Team Finishes Good Week on a High Note

By DAVE SULLY - Starting with a decent finish at New Egypt on Wednesday in the Dirt.car Big Block series event, the excitement built, with a second place finish at Lernerville and ended with a crescendo, as Mat took the feature at Merrittville on Saturday. It put the team in a justifiably euphoric mood,which was richly deserved.

The team's first visit to New Egypt was eventful, as a slew of cars were there to attempt to qualify for the A Main. Mat finished fifth in the first heat, which relegated him to the first B Main, which he won. That put him 21st on the grid for the feature. Against a very talented field and mired toward the rear at the start, Mat clawed his way to 15th at the checkered flag.

On the night, he observed, “We were a top ten car. We started twenty-first and were racing with Stewie (Friesen). We raced with good guys. We raced with Tomkins for a long time. If we could have gotten by some of them, I think we would have been up there. It's one of those deals where we started twenty-first. If we would have started tenth, we would have been a top ten car. We were holding our own, but there was that stag position, and it's tough to pass there.”

Two days later, the team journeyed to Lernerville and came away with a second place finish, which keeps the team in the hunt in what has become a very competitive field. Asked if he was satisfied with the result, Mat answered, “No. We've got a program where we can win every race. That's our expectation, and we hold ourselves to that expectation. When we don't win, we're disappointed. We work harder than anybody. We like to win. That's what it comes down to. I started fourth and any other time it would have been good enough to win, but we just lacked a little bit of motor. We're there. We haven't been out of the top five, and everybody down there has stepped up their games, so it's not as easy to win races there as it was last year.” Still, in all, the second place finish with a motor a little down on power is a plus.

Fast forward to Saturday at Merrittville, where it all came together in great fashion. After winning the first heat easily, Mat lined up seventh for the feature. While Ryan Susice grabbed the early lead, Mat soldiered into second on a lap 10 restart and then began stalking Susice. He tried several moves, both high and low, but was unable to mount a serious bid for the lead.

On lap 20, things changed. A caution flew, putting Mat next to Susice for the restart. Susice chose the outside, where his car had been performing well. Mat was able to get a good jump on the bottom and executed a perfect slide job going into turn two to take the lead. From there, he drew away and at the end was close to a straightaway ahead.

Talking about the result, Mat declared, “I'm very happy tonight. We needed it. It's good to be here.” About the race, he explained, “I knew when the caution came out, that was my only opportunity to do it. I knew I was faster than he was, and if I didn't do the slider in one and two, I wouldn't have gotten him. I actually like it slicker. If the cushion were gone we would have been even better. We relied on it (the cushion) tonight, but if it was gone we'd have been better.”

Of the duel with Susice, he added, “I tried a couple of times, and I'd lose ground, so I really had to time it good. When the restart came out, he gave me the bottom, and I knew it was game over. You know you can run with Ryan. You know he's not going to screw up. When you get a restart you've got to take advantage of it because he's pretty talented and deserves to be up front. You have a lot of respect for him. I'm certainly happy with the outcome tonight, and hopefully we'll do this every week.”

Any time is a good time to round into shape, but with the heavy part of the schedule coming up, it behooves the team to maintain the high that they are on now, and you know they won't be outworked.

Solid Father's Day Weekend Buoys the Spirits

By DAVE SULLY - After a previous week, where the team suffered a couple of uncharacteristic finishes, the team rallied to score two impressive efforts on Father's Day Weekend. After a fifth place finish at Lernerville, which, though solid, was not up expectations, and a tenth place finish the next night at Merrittville, which was definitely not acceptable following a twelfth the previous week, the team needed to have a couple of good runs to restore some confidence. Father's Day weekend provided the needed result.

A third place finish behind winner Dave Murdick and Rex King Jr. on Friday the 13th, kept the team in the hunt, with Mat currently lying fifth in the standings, forty-nine points behind Rex King Jr. With four good drivers in front of him King, King Sr, Murdick, and Jeremiah Shingledecker, it won't be an easy hill to climb, but being fairly evenly matched, it doesn't appear anybody is going to run away and hide like Mat did last year.

