During the afternoon practice Mathews climbed to the top of the time sheets and was third fastest at the end of the session. Mathews drew the unfortunate honour of qualifying first and put in an excellent effort to claim the eighth starting position. “It’s tough qualifying first, the track has a lot of different rubber and oil from other cars and it hurts your lap, but we did pretty well considering” summarized the driver.
As the green flag waved on the 250 lap main event Mathews though only in his fourth series event immediately began to show his talents as he moved the #15 Mathews Motorsports Ford up toward the front of the field. “The car was fast, no doubt about it” said the driver. “I really felt comfortable at the track after only a few laps” he added.
As the race progressed Mathews would run predominantly among the top five battling with the best drivers in the field for position. Before the race was halfway however Mathews believed there was an issue with the left front tire. “We thought we had a tire going down so when we had the opportunity during a caution we made a stop for tires” said the driver.
Rejoining the battle Mathews looked to put the #15 Mathews Motorsports Ford back up front. The team also worked to plan out their pit strategy for the duration of the race. “When our left front went flat we took left side tires, and then decided to take right sides under the same caution. This decision changed our strategy and it turns out we took right sides about 75 laps too early.” said Mathews.
The laps ticked away and Mathews continued his exciting run but in the late stages the car became an even bigger handful to control and the #15 Mathews Motorsports Ford went off between corner one and two. “I got a little impatient with two lapped cars racing me hard and went to go outside and had no grip” said Mathews.
Steve Mathews returned to the fight after his incident and battled to the end in the #15 Mathews Motorsports Ford and would finish the event in twelfth. “In a way it was a successful day, and I would like to thank the whole Mathews Motorsports crew for their great effort and hard work. The more of these NCATS races we do the better we get.”
You can find out more about “Speedy Steve” Mathews and keep up with the latest news on the #15 Mathews Motorsports Ford and follow their progress all season long in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series by logging onto the website www.stevemathews.net
- Mathews Motorsports Press Release
