The car leaped forward at the start, with Mat grabbing third after only four laps. Even though he got to third quickly, he had plenty of work to do, as Braun was already gone, and Tom Flannigan, who started in front of Mat on the outside of row 2, had built up a substantial lead on him as well.
With the race going caution-free, there was no catching Braun, but Mat kept pecking away and drew within haling distance before time ran out, and he settled for third, once spot ahead of point leader Pete Bicknell, who made Mat’s life interesting for a number of laps, but couldn’t get a good enough run challenge for the position.
About whether he would have wanted a caution, Mat was ambivalent, noting, “You do and you don’t in that situation, I don’t know if I would have been faster than Travis. He was on a rail tonight.”
Of the race, he added, “We stuck too much gear in it and hit the chip way too early. That doesn’t help. It was a decent night. It’s a brand new Bicknell car. Coming in third feels good. The outside was fast. When Travis and Shayne (Pierce), did a switch up in turn two there, it was Travis, Tom, and I running the outside. We were a third place car tonight. I saw Pete poking his nose in at the end. I stayed on the outside. If I changed lanes he would have gone around me. I’ve made that mistake too many times.”
He concluded, “It’s nice to hold him off, but we really need a win. These guys (the crew) work their butts off. Hopefully, I can give it to them.”
So, the weekend concludes on a high note, and the team goes on from there.
No comments:
Post a Comment