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Hausler Sweeps Way To Texas Championship

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Zachary “Zak” Hausler says hard work and a team effort helped him through a challenging season. Hausler became the driver to beat at two Texas NASCAR Whelen All-American Series tracks in 2011.

“We started out wanting to win races and do well in the track point races. We didn’t expect everything that happened,” he said.

Hausler, 16, of Tomball, Texas had an extraordinary racing season. Hausler won NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Modified division track championships and Rookie of the Year honors at Houston Motorsports Park and Thunderhill Raceway in Kyle, Texas – both .375-mile paved ovals. In doing so, he claimed the NASCAR Texas state championship while earning the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Rookie of the Year Award presented by Jostens for the state, as well.

His 14 feature wins in 2011 were surpassed only by national champion runner-up Keith Rocco (24) of Connecticut and national champion Philip Morris (20) from Virginia. In 26 starts Hausler also posted 22 top-fives and 24 top-10s.

While his rookie season performance exceeded any expectations he had, so did the strength of the spotlight his success attracted.

After he won the first five feature events of the season at the Houston oval, the track offered a $1,000 bounty to anyone who could beat Hausler on the track. The bounty grew by $1,000 each week that Hausler won. After five features Jake Kruger collected a $5,000 bonus along with the $1,000 posted award for the 50-lap win – the 10th feature of the season.

The track and several sponsors replenished the bounty at $6,000 to beat Hausler on the track and on July 23 Jason Morman cashed out with a total of $8,000 for winning a 60-lap feature.

“We had a lot of extra pressure, but that just pushed our team to work even harder,” Hausler said. “Some of those races seemed like a battle for survival.”

Hausler made three Modified division starts in 2010 while winning a Pro National Legends car championship. He said the jump from driving a smaller Legends car to a full-size race car brought several adjustments. He had to adapt from sitting in the center driver’s seat of a Legends car to the left side seat location of a Modified not to mention getting the feel for increases in horsepower and tire size.

He began his racing career at age six in go-karts and worked his way through shifter karts and Banadoleros before moving to Legends cars in 2007.

The team, officially called Zak Attack Racing, is owned by Hausler’s father, Larry. Doug Lege is the crew chief and Jon King is car chief while Gary Smith and Doug Mathes round out the team. His Modified is based on a Port City chassis and uses a crate engine.

Just over a month ago, Hausler attended the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series awards banquet in Charlotte, N.C., to collect his many awards.

“The banquet was an incredible experience,” said Hausler. “It was like nothing I’ve ever been to before. I never imagined an event that big for what we do at the weekly level.”

Zak Hausler made the transition from Legends cars to Modifieds in 2011 and went on to win track championships at two Texas NASCAR Whelen All-American Series tracks. Courtesy of Thunder Hill Raceway