{"id":40526,"date":"2020-07-17T17:27:16","date_gmt":"2020-07-17T21:27:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/?p=40526"},"modified":"2024-03-25T11:22:40","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T15:22:40","slug":"mpg-from-oh-to-az-meet-bj-zacharias","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/racing\/2020\/07\/mpg-from-oh-to-az-meet-bj-zacharias.html","title":{"rendered":"MPG From OH to AZ – Meet BJ Zacharias"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

MEET BJ ZACHARIAS, DRIVING INSTRUCTOR AT BONDURANT HIGH PERFORMANCE DRIVING SCHOOL<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In\n2017, when BJ Zacharias moved from Ohio to Arizona, he had already been a\nsuccessful racer for many, many years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LET\u2019S THROW THINGS IN\nREVERSE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BJ\nalways loved racing and, thanks to his mom and dad, he had the opportunity to\nexplore it as a child. Together, they spent weekends going to Mid-Ohio Sports\nCar Course and watching IndyCar and IMSA races on TV. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When\nBJ graduated high school, he got the gift that truly kept on giving \u2026 a three-day\nclass at a performance driving school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\nwas horrible at it,\u201d BJ recalled. \u201cI remember being so excited to go, and then\nI was miserable while I was there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But\nit was that epic fail that drove him to drive himself into the winner\u2019s circle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FULL SPEED AHEAD<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\ngot home from the class and started practicing,\u201d said BJ. \u201cThey didn\u2019t teach\nfootwork, and that\u2019s where I struggled. So I started learning it on my own.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soon\nafter, BJ attended Bondurant High Performance Driving School in a Pro Search\nprogram. There, he made a connection that would later bring his career full\ncircle. The connection was Mike McGovern \u2013 his instructor. Mike made quite an\nimpression on BJ, and vice versa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After\nmany hours of practice, BJ got involved in SCCA racing, where he won 2 National\nChampionships (97 FC and 98 FA), which lead him to an opportunity with Team\nKool Green Racing. \u201cThey had a ladder program for racers aged 18-25. I was one\nof 25 drivers selected to try out. We ran drills and did mock situations and\nthey picked the top 5 people to advance. I was one of the five,\u201d said BJ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FROM TRAINING TO THE\nTREE<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After\na short stint testing a Formula 3000 in Europe, funding ran out and BJ returned\nto Ohio. He worked delivering office furniture by day, and on cars anytime else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019d\nwatch races on TV, and then right after, I\u2019d call a local shop that was racing\nin Sports Car\/Endurance racing. I\u2019d ask them if I could help unload the\ntrailer. I\u2019d do it for free just for the experience and to make contacts,\u201d said\nBJ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His\ngo-getter attitude paid off. The work he did at the shop got him involved with\nthe racing team, and someone on the team kept telling him they\u2019d find him a\nspot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\nwere telling the truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\nwas around noon one day, and I got a call asking if there was any way I could make\nit to Daytona. There was a team that needed another driver. I was like, \u2018Hell\nyes, I can!\u2019 Then the guy said I needed to be in Daytona that night. I called\nmy boss and told him the situation. He finished my deliveries and I hopped on a\n4 pm flight. I raced at 10:30 that night right after the Winston Cup\nqualifiers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe\nwhole team was Italian and my co-driver was Swedish,\u201d recalled BJ. \u201cThey barely\nspoke English. The first time I sat in the car was during the race.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nteam won their class at Daytona and two weeks later, BJ drove with the team at\nhis home track at Road America in Wisconsin. Another class win earned him a seat\nin the next round at Brno in the Czech Republic. This lead to consistent\nadventures in various Sports Car seats in IMSA and Grand Am racing from 2000 to\n2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DEEP IN THE RACE GAME<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fast\nforward to 2012, BJ found himself racing for Doran Racing in the Continental\nTire Sports Car Challenge series with another manufacture. The program also\nteamed up with PlayStation\u00ae<\/sup> GT Academy, where the best gamers were\nturned into real-time racers. BJ drove with the team until the end of 2015 when\nthe manufacture pulled the plug.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\nwas then I realized that even though I still loved the track, the business end\nand chasing the money was wearing on me, and it was time for the next chapter.\nMy wife and I took a year to regroup and then I called one the best teachers I\never had, Mike McGovern, to see if he was looking for instructors at\nBondurant.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\nwas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BACK IN CLASS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\n2017, BJ, his wife and two kids left Ohio and moved to Arizona to join the\nBondurant family. And they are thrilled at where the ride has taken them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\nnever know who I am going to meet or how I am going to help. And I love that\nabout the job. One day, I might be teaching a teen who has had two bad\naccidents and is afraid to get back behind the wheel. The next, I might be\nworking with a veteran war pilot looking for an adrenaline surge.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One\nof his favorite things is, at the end of their training, hearing someone say\nthat they thought they knew how to drive when they came in, but realize they\nare just learning.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Says\nBJ, \u201cEveryone who has a driver\u2019s license should take our classes. Whether they\nare driving a racecar or taking their Sunday driver to the store to get a\ngallon of milk. It\u2019s an investment in safety and awareness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE BEST DAY ON THE\nTRACK<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen\nmy family moved out west, I took my son (9) and daughter (6) out on the track. I\nwas in the Hellcat and did the first lap at 500 HP. When I got done, my\ndaughter loved it, and my son was freaking out,\u201d recalled BJ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\ntold them I was going to press a magic button and then do another lap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThen\nI did another hot lap at 700 HP. When I was done, my son was as white as a\nghost, and my daughter was laughing hysterically. The first words out of her\nmouth were, \u2018Hey dad, is there another button you can push?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDays\nlike those are some of the best ones on the track. Or when the instructors competed\nagainst one another on the auto cross course in Valet mode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe always seem to have fun in our SRT\u00ae<\/sup>s and enjoy the people in the SRT programs<\/a> are a ton of fun. A lot of them come back for more training after the first course, and they are always a great group. They make every day a great day to drive.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MEET BJ ZACHARIAS, DRIVING INSTRUCTOR AT BONDURANT HIGH PERFORMANCE DRIVING SCHOOL In 2017, when BJ Zacharias moved from Ohio to Arizona, he had already been a successful racer for many, many years. LET\u2019S THROW THINGS IN REVERSE BJ always loved racing and, thanks to his mom and dad, he had the opportunity to explore it as a child. Together, they spent weekends going to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and watching IndyCar and IMSA races on TV. When BJ graduated high school, he got the gift that truly kept on giving […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":40528,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[575],"tags":[625],"class_list":["post-40526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-racing","tag-bondurant"],"acf":[],"custom_fields":{"post_thumbnail_image":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/meetbjzachariasfeature.png","icon_selection":"article","external_link":"","featured_article":[],"upload_background_image":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40526"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40526"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40526\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40537,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40526\/revisions\/40537"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}