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.
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