Reed Scores A 3rd At Sharon Before Tough Pennsylvania Swing

Victorian Sprintcar driver Matthew Reed drove the Centastate Civil Contracting / Tritech Lubricants supported Maxim to a solid 3rd place finish in last weekend's feature at Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio, before heading further East during the week for several races against the tough Central Pennsylvanian competition in the PA Speedweek series.

In a brutal stretch of racing, the team raced in no less than 12 races across a 13 day period throughout Ohio and Pennsylvania, with a series of 10 races straight! It has been an arduous and somewhat difficult run for the 2x time Victorian Champ, with some outstanding results such as setting quick-time in qualifying and getting a 2nd place finish at the Wayne County All Star Speedweek show mixed in with dissappointing runs and getting involved with a few wrecks, thus sustaining damage to the pristine 92v Maxim.

"It's really been like a version of 'Sprintcar Survivor' out here the past 2 weeks", said Matthew. You barely get to eat or sleep, you sweat all day long from working on the car in the humidity and after repeating this for 10 nights straight it kinda wears you down! You cannot possibly describe how hard it is unless you are here experiencing it first hand. We have no local knowledge of these racetracks, and it's fair to say they are very different to what we are used to racing on back home. I'm pretty much trying to figure out the setups and driving techniques as I go along. Sometimes you get lucky with an early pill draw for qualifying and I get it close with the setup, and other nights we pull a late pill and I've missed the setup and we have really stuggled."

The combination of the Good-Year tires and flat wings, coupled with the incredibly dry-slick nature of the majority of the racetracks has required Reed to get a little more creative with some of his set-up choices and driving techniques. "Its certainly been a steep learning curve out here. We've been forced to try a whole range of new things with our race car, and it's certainly given me a better understanding of things. There's been nights where I've made some good choices and of course other nights where I have totally missed it. I've also learnt a lot with regards to driving techniques on these types of surfaces too."

"We've certainly had some good runs at times however I would have liked to have been a little more consistant in our results, but I guess given the circumstances the fact we are racing on tracks I've never seen before with no local help we have to accept we are going to be a little 'hit and miss' at times. There have been a few races where we got tangled up in other peoples mess, such as at Waynesfield where we got in a multi-car wreck at the start, and also at Lima and Lernerville where people have just flat drove into the side of me. I cooked my brakes at Hilltop and could no longer keep the car pinned to the bottom of the track, ultimately spinning out of 7th place there."

This week the team picked up a few PA Speedweek races at Bedford Speedway, Grandview Speedway and Hagerstown, where Matt managed to qualify for 2 of the 3 'A' features against the tough PA Posse. The team was also running 3rd in the feature at Lernerville Speedway before a ridiculous attempt at a pass from a local star (?) saw the 92v headed pitside with severe damage. Reed also had a solid run at Tri City Speedway in Franklin, Pennsylvania where he drove from his 12th starting spot up through the field to finish in 6th place. This particular race was won by former World of Outlaws Champion Dave Blaney.

Whilst originally planning on staying through to the Knoxville Nationals, the rising costs to repair the damage coupled with some family issues back home will see the Melbourne based driver probably return home earlier than expected. "We only have a small amount of money to do this, and unfortunately although the damage bill from a few of these incidents is relatively minor it has burned a hole in our budget. In addition to this, my brother Cameron has been involved in a serious workplace incident back home where his leg has been severly crushed, requiring emergency surgery and the placement of pins and rods internally to rebuild his leg. With my Dad and I racing over here and Cameron suffering a severly broken leg my Mum isn't exactly coping real well, so its probably best we get back home sooner rather than later. Besides, if I leave soon, I will still have about $2.40 left in my account which should be enough for me to race a couple shows back home this Summer!"

A revised schedule will be posted soon, with Reed expected to curtail his U.S. activities within the next couple weeks.

Reed Racing is proud to be associated with the following people -
Centastate Civil Contracting
Tritech Lubricants
Hugs and Kisses Adult Shop
EA Plant Hire
Reedsigns