Northern Nevada is blessed with many young racers. And this article is about one of them.

Zach Rivera is one of the many young people racing with the Northern Nevada Kart Club. And like many young drivers it’s an educational experience for this 16-year-old.

Unlike many of his competitors he came to the sport a bit later than they did.

“It’s always been a thing with my dad. He used to do it a while back, got back into it and started the shop,” he said. “At first I really didn’t want to do it, just wanted to help him then at one point he was going to California and I ended up going with him. And there I got into a go kart and drove, I found it’s really fun and I really enjoyed it.”

After returning home he ended up getting a “cheap kart,” which he drove at the club’s track (Desert Park Raceway) and starting racing. This all happened when he was 13-years-old.

Then a series of events unfolded that resulted in Rivera getting the kart he’s won two championships with.

A long time friend of his father Rodney, who owns Nevada Kart Sport, mentioned he wanted to get back into racing. Once Jeff Shaw got a kart and started competing again another friend that used to race, Arturo Diaz was impressed by what he saw.

“That’s how it all started with me in the 4-cycles because Arturo saw Jeff’s kart and was amazed by it so he ended up buying one for me so I could race it with Jeff at KPX ,” Rivera said.

Now Diaz, who initially wanted to get back into racing, helps Rivera with tuning and set up as well as aiding the shop.

Rivera expressed his deep appreciation to both Diaz and his father for their help and support in his racing.

“For the time Arturo has been helping us he’s done a lot,” Rivera. “I think him buying me that Birel kart and me racing it at club it kind of advertises it and that’s why I think a lot of people want and have bought one is because me and Jeff are on them.”

He feels that while his success at the club level is advertising the kart on the regional level Shaw’s success is advertising them there.

“And if Arturo hadn’t bought me that kart and we weren’t to race it at club I don’t think it would have been advertised as much as it has been,” he said.

Until a person moves into shifter karts and even then, most karts are basically the same. Many times it’s the motors that make the difference.

Looking back at the past 2 years Rivera feels the 4-cycle LO206 is a bit better for learning how to corner and carry as much momentum out of it. This carries over to racing a 2-cyle more as those need to keep their revs up but the basics have already been learned.

“That’s what the 4-cycle is, it’s a teacher. We’ve been in the 4-cycle for a while, been running it at club and had two championships in a row with it,” he said. “I really need to be in an advanced class with advanced people and being in a 4-cycle class with new people isn’t fair,” he said. “I think the new people need to be able to come in, win and have fun in that class.”

He said that dominating the class isn’t fun for new people and Rivera wants to help the club grow. So he’s moving into TAG this coming season.

“At the beginning of the year we weren’t certain of what we were going to do,” he said. “We knew we were going to race some of the SKUSA (Super Kart) races and get me into the TAG but we weren’t too sure about KPX or club.”

A TAG motor has more power, is a 2-cycle and according to Rivera also louder.

Explaining the difference he said, “Obviously the TAG is a lot faster, you have to have a different set of skills to drive it. Some things go over but some things don’t. At the higher levels a good TAG driver can drive a 4-cycle just as good but a good 4-cycle driver can’t drive a 2-cycle as good. And that’s something I now need to learn to get in a TAG 2-cycle and do good in it.”

He feels the TAG class is for more advanced drivers and those that aren’t new but haven’t been in it for a while. So it would be a great learning experience as he advances his racing skills.

Things changed when some California drivers came her to race and get experience at the track before October’s KPX event at the end of the season. And they raced in the Senior LO206 class.

“What I really liked about the last couple of races when some of the California guys came was that I did learn something, I did race with them and it was fun,” he said. “Those were the only fun races when those advanced people came out and raced that class. The problem is that there aren’t that many advanced drivers in that class unless you go to the Regionals.”

So next season he feels he has a lot to learn at those Regional races.

“When I go to those I might be setting fast laps and having times the same as the top guys but I’m not there with them, I’m back in 10th,” he said. “That’s because I didn’t learn anything about racing at club, I just learned how to drive. So when I go there and people are bumping me and diving me and I can’t do the same that’s where I fall back.”

