Zeke McKenzie made history with the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals six years ago, doing what no driver had ever dared in attempting every race on the schedule.
Fast forward to 2026, and he’s made history again.
On the strength of two wins, 16 top fives and 18 top-10 finishes in 18 Feature starts, the 41-year-old becomes the first driver from the state of Indiana to clinch the Series points championship. In doing so, he joined Mike Harrison, Kenny Wallace, Nick Hoffman, Mike McKinney and Tyler Nicely as the sixth different person to win the Modified Hell Tour title in its 16 seasons.
His big check and trophy have been a long time coming. Since eclipsing a double-digit total of starts in a single season for the first time in 2020, McKenzie has finished on the podium in the final points standings twice – second in 2023 and third in 2024. During those two seasons, he recorded twice as many top-five finishes (12) as he had in all years prior, including his Summit Modified debut in 2015 (6).
In 2026, the leap in progress was exponential, tripling his career win total and recording no finishes outside the top 10 on tour all summer. For his efforts, McKenzie adds one of the biggest trophies in DIRTcar UMP Modified racing to his cabinet.
“It feels great. To add your name to that list… since it started, there’s only been six winners, so to put your name on that list is something special, for sure,” McKenzie said.
Jim Denhamer Photo (2020)
The Claypool, IN-native first went to Summit Modified Victory Lane in July 2020 at Kokomo Speedway during an event dubbed the Hoosier Dirt Shootout — a replacement for the COVID-19 pandemic-impacted Prairie Dirt Classic. There, at the famed 1/4-mile bullring in his home state, McKenzie stood in Victory Lane alongside top Modified talents Nick Hoffman, Derek Losh and Mike McKinney as a Showdown Feature winner — an accomplishment that signaled the arrival of both his own name and the brand he’d founded one year earlier — Vanquish Race Cars.
“We did that whole Hell Tour in 2020 to get our stuff better, do the research and things we needed to do,” McKenzie said. “Obviously, the competition in Illinois is tough, and that definitely progressed us to where we are today. With the advancements that we’ve made on the car and things — that’s stuff we learned from 2020 and kept continuing to build on.”
The car he was driving that afternoon was one forged right in his own shop. Established in 2019, Vanquish Race Cars started as McKenzie’s custom race chassis and has since evolved into one of Dirt Modified racing’s trusted fabrication brands. Now seven years into business, McKenzie and wife Ricki Creamer have produced 35 total frames for customers including Ray Bollinger, Dalton Lane, Mark Clary, and Beau DeYoung, among others.
“We had some business partners back then and they sort of pushed to do our own cars,” McKenzie recalled about the genesis of the brand. “That just progressed into what we thought we needed to do. We definitely had to stand out and be different.
“We had to keep the price under control. Facts are facts, and in the Modified world, guys work 40 hours a week and have kids at home. So, we definitely had to keep our prices down and be competitive, and that’s what we’ve brought to the table.”
Photo by Tim Hunt
One of the brightest moments in Vanquish brand history came this past June at Fairbury Speedway, where McKenzie passed six-time Summit Modified champion Mike Harrison for the lead after a late restart and went on to his second career Series victory and first since that triumph at Kokomo nearly six years prior.
In Victory Lane, the smile couldn’t be wiped from his face.
“I would say it’s definitely at the top,” McKenzie said, comparing his Fairbury win to others. “It wasn’t the biggest-paying race, but with the competition and the crowd and the people here, it was definitely at the top.”
Standing beside him in Victory Lane was his wife and most dedicated crew member, Ricki Creamer. Together, the two have traveled up and down the Midwest highways every summer, chasing this goal.
“We’ve been together for 16 years now, and we started the Vanquish brand in 2019, so she’s been with it since the start,” McKenzie said. “It hasn’t been a sunny day every day, but it’s definitely turned around, and we’re happy with where we’re at.”
In all his time on the road, McKenzie has garnered a sizable notebook on car setup, track conditions, and general life-on-the-road knowledge. While racing has been in his life for a long time, the Summit Modified trail has been the platform for some of the biggest performance leaps of his career.
“It’s definitely taught me how to drive a race car better,” McKenzie said. “Being at a different track every day, learning the dirt and how the tracks transition has been huge. It definitely helps you as a driver bouncing back and forth. You have really technical tracks, tracks that are wide open. It makes you a better driver.
“It forces you to make better decisions on how you set your car up, too. So, that’s how we can learn so much in that month that it really helps all of our customers, and us especially. Just going through all that is huge, knowing what to change and what the track is transitioning to.”
Photo by Tim Hunt
Looking back, racing has been McKenzie’s biggest lifelong passion. Whether it’s in the seat or at the shop, it’s taken every ounce of effort for him and his team to get to the place they stand today. Through his struggle, McKenzie has shown he’s willing to go the extra mile for his biggest personal achievements and the next generation of racers he inspires.
“We love helping people; being in this business, you’ve got to want to help people and make people better,” McKenzie said. “We’re sort of an open book when it comes to our customers and stuff. We enjoy helping the customers that we have and look forward to more in the future.”
McKenzie and Vanquish Race Cars are supported by J. Baker Trucking, Keyser Manufacturing, Integra Shocks, ShopAngryDuck, Toro Superior Sales & Service, D&N Autobody, Strange Trucking, Willy’s Carburetor & Dyno, Mullins Race Engines, PEM Racing, and Sweet Manufacturing.