On Saturday, after winning his heat handily, Mat started fifth and was able to claw his way to second by lap 21, right behind leader Tommy Flannigan, who found the outside to his liking and had grabbed the lead on a lap 14 restart. A lap 25 caution put Mat right behind Flanniga, setting up an epic struggle for the lead, as Mat tried everything he could to get a run on Flannigan. Once on lap 27 he drew alongside and seemed to have the momentum to take the lead, but a caution killed that chance.

The two man battle continued for several more laps before it became apparent that this was Flannigan's night. However, the night seemed to put an end to the slump for now, and the close second gives the team some impetus for the future.

Of the night, Mat observed, “We made wholesale changes this weekend. The car was good, just not good enough. That's exactly what it came down to. Tommy was a little better driving off the corners than I was. I've just got to make some minor changes this week and get a little better. I'm certainly happy with the S and W car. It was good. Congrats to Tommy. Couldn't ask to finish second to anybody else. I'm happy for those guys, just as happy as we are for second. It's nice to finish second after the couple of weeks we've had. A win certainly would have been a lot nicer, but to finish second to Tommy, I'm not too upset about it. You know you can race him clean, and he's going to race you the same way you race him. That's the kind of racing you want every week. If there were twenty-four guys like Tommy Flannigan out there, we'd have a lot of fun every week.”

So, putting things into perspective, the team has two competitive cars, and should be in the hunt for the win each night. There are a lot of teams that would like to be in that position.

Positive Week for Team Ends on a Bit of a Downer

By Dave Sully - The team's week started early as they made the trek to Brockville for the DIRT.car Big Block Series event. It was a very positive night, as Mat came from tenth to record a top five finish. He was able to run with the big dogs all night long, ultimately holding off Danny Johnson for his fifth place finish behind winner Justin Haers, Brett Hearn, Billy Decker, and Matt Sheppard.

Mat explained, “It was great. We went up there, got in a tough group and we were nervous about qualifying, just holding our own in a Series race, but we've come a long way. We can run with those guys a little bit at most of the places we go to. It feels great to do it. We started fourth in the heat and finished third and got the last spot in the redraw. We drew tenth and were just kind of biding our time. Toward the end, the car came on and we were a lot better than most. We raced with Sheppard a little bit and Danny. We raced with some big names and it helps my confidence. Those guys race for a living. This is just our hobby. I'd like to get to the point in my career where I can do this for a living. I've just got to keep working hard at it. I'll put everything I've got into it.”

As to how many Big Block Series races the team will run, Mat said that their plans were up in the air. They are going to New Egypt in two weeks, a nine hour drive. They plan on going to all of them until they have a bad run. The plan was to go to New Egypt if they ran in the top five at Brockville, which they did. He explained that if they say in the top ten in points, they'll go to the next one. They'll just play it by ear.

On another note, the team used the bargain basement motor they used to win at Lernerville, prompting Mat to observe, “We've got two thirds of it paid off after two races.”

Following the midweek show at Brockville, the team ventured to Lernerville on Friday and turned in another solid performance, finishing second after once again starting tenth. Mat explained, “Rex King started on the pole and we started tenth. We had a great race car. That motor was stout again. The track was slippery, and that plays in my favor. Those guys down there don't see a lot of tracks that get that slippery. We race like that every Saturday night. We weren't very good until the first caution came out, then made some adjustments and kind of stayed out of trouble and picked my way to the front. When I got there, it was just two laps too late. I really like racing with those guys.”

On Saturday, reality reared its ugly head at Merrittville and showed that nothing is going to be easy. After winning his heat, Mat started eleventh, but was making some progress when he was involved in a scrum with Tim Jones and had to restart at the rear. He made a nice recovery, but the twelfth place finish left the team searching for answers.

Talking about the night, Mat said, “Guys weren't driving normally tonight and that's going to cause more wrecks. A lot of people were driving into the side of each other, but we'll regroup and get ready for next week. We can't get down on our luck. It' really one bad smash. We've just got to keep on keeping on.” Mat added that the car wasn't hurt enough that he could notice in the incident with Jones, but that it didn't really feel right all night. He concluded, “We'll be back. We're not really point racing. We're just trying to get the “W.”

All in all, it was a good week and Saturday's misfortune at Merrittville won't dampen the team's enthusiasm.