Still Sweet After 16 Years

Sixteen years ago, Keith Zavrel and several high school friends decided "speed was where it's at" and began racing cars.

To this day, Zavrel said he maintains those friendships as well his racing career at Citrus County Speedway.

"Really now I'm stuck doing it," Zavrel said. "No matter how long a break you take, you still want to come back and do it. It's in your blood."

The 34-year-old Brooksville resident, whose family moved to the town from New York 32 years ago, graduated from Central High in 1993. He owns Power Logging, a logging company in Brooksville.

He first started in Hobby Stocks, but broke the car two years later. He graduated to Late Models and has remained in that class ever since.

Currently he sits 10th in the points standings of the super late models class at CCS with 527, though he has no heat or feature wins on the season.

Last year at CCS he finished fifth in points, while taking second at Ocala Speedway.

"Just about every year we've raced seriously we've finished top five in points," Zavrel said. "Every time we're in a race we're contenders.

"When you've got a car you put $30,000 in, you can't let it sit in the trailer. If you know it's good enough to win a race, you've got to take it out and make some money with it."

Family affair

Zavrel has one son, a 6-year-old name Corey, and another on the way. The elder Zavrel believes the racing bug has bitten his son at an early age.

"He likes it a lot," Zavrel said. "No way is he not going to race. He's already hooked. He loves going fast."

The plan is for Corey to begin racing go-karts, as he has reached the minimum age to do so.

Zavrel has already begun to think about how that will effect his own career. His son's racing figures to keep him around the track even when he himself stops crawling behind the wheel.

"I believe for the next five years I'll race," Zavrel said. "And after that I plan on Corey racing. Once he turns 11, he can go into higher classes and eventually go into Late Models."

For now, Zavrel, his family and friends can still enjoy his own success on the track.

"Most of the goals we have are just to finish high in points," Zavrel said. "This year we're trying to maintain (the car) to race every week. Keep it in one piece and trying to race."

BY NUMBERS: KEITH ZAVREL AT CCS
Class                      Points     Ranking                 Heat wins              Feature wins
Late models           527          10th                          0                              0