and watch and then said he wanted to drive so they each took a race.”