Mat Neely Motorsports
January/February Update
Mat started out the year by traveling to Tulsa OK to participate in the 21st annual Chili Bowl.
Mat ran a nine year old Larry Gardner owned Chevy-powered Stealth.
The car was an oldie but a goodie.
Mat started the event by running the fastest unofficial lap ever at the Chili Bowl.
Mat then ran an impressive 3rd place on his qualifying night,
only trailing Dave Darland and Tony Stewart to the line.
On Saturday's main event day, 256 cars worked 22 heat races.
Mat started 9th in the A-main and finished 9th.
Mat showed that the newest car was not necessarily the fastest.
Mat came back from Tulsa and continued his hunt for local sponsorship for his 2007 USAC Sprint Car deal.
After several meetings with First Financial Corporation in Terre Haute IN,
Mat was able to land his first major sponsor of 2007.
Mat is very excited to be associated with First Financial as they have a long history
supporting USAC Sprint Car racing in the Midwest.
In February Mat traveled to Manzanita AZ for the season's first USAC Silver Crown race.
Things started well as Mat made up 7 spots in the first 25 laps.
On a lap 26 restart Mat found himself upside down in turn one while racing for 8th place.
Mat was not hurt, but his favorite car was real bent.
Next Silver Crown race is Homestead FL on March 23rd.
Upon arriving home Mat was able to secure sponsorship from Street Heat in
Robinson IL along with LRB Manufacturing from CA.
Mat and his chief mechanic, Denny Knight, continue to
work on the cars in their shop in Robinson.
Mat finished the month Of February with a test in the Silver Crown car at Darlington
Speedway in South Carolina. Mat felt that the track was "crazy fast".
The USAC Silver Crown Series will appear in May at the famed track.