News and Events

05.01.09

This week was proof that God is still in the business of miracles! We discovered that Matt definitely had some motor issues and we changed out the motor. I never thought we'd get it done correctly before Saturday night, but we did (for the most part!).


For the heat race Matt drew the highest number again so we had to start in the back. We are going to work on his pill drawing skills! Anyway, the heat was shortened to 6 laps due to some track delays. This didn't leave Matt a lot of time to make up the ground. He started 10th and finished 5th, so overall a great show! Matt said that his motor was jumping out of gear during the race so before the feature race, we worked on it. Obviously we didn't fix it. In the feature race, Matt moved up several spots, but coming to the green flag after a caution, the car popped out of gear again and Matt was slammed in the rear. This broke a rod and he was done.


The best thing about the whole night was after we were packed up and ready to go. There was a young girl, Katlin and her family that came up to us and told us that they had met us last week. They said they came back to the track that night just to watch Matt race. It was really neat that they were there just to see Matt! Thanks to the Bird family and especially Katlin for your support. Hopefully next time when you come to see us we will put on a better show for you!

04.25.09

Wow did we have fun at Putnam County Speedway! Although, after last week, anything would be fun as long as we got to race! The coolest thing about this Saturday was that it was fan appreciation night. This is where they pull the racecars up to the front of the track and they allow the fans to come onto the track for pictures and autographs. Matt was an absolute natural with the kids! He autographed all of his hero cards and the kids all wanted one! He took pictures with the fans and allowed a lot of the kids to sit in his car. It really was exciting to see him promoting the sponsors and having fun with the kids. He didn't mind the attention from the young ladies either! Oh and we did race too! In the heat race Matt started last and finished a hard fought 7th. In the feature race he had to start 14th. It was a long race, but Matt was patient and methodically worked his way to the front pack. He ran 5th for the middle part of the race and then moved back to 6th. With three laps to go, Matt came out of turn 2 and spun the car. Unfortunately, another car came up and bumped him and bent his axle, so we finished up on the back of the tow truck. It was a great learning night! You HAVE to watch the race video. Matt really drove the wheels off!

04.18.09

You'll notice there are no highlight videos from this past week's races. Well let's just say it wasn't the best of events for us. Matt drew the outside pole for the heat race and we were all jazzed about the prospects of this race. This is afterall his favorite track and he did well here before. As we were getting ready to send out Matt for the practice laps, we noticed that his brakes weren't working properly. Neil quickly determined it was the master cylinder. After a lot of checking we determined it was totally brokern. We went through the pit area and found someone nice enough to give us one of their backup master cylinders. We (actually Neil!) installed it and we thought we would be ready to race the feature. Well what are the odds that the new one we installed was also bad? It was and we were done for the night. A frustrating night, but we are all ready to race this next Saturday at Putnam County Speedway! Thanks to everybody that came out. We will put on a better show next time!

03.21.09

This past Saturday was a lot of fun at the Lake City track. Matt started last in the heat race and managed to race his way to 4th! Because he is still a rookie he had to start last in the feature race as well. He very quickly worked his way up to 10th and was looking to take some more positions when he came around turn 2 to find a wreck that had already happened. Matt did the only thing he could do and he tried to avoid the crash. Unfortunately he ran out of real estate and spun the car into the wall which caused the car to turn over. After working on the car for a bit, we managed to get him back out there before the race went green again. Matt took off again and began to gain positions. Unfortunately there was some damage from the first wreck that we hadn't spotted when he was in the pits. His right front rim had been banged up and over the course of several laps, the wheel lugs began to work themselves loose. Eventually coming out of turn two, the lugs came off and so did his tire! He gently came to a stop and our race was over. As always Matt drove like a champ. Soon he won't have to start in the back anymore and maybe we will be able to avoid the messes in the back! The race videos of the heat and main are posted in the video section of this site. We have decided to post a ride along video of Matt's race this past week on the home page. The quality isn't great because it was too dark, but you can get a real appreciation of what he sees on the track. Keep looking for more videos because next race we will get a better quality ride along video for you!

03.13.09

There is nothing worse than racing on Friday the 13th! It started off bad when we blew a trailer tire on the way to the quarter midget track! In the first race Matt and Brandon both jumped out to the front of the pack. Brandon was leading and and Matt was right behind him. Coming out of turn 2 Brandon got loose and spun the car. All I could think of was "oh no...Friday the 13th!" Well Matt had no choice but to dump the car and hope he didn't hit his brother. He did an amazing job of spinning out to avoid the wreck. That was the good news...the bad news is that they both had to go to the back of the field as a result. The race stayed green the rest of the way and Matt was able to climb his way back to 2nd. In the main, Matt quickly took over 1st and led a lot of the race. It was an exciting back and forth lead change with two other cars. Matt was in the lead when the white flag dropped, but got shuffled back to 3rd coming out of turn 2. He fought hard to regain the lead. Matt just got nosed out to finish 3rd. So all in all, not a bad Friday the 13th!

03.06.09

This past friday was Quarter Midget Racing at New Smyrna Speedway. Matt finished 1st in a closely contested heat race. He started on the pole for the main but his chain came off before he even got out of the pit area. His chain was put back on in time for him to still start from the pole, however he had no time to warm his tires before the race went green. Matt was quickly shuffled back to 4th before the first lap. He managed to hang on to the car until the tires heated up and even though there were some other technical issues with the car, he managed to finish 3rd. Great driving Matt!

01.30.09

Matt started 8th in a field of 11 in the first race and that's where he finished. The car was too tight for the track and his clutch broke right before he went out on the track. Since the field stopped on the track Matt had no choice but to let the car stall. The track officials then put him in the back because his car had to be pushed off. So he picked up three spots in a very competitive field. It was a good clean race. Matt started 9th in the feature race. The first lap took about 15 minutes to complete since every restart had a wreck. Two cars wrecked right in front of Matt and he got collected up in it with some minor damage. The rest of the race went pretty much without incident for Matt. He picked up a few spots and then would lose a spot. He finally setttled in at 7th for the last few laps and was out there on his own. Coming out of turn four to finish the race, he caught a bump and it forced him up to the wall. The car's right front tire hit the wall and Matt did a complete 180. He actually crossed the finish line backwards! I suppose if you are not gonna win the race, that's one way to make the highlight reel! It was a dramatic finish for sure!

01.29.09

Practice at East Bay went well. Unfortunately the races were rained out. We are looking forward to Friday night's race!

12.15.08

Matt raced his first Mini-sprint race at Volusia County Speedway and he placed 5th out of 20 cars. We started him in the back since it was his first race and he still drove through the field! He drove like a pro!