By DAVE SULLY - PT COLBORNE- ON - After a title clinching run at Lernerville on Friday and a fine second at Merrittville, the team notched a hard-earned third at Humberstone, culminating a very satisfying three day stint. The performances gave the team optimism for the upcoming weekend, with the final point race at Merrittvile and the next Series race at Cornwall in the offing.
The Humberstone effort on Sunday was hampered by bad luck in the pill draw, which saw Mat start sixth in his heat. He did the best he could, but there was little room to pass. Ultimately, he finished fourth, but was nipping at the heels of Mike Bowman for the last redraw spot at the end. The fourth place finish saw him start eighth in the feature.
Eric Rudolph drove away after drawing the pole, essentially leaving the rest of the field vying for the runner-up spot. Mat battled and clawed for each spot, grabbing fourth on a bonzai move between Bowman, who was running low and Todd Gordon, who was running the outside, that appeared to be inches from disaster.
He claimed third on lap 15 and set sail for Tom Flannigan, who was chasing Rudolph, close to half a lap ahead by that time. He gradually closed the gap, but ran out of laps as Flannigan was running very well on the outside.
Talking about the night, Mat explained, “It was just tough to pass. When I drew 29 out of 50 at the gate, I thought we’d be all right, but everybody had better luck than I did. I started eighth in the feature. That was about as good as it was going to get with the way we started after the heat. Certainly a top three always helps. I’m happy to finish where we did. We got second in points there. That’s not too bad. We’ve just got to build on it next year.
Things stay busy, with the Victory tour to Lernerville on Friday, followed by the final point night at Merrittville, where Mat still has a chance to move up in the standings. He is currently seven points behind third place Scott Wood and fifteen behind Mike Bowman in second. On Sunday, as mentioned, the important Series race at Cornwall.
The last few weeks have been encouraging. Hopefully, the team can build on the recent momentum.
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