LONDON, Ont. – August 17, 2017 – Matt Pritiko is eagerly awaiting the calendar to flip to Saturday, August 19 so he can hit the track again for APC United Late Model Series competition in the AP Exhaust 100 at Sunset Speedway.
The London, Ont. driver will be behind the wheel of his Global Warranty/Burwell Autobody No.21 Toyota Camry for the Series’ seventh race of the campaign.
Pritiko is at the top of his game and is coming off a second-place finish at Sauble Speedway two weeks ago. His second-place finish in the spring season-opener at Sunset also has him motivated for Saturday’s event.
“We feel confident going into this weekend,” Pritiko said. “We qualified well there in the first race of the year and led a bunch of laps. We know what we’re doing there and I’m looking forward to going back. I have a good setup already for that track because of our past performances there.”
Pritiko opened the campaign with a strong effort, but battled a string of tough luck over the next three races. He has earned a pair of podium finishes in the last two races to turn his season around and move into a tie for third in the championship standings. The recent success after battling through the early adversity has built momentum and improved the entire No.21 team.
“It helps a huge amount. Our performances the last couple of races have been solid,” Pritiko said. “It definitely brings up the momentum and morale not only for myself, but also for the guys working on the car.”
Pritiko’s qualifying efforts over the last three races have helped ensure his strong finishes. He pulled off two consecutive pole qualifying efforts before timing second-quick at Sauble two weeks ago. With the help of a detailed notebook, Pritiko believes he’s in prime position to earn a top starting spot again this week.
“We keep a great amount of notes,” Pritiko said. “Dirks is our notebook guy. He fills out pages and pages after each practice session, qualifying session and even after the race. He keeps very detailed notes on the vehicle, so we have a very good amount of data from our first race that we can use for the upcoming race.”
Sunset’s high-banked one-third mile configuration has kept drivers on their toes with an ever-changing surface since it was installed 10 years ago. Drivers can race multiple lanes for different purposes and Pritiko plans to use them all as necessary.
“You can run different lines there whether you’re trying to gain a couple of positions or whether you’re trying to conserve your tires,” Pritiko said. “I like to run a pretty low line generally when I’m trying to set a couple of fast laps or catch a couple of people in front of me and get around them. When we get out front and try to conserve tires, we’re about a half-lane up in the corner. The asphalt there a half-lane up does conserve your tires quite a bit.”
Between setup and strategy, Pritiko is on course to earn his elusive first Feature win of 2017. The team has pushed all of the right buttons to be in contention for a win this weekend and will have a wily veteran at their disposal to help push the No.21 over the top.
“We’re definitely due,” Pritiko said. “We’re always solid here and we always qualify well. We also have Tom Walters helping us this weekend. He’s going to be spotting for us and he definitely knows the track well, so he can help us out when we need it.”
Qualifying time for the APC United Late Model Series is 6:00pm with the green flag for the AP Exhaust 100 scheduled to wave at approximately 8:30pm. For more information on the APC United Late Model Series’ event at Sunset Speedway, visit www.apcracingseries.com.
2017 SEASON STATS
Matt Pritiko – 6 Starts: 0 Wins, 3 Top-5, 5 Top-10s
MATT PRITIKO MEDIA
Website: www.mattpritiko.com
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PRITIKO’S PARTNERS
Matt Pritiko is proud to partner with several dedicated marketing partners for the 2017 race season, including Global Warranty, NAPA Certfied Bodyshops, Burwell Autobody Ltd., Cadillac Industrial Cleaning, Glencoe Auto Recyclers, SellToWin.com, Aquahydrate and Palasad of London.
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