By Dave Sully - Following his podium finish at Merrittville in the Bob St Amand 100, Mat boarded Matt Sheppard’s hauler for a trip to I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, Michigan, to drive Sheppard’s backup big block modified in the first Dirtcar appearance in the state. It was only Mat’s second time in a modified, the first being a brief appearance at New Egypt, which ended after the heat because the car owner he was driving for wrecked his primary car and needed Mat’s car for the feature. The sojourn to Michigan turned out to be fortuitous, as Mat took to the car right away, racking up the fastest speed in hot laps, and second fastest in time trials.
In the race he drove a conservative line, steadily moved up and was sitting in fourth by the midpoint of the 100 lap event. Eventually, due to his being on soft tires, he ended up seventh, a fine showing in his first full race in a big block. The team had been hoping for a top ten, so finishing seventh was icing on the cake.
Mat explained how the opportunity arose to travel to Michigan, saying, “We (the team) were talking about going to Michigan with the small block because the race was originally scheduled to run on the 3/8 mile inside track at I-96. We told Joe Skotnicki that we would go, but then it was decided that they would run on the half mile outer track. When they did that, Dad was talking to Matt Sheppard and Matt asked Dad what he thought. He told Matt we weren’t going to go because we’d be wasting our time racing a small block against big blocks on a half mile. At that point, Matt said to Dad he wouldn’t mind putting me in his backup car, if everything went well at Merrittivlle. We planned on that and everything went well on Monday night, so I rode out with Matt and his crew on Monday night, while Dad and Dipper drove out on Tuesday morning.”
The difference between driving a big block and a small block can be daunting, due to the difference in horsepower and handling, but Mat took it in stride. He noted, “Matt’s crew set up my car the same way as his. We made out all right. It didn’t take much adjustment. We were fast in hot laps and second fastest in time trials. We got right into it, finished second in the heat and went from there. It just felt natural.”
As for the race, there were some circumstances that required a somewhat different approach. Mat explained, “Since Matt’s running for the championship, we didn’t want to do anything that would hurt his chances of winning that race. When we went there, Matt wasn’t sure what tires we were going to need, and we didn’t know what tires we were going to need. So, we brought two of our own tires, two front tires, and Matt had what he brings to every race. When we got there, the track was pretty abrasive, so we decided we were going to run hard tires and Matt only had two hard right front tires, so I told him I’d go out with the soft tires. We went out with the soft tires, and they gave way a little sooner than the hard ones.”
“We went there hoping for a top ten and not wrecking any equipment. I did give Matt room on the restarts where I started inside of him. I kind of let him go because I didn’t want to hurt his chances to win the race, especially because of the opportunity that he and Jeff (Brownell, Matt’s car owner) gave me.”
He added, “Matt was very happy with the effort, Jeff has already talked about racing Charlotte and doing some other shows this year; that would be good. There’s also talk about our team moving up and doing some big block racing next year, as well. Every race I can get under my belt will help our chances next year. I want to sincerely thank Jeff, Matt and all their crew guys again for all their help and giving me the opportunity to drive their car. It was a great experience for me.”
As the saying goes, “Sometimes, one gains strength through adversity.” After a few rough weeks, where nothing seemed to go right, the sun seems ready to shine on the No. 6 team again. It’s time to seize the moment.
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