By Dave Sully - (Brockville, Ontario) The task was simple going into the final 358 Modified Series event on Saturday, October 13th at Brockville. After an up and down Super DIRT Week, which saw the team lose second place in the standings at Cayuga County, and then regain the spot with gutty performances at Rolling Wheels and the Mile, the task was to keep it. With Dale Planck holding an insurmountable lead for the championship, Mat, nursing a fragile five point lead, needed to finish near Terrence to finish in the runner-up spot, which he had held through most of the year.
Buoyed by incredible performances in two of the Series events at SDW, the team carried some momentum going into the race, and Mat put himself in good stead early. After timing 15th of the 39 cars that took time, Mat proceeded to win his heat. He observed, “We were quick. We timed second fastest in our group. We got the lead on a restart and led all eight laps.” That put him in the redraw. However, his bad luck in the redraws continued, as he ended up starting tenth out of the ten who drew.
The race was held during the daytime, which almost always compromises a dirt track.
Things did not go well, at times, during the hundred lapper, as he had to deal with a spin from which he ended up at the rear, and a flat tire, caused by the track conditions, which kept things tense. He did get a bit of good luck, finally, when Terrence was also involved in a mishap, which Mat was able to avoid, and that put him ahead of Terrence.
When the smoke cleared, Mat ended up eighth in the race, while Terrence finished tenth, giving the team a thirteen point advantage and its highest ever Series finish.
Mat summed up his afternoon misfortunes, noting, “We got into an issue on the back stretch, just a racing deal. I ended up spinning around, but I kept going. I was running ninth at the time, and I only lost three spots. They ended up blaming the yellow on me, so they put me tail, even though at some race tracks they have a rule which allows you to blend in, as long as you don’t stop.”
“So, we kept going, racing at the back. At that point we were four spots behind Carey, and I kept trying to catch him. Then I got a flat tire, from tire wear, so we came into the pits, changed it and went back out. Then there was another wreck and Carey got involved with that. I just slid into it and then went through the infield and ended up getting through it. So, all in all, it was a good points race (for us) between me and Carey, but, other than that it was no fun, because the track took rubber and got real hard.”
“We didn’t think it was going to take rubber because the sun wasn’t out and it wasn’t hot, but about five laps in, we found out the rubber was down. We should have pitted then to come out with a different tire compound, but there was never really an opportunity to do that.”
“Overall, the result of the race was good. We couldn’t gain spots (Dale Planck had clinched first by starting his engine), but we could have lost spots and we didn’t, so it was good for points.”
Of the team’s overall approach to the race, Mat explained, “I wanted to win, certainly, but, in my head, when Carey was in front of us, I was definitely racing him.”
He concluded, “We had to go through a lot this year and we certainly didn’t have luck on our side at any race since April. We should have won the Dirt Championship, but so should fifteen other guys, so I’m happy with second. Now we look to next season.”
The entire team should be justifiably proud of the runner up spot in the Series, which saw them overcome some serious adversities along the way. With Dipper conducting the orchestra, the team stuck together through thick and thin, each member going the extra mile to achieve success. Congratulations for a great 2012, and on to 2013, with one more hill to climb.
Buoyed by incredible performances in two of the Series events at SDW, the team carried some momentum going into the race, and Mat put himself in good stead early. After timing 15th of the 39 cars that took time, Mat proceeded to win his heat. He observed, “We were quick. We timed second fastest in our group. We got the lead on a restart and led all eight laps.” That put him in the redraw. However, his bad luck in the redraws continued, as he ended up starting tenth out of the ten who drew.
The race was held during the daytime, which almost always compromises a dirt track.
Things did not go well, at times, during the hundred lapper, as he had to deal with a spin from which he ended up at the rear, and a flat tire, caused by the track conditions, which kept things tense. He did get a bit of good luck, finally, when Terrence was also involved in a mishap, which Mat was able to avoid, and that put him ahead of Terrence.
When the smoke cleared, Mat ended up eighth in the race, while Terrence finished tenth, giving the team a thirteen point advantage and its highest ever Series finish.
Mat summed up his afternoon misfortunes, noting, “We got into an issue on the back stretch, just a racing deal. I ended up spinning around, but I kept going. I was running ninth at the time, and I only lost three spots. They ended up blaming the yellow on me, so they put me tail, even though at some race tracks they have a rule which allows you to blend in, as long as you don’t stop.”
“So, we kept going, racing at the back. At that point we were four spots behind Carey, and I kept trying to catch him. Then I got a flat tire, from tire wear, so we came into the pits, changed it and went back out. Then there was another wreck and Carey got involved with that. I just slid into it and then went through the infield and ended up getting through it. So, all in all, it was a good points race (for us) between me and Carey, but, other than that it was no fun, because the track took rubber and got real hard.”
“We didn’t think it was going to take rubber because the sun wasn’t out and it wasn’t hot, but about five laps in, we found out the rubber was down. We should have pitted then to come out with a different tire compound, but there was never really an opportunity to do that.”
“Overall, the result of the race was good. We couldn’t gain spots (Dale Planck had clinched first by starting his engine), but we could have lost spots and we didn’t, so it was good for points.”
Of the team’s overall approach to the race, Mat explained, “I wanted to win, certainly, but, in my head, when Carey was in front of us, I was definitely racing him.”
He concluded, “We had to go through a lot this year and we certainly didn’t have luck on our side at any race since April. We should have won the Dirt Championship, but so should fifteen other guys, so I’m happy with second. Now we look to next season.”
The entire team should be justifiably proud of the runner up spot in the Series, which saw them overcome some serious adversities along the way. With Dipper conducting the orchestra, the team stuck together through thick and thin, each member going the extra mile to achieve success. Congratulations for a great 2012, and on to 2013, with one more hill to climb.
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