Team Still Chasing Merrittville

(Thorold, ON) – The team went back to the drawing board after last weekend’s frustrating runs at Merrittville and Humberstone, making wholesale changes to the car, and believing they had uncovered the problems that have been plaguing them. Unfortunately, it didn’t show up in the results on Saturday, June 29th, as Mat struggled to a fourth place finish in the heat, which put him tenth on the grid for the feature.

It looked promising at first, as Mat moved up as high as fifth, but then slipped backward before making a couple of late passes put him in ninth at the line, just nosing out Brandon Easey.

Talking about Merrittville, Mat declared, “We’ve been struggling this year at Merrittville. There’s no doubt about it. I still don’t think we’re where we need to be. We’re still planning on changing frames this week (a possibility Mat mentioned the previous week), get back to things that have been successful before and see what happens. It just sucks to struggle at your own track like that.”

There is no relief as the team has Sunday and Monday dates at Cornwall for Series races, before returning for the midweek “Battle of the Border” at Ransomville, another 358 Series event. Who knows? Sometimes going on the road can change the dynamic, especially going to a track that Mat likes and has many laps on.

On a positive note, Mat talked with Mike Bowman after the nasty confrontation in the pits last week, and they also met. Mat feels the situation has been resolved.

Complacency never solves anything, and the team will continue to search for the answer at Merrittville. Maybe the new frame and going back to basics will be the formula they have been seeking.