RPW Exclusive: Jessica Zemken Set To Return To Her Roots; Ray Zemken & The Legend Of The 1Z

Column By: RAY ROGERS / RPW – SPRAKERS, NY – The Fonda Speedway has been known for producing some colorful characters and great talent over the years. There’s one family that I am sure every Fonda regular, whether it be a driver or fan, has a story about. That is the Zemken family, and their infamous number…the 1Z. This is one family has definitely left their mark on northeast racing.

The legend of the 1z began in the early 1970s when a young Ray Zemken found his need for speed.

“He was a wild one with long hair and always tinkering with cars,” Ray’s mother, Janice, recalls. “We would go to Fonda on Saturday’s when he was a boy and he just loved it”

Ray’s first taste of competition came around age 10 when he started racing snowmobiles and go-karts. It didn’t take him long to become a front-runner everywhere he raced.

In 1977, fresh out of high school, Ray got his first racecar…a late model.

“We got the car from Dave Hunt and my step-father built me a motor,” Ray said. “He built all my motors for a long time. We didn’t win a lot but we had a lot of fun back then.”

When the Late Model class went away in the early 80s, Ray moved to the 320-Modified ranks. That’s when he began to make his mark. He started raising hell at tracks in the northeast like Watertown, Can-Am, Utica-Rome and many others, picking up many wins and championships along the way.

On Ray’s birthday in 1986, he and wife, Shauna, were blessed with the greatest gift anyone could want, a daughter, Jessica. However, that didn’t slow Ray down. He continued to race every chance he got.

As Jessica grew up, her and Ray became best buddies.

“We would leave Jessica with Ray and when we came back, she would be covered in dirt and grease,” Gramma Janice told me. “She just loved being in the shop with her dad.”

Ray was doing some work on a friends kart one night and young Jessica wanted to give it a go. Ray let her turn some laps around the family home and she loved it.

“I built a little track out back,” he said. “We got a few karts and we raced on Sunday’s. That’s how she started racing.”

Ray knew he had a racer on his hands.

“She wanted to race, so we got her a decent kart and took her racing,” he said. “She was good even then.”

Jessica would go on to collect over 100 kart victories.

A few years later, she moved up in class…this time to a Sportsman, and at age 18, Jessica won her first track championship at Utica-Rome Speedway. Meanwhile, Ray continued to race right alongside her…that was, until she decided to step into a sprint car. That’s when JZ began to shine, taking the checkers all over the northeast and putting the sprint car world on notice.

In just her second 410 sprint car event, a National Sprint Tour race at the Fonda Speedway, JZ timed eighth fastest and would go on to finish fifth behind some of the best in the business, guys named Danny Lasoski, Jason Meyers, Craig “Cricket” Keel and “the King” Steve Kinser.

While chasing the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series, Jessica began dating the Canadian sensation, Stewart Friesen. A few years later, the couple would marry and became inseparable…as well as unstoppable.

The Friesen family continued their racing ways until Jessica and Stewart decided to start a family. JZ hung up her helmet to become a Mom and focus on the newest addition to the family, son Parker, as well as her new family business, One Zee Tees.

Ray, on the other hand, still had no plans of slowing down. With help from longtime family friends Bobby Booth and Ansel Collins, his #1z still made the trip down the hill to Fonda every Saturday night. Last season, he celebrated 40 years of racing with a victory over some of the best in the Sportsman division at the ‘Track of Champions.’

Well, we’re on the cusp of a new season, and in 2018, the entire Zemken family will once again put the racing world on notice. That’s right, I said the ‘entire’ family, as Jessica is returning to the driver seat…this time, behind the wheel of a #1z Big Block Modified.

“Stew and I talked about it a lot last year, but it just never happened,” Jessica said. “Everything has just come together for us to do it this year.”

With some financial help from Corr/Pak Merchandising and Halmar International, JZ now has a Teo Pro Car with a Billy The Kid powerplant to run.

“As of right now, we plan to start the season at Fonda and play things by ear,” she said. “We may run Albany-Saratoga as well a few times.”

As for “Racin’ Ray,” well, he will be back doing what he loves to do…racing on Saturday nights with his family and friends at the Fonda Speedway.

To this race fan, the 1z is more than a number on a race car. It means excitement, whether it be Ray knocking the bumper off the pace car or Jessica bringing the Crowd to a frenzy battling for a sprint car win at Fonda. It represents all the hard-working folks who love to race and dedicate their lives to it.

The 1z has become part of racing history, and I bet the next time your sitting in the grandstands, someone may just have a great Zemken story to tell you. That’s what legends are made of.