To feel the excitement of being first on the grid, to feel the rush as the flag drops, to feel the G-forces as you plunge headlong into a corner and to feel connected with your machine and the track as you blaze down the straight at 200 mph. This is the life of Lenexa resident Zach Hill, a successful motorcycle racer.

Hill began racing four years ago, but before that he mainly did “track days” where anyone could go on the track and race around, but as he got better, local racers began to encourage him to compete in an actual race.

“…And I said, ‘why, when I can just be on the track without racing?’ And they said, ‘well, do you want to throw bullets, or do you want to shoot bullets?’ So I said, ‘I want to shoot bullets.’ So I went to a race school, got my [racing] license, and I’ve been racing ever since,” Hill said.

With the pressure and danger of a race, it is very easy to lose focus and be more liable to make a mistake, but racers like Hill have one thing in common: getting “in the zone.”

“Well from the start of the race when you’re sitting there girded up, you start getting the butterflies while you’re looking at all the other racers and they’re looking at you, and you get kind of nervous, and then the green flag drops and you forget all about that and it’s just go-time,” Hill said.

For family and friends alike, it can be very nerve-racking to watch a loved one in a sport that is this dangerous and intense, but Hill’s family and friends have plenty of faith in his ability to stay safe on the track, even in the midst of chaos.

“I’m not that scared. I’m more scared of him being out on the highway than I am about him being on the track,” said Zach Hill’s wife, Jeni. “I’m excited for him. This year has been a good year for him, and the first time he won was really exciting.”

Zach has had a very successful time in the sport, but he views it more as a hobby than anything else, mainly because of how expensive it is.

“It’s just a hobby. I don’t have enough time or money; it’s very expensive and it takes every penny you have,” Zach said. “And at 37 years old, it would be hard to try to become professional, so I’ll probably just race at the ‘expert’ level for the rest of my life.”

Zach says that this year has been one of the most exciting seasons in his time racing, and he had a lot of great moments during it. In one race this year, Zach and another fellow racer battled neck and neck the entirety of the race, taking first place from each other four or five times.

“It came down to the last corner of the last lap, and we hit each other, I ran into the back of him, but neither one of us wrecked and we drag-raced to the finish line, and I got him by about half a bike. It was such a thrill and such a rush and a really good time,” Zach said.

With so much success, it is likely that there will be failure along the way. Zach crashed hard earlier in the season, but this has not deterred him from doing his best and racing to his full potential.

“I never really get scared,” Zach said. “The one time I did wreck, I was spinning around on the ground not knowing my orientation, and I just see motorcycles flying by me and all I was hoping is that somebody doesn’t run me over. That was the only scary moment I had. Otherwise, when I’m out there racing, nothing really scares me. I have such an adrenaline rush and nothing tops that.”