Zack Dohm: “I was robbed of my biggest win ever”

Zack Dohm threatens legal action as he seeks to clear his name after failed tire tests

Zack Dohm won the 27th Annual Fall Classic at Ponderosa Speedway on October 6th. The win payed $15,000, the biggest win of his career. Until it wasn’t.

The win was taken away following a failed tire test. The win was handed to the runner-up. Mike Marlar was decalared the winner, his tires were not tested.

Days later, Zack Dohm still claims he’s innocent in the rule violation.

“The chain of custody for the whole deal was sketchy at best and if another lab tells us were legal we will be taking legal action. We’re not asking for advice or an opinion from a photographer on how we should pursue getting robbed of my biggest win ever, no offense,” Dohm responds to facebook comments.

Zack Dohm and Chris Tilley
Zack Dohm and Chris Tilley

Zack Dohm posted this photo with the caption, “This status just got deleted… never been much of a conspiracy theorist but this is all very fishy.”

He continued, “I have been contacted from a lot of higher ups in the sport and they have all had plenty of good advice on where to go from here, like I said if I cheated I wouldn’t have won the race in the first place, and if somehow I was dumb enough to cheat and win at a race I know if taking tire samples I wouldn’t be making a big deal about it.”

“I’d admit my guilt and move on, but we were robbed and I’m not letting it for this easy,” he concluded.

Zack Dohm Racing Statement
October 26, 2017

First off, we’d like to thank all of our fans, friends, and family for having our backs with all of this going on. Zack did NOT cheat any tires. All of this is very strange to us as many things added up to make us believe someone has not done their job correctly or the tires were tampered with, whatever happened we can assure you that no wrong was done by us or our crew.

Here’s a little bit of information:

1.) Zack won the race and on the front stretch the race promoter that was there (no names will be mentioned) told a crew member to have the RR ready to get a sample out of when we got back to the trailer. When we did get back, one of his staff came back and said he changed his mind and wanted all 4 tires instead.

2.) The ONLY thing that has been put on any of those tires is a tiny bit of tide and water, that is what we spray on the tires when we wash/grind them. We sent a bottle of that to the lab Monday and Tuesday the results “didn’t match” what was “found in our tires.”

3.) There were only 2 people tested this weekend. One was tested Friday, and we were the only car tested Saturday after the race. Whose to say someone didn’t prep their tires before the race and then ran 75 laps on that same track that we were on, therefore it getting on our tires?

Someone could have also been leaking fluid and all of us ran through it. We’ll never know because they didn’t test another car or the dirt the night of the feature.

4.) The chemical found in all of our tires is “commonly found in brake clean”. If you spray brake clean on your tires, that will dry them out.

If you have to cheat to win, you might as well get a new hobby.

-Zach Dohm Racing

Our philosophy on cheating is “if you have to cheat to win, you might as well get a new hobby.”.

With all of this being said, thank you all again for your support. We will be getting our own tests done at a different lab and pursue the issue after that.

Related: Driver fails tire test at Senoia Raceway

Zach Dohm
Zack Dohm

Zack Dohm Statement
October 25, 2017

“Its a damn shame you can work so hard at something, finally reach your goal, and have it all taken away just like that,” Zach Dohm originally stated after first hearing the news.

“We did not have anything on our tires from ponderosa and somehow fail a tire test. Bought the tires Wednesday, mounted them up. Didn’t groove sipe or buff them until we got to the race track Thursday night/ Friday morning. And somehow they are illegal.”

“Something different has got to be done. People that have a chance to win the race aren’t gonna cheat their tires. If I would have cheated them I damn sure wouldn’t have won the race. I would have ran 2nd and took my 7500 dollars.”

“We will be getting our own testing done to hopefully clear my name. Stuff like this makes ya not even wanna work as hard as we do at this. Makes me wanna just hang it up.”

Related: Five drivers fail 2018 Eldora Dream tire test

Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Bonus Series Statement
October 25, 2017

“Mike Marlar has officially been named the winner of the 27th Annual Fall Classic at Ponderosa (KY) Speedway from the October 14, 2017 Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Bonus Series event after tire samples collected from the race winner did not meet the benchmark requirements by the independent laboratory used by the Series.”

“All prize monies and points from the event will be adjusted to reflect the new finish and money will be mailed out within the coming days.”

“On behalf of the Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Bonus Series presented by Sunoco Race Fuels and Tennessee RV and the Ponderosa Speedway, we thank each and every person who supported the event and look forward to being there during the 2018 season!”

Links

Zack Dohm Racing | Ponderosa SpeedwaySouthern Nationals Bonus Series

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