RPW Exclusive: Jimmy and Garrett Zacharias Victorious at Shangri-La II Speedway
Column By: JOE PHILLIPS /RPW – TIOGA CENTER, NY – The original Shangri La Speedway was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series track back in its early days, and also saw notable drivers such as Jimmy Spencer, Geoff Bodine, Richie Evans and others competing at the facility throughout its tenure. Eventually, the track was forced to close its doors.
Back in 2009, Shangri-La II Speedway opened on the property of a former amusement park in Tioga Center, NY. Sharing the land with a 1/8 mile IHRA sanctioned drag strip, Shangri-La II was meant to replace the former Shangri La Speedway mentioned above.
Shangri-La II continued to host races in 2009 through 2015 as a 1/2 mile concrete oval. After 2015, the property again laid dormant for a while. In 2024, new owners showed interest, as they revived the drag strip and expressed interest in also reviving the oval portion of the property.
Then, promoter Jason Makarewicz entered the picture. Jason had already revived the previously dormant Evergreen Raceway, which is located in Drums, PA. In 2025, the new owners of the property approached Jason about reviving the concrete oval track. A deal was struck, and a limited schedule was set for the “concrete palace” this summer.
Makarewicz faced no easy task ahead. NY winters can be mild or extreme, and restoring a track that laid dormant for roughly 10 years definitely showed signs of neglect. The surface itself needed smoothening and patching in spots. The infrastructure of buildings and the grandstands need repair. The generator powering the lights at the facility needed repair. Because of this, any race that happened in 2025 would be forced to be held during the daytime.
A late summer day on September 20th was one of those dates featured on the limited schedule. The day featured brilliant sunshine and nice sized crowd in the grandstands. Fans were excited to see the 4 Cylinders, Hobby Stocks, Super Stocks and Sportsman Modifieds take to the half mile for a great day of racing.
Shangri-La II has been closely working with the nearby Chemung Speedrome, in an effort to assure that both tracks sustain good car counts. Sadly, as is the case for many asphalt tracks in New York, car counts were low on this day, as each class averaged around 10 cars. This led to a quick qualifying session for all divisions.
One unique thing about the property is the fact that if one buys a ticket to the oval track, they also can walk up the hill to see the drag races which sometimes occur simultaneously.
After the evening’s intermission and a session of kid’s power wheels races, the first feature to hit the track was the 4 Cylinder class. After a few red flags, and cautions for track cleanup, the race was cut short, and Gene Purvis was declared the winner.
After the 4 Cylinders, the Hobby Stocks were up and ran their feature pretty quickly. Josh Parker was the winner in this division.
Next up on the program were the Super Stocks. Many longtime fans in the Southern Tier are familiar with the names of Hanbury and Zacharias. Tony Hanbury was a long time Southern Tier competitor who sadly lost his life this year. He was honored with a moment of silence during opening ceremonies. Garrett Zacharias, the pilot out of Candor NY, emerged victorious in the division.
In the Sportsman Modifieds, several time champion Jimmy Zacharias was triumphant in the former car of the late Conner Sellars, who also sadly lost his life in the spring of this year.
In victory lane, Jimmy pointed out that he had bought the car from Connor, and after Connors passed, Joe Sellers had respectfully asked for the car back. He still allowed Jimmy to use it for certain races.
Fans will remember that Zacharias made the switch primarily to dirt and is continuing to win races and championships at tracks such as Thunder Mountain Speedway, in nearby Center Lisle, New York.
Also in victory lane, Zacharias pointed out that Tyler Rypkema won his first race in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Series at New Hampshire on Saturday, driving the BRS racing #3 “Ol’ Blue” modified. Zacharias, Rypkema, and Hanbury are all names of the Southern Tier racing legacy and like true family, they all share a mutual respect for one another.
Shangri La II is a nice facility and certainly deserves this chance to reopen and provide stellar racing. Like many of the tracks in New York, the fans have to step up and support racing.
New York has dirt racing, asphalt racing, drag racing and road racing, but the only way racing will collectively survive is for dedicated people to race at tracks and for passionate people to fill the stands and root for their local heroes!
Next up for “Shang II” is a date on October 18, which will see the same classes while being also joined by Late Models. Hopefully, Shang II can finish the season out strong and continue building for 2026 and beyond!