One driver under the tent of Nevada Kart Sport is Jeff Shaw, who Rivera explained is very good both at racing and driving, which is the reason he’s up front many times.

“I could drive as good as him at some points, and maybe even better than him but I couldn’t race as good as him,” he said. “Racing is a whole different thing than driving, there’s so many more aspects to it, passing, defending, everything about it. And it’s something I’m still learning.”

With the New Year almost here he’s turning his attention to the upcoming season and the challenges he knows will be there.

“Well last year I came to those tracks not knowing them, racing people that have been racing those for a long time. I hadn’t and was kind of new to the TAG as well,” he said. “So going into some of those races I looked like a rookie out there, like I didn’t know what I was doing.”

This coming year he expects to do better since he’ll have experience with TAG at those tracks. And he’ll continue to race at NNKC events for more seat time.

“I think this year I’ll do a lot better due to I know these tracks and I know the motor. And hopefully I can perform a lot better. The only problem I have going to SKUSA is that the TAG motor is a lot different than the 4-cycle that I’ve driving my whole career,” he said.

Another challenge is the difference between Desert Park and the other tracks. And like any driver he’ll be honing his skills at adapting to new situations.

The main difference is that the California track have more grip than here, mainly because there are so many drivers at these events and they put down more rubber on the surface.

“Instead of it being slick and the kart does what I want it to do, now I go there and there’s so much grip I’m tugging at the wheel trying to get it to turn. Not only is driving is hard but setting it up is hard because I don’t know how to set it up. I only know how to set it up when it was slick.”

He feels that with more seat time he’ll learn how to set up his kart better as well as getting more used to the motor and its increase in power.

In racing like other sports the young competitors usually admire someone they use as an example and Rivera is no exception.

“I never really said this but it’s my Uncle Brian. He’s done a lot within the club, had a lot of championships, done a lot at that track, he’s very fast there and that’s why I always kind of fight with him about whose better,” he said. “Hopefully one day we can get on even grounds and race each other, that will be super fun.”

Now with his success Rivera is finding that some younger drivers are looking up at him.

“Once I realized it I started helping them out more,” he said. “It’s really about growing the community and the club itself. I think when you start off it’s a lot harder to enjoy it because you’re slow, you’re not really racing with anybody, you’re just learning.

“Then as you go on you become faster and start competing. It’s getting them over that learning curve into being fast and racing people. And I try to help people out as much as I can to get to that point.”

One of the things he tries to do is to get these youngsters to calm down and just drive when they are on the track.

“A lot of the kids are excited to go out there and race then when they are out there, are going crazy with the steering wheel or they spin out,” he said. “It’s a hobby, it’s nothing to go crazy about and it’s nothing to get anxiety over. It’s a hobby and however you perform, it doesn’t matter as it’s club level, it should just be fun to go out there, drive, learn something and just go home.”

He also feels younger drivers and their parents need to learn how to work on a kart. Like he and Dias do on race days as his father is so busy helping others they have to do the work themselves. He will however take time to help others with suggestions on how to deal with their problems.

“Having all the kids looking up to me like that does put a lot on me because now I have to go out there and perform and make sure I’m not doing anything stupid,” he said. “Because if I tell them, ‘don’t go out there and spin out,’ and I go out there and spin out it’s like ‘really Zack.’ I have to take my own advice.”

Right now his focus is on learning and not really spending too much time thinking how far he wants to go in racing. But if he stays in karts, Rivera wants to help others like his father is doing.

“Within the next year or two if I start winning big things then I’ll think about taking it somewhere else. And if I can take it somewhere else I would love to get into anything,” he said.

And he is looking forward to next year’s races.

“I’m starting to get the twitch to get back in the kart,” he said. “There’s a race coming up in March, which is three or four months away, I’m already getting hype for it and we’re just waiting for this new kart to come in. Hopefully we can grow the TAG class in our club and get people out there in it. I think if they see someone like me hopefully it will grow and if that’s true then this next season should be good.”

For this young racer its time to move up, to learn and expand his racing skills.

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