LONDON, ON- With the first two events completed for the upstart APC United Late Model Series, Matt Pritiko finds himself tied for 6th in points with a pair of top-10 finishes to his name. It hasn’t been easy, but the reigning Delaware Speedway champion continues to overcome any early-season hindrance placed in his path.
“Any time you can stand toe-to-toe with this level of talent – it’s hard to be mad at a pair of top-10s,” observes Pritiko, days removed from a 7th place finish in Round 2 of the tour at Flamboro Speedway. “But, we haven’t even begun to show everyone how capable this team is”
“After working through a bad set of tires at Sunset, we were really hoping for a big performance at Flamboro,” continues the young veteran. “We had an awesome car last Saturday – these guys worked like animals all day to give us a car that was more than capable of going to victory lane”
“Unfortunately – we hit a few obstacles that kept that from happening”
Pritiko’s referencing his mid-race contact with another competitor whilst battling for the race lead shortly before the halfway mark. The incident damaged the front end of Pritiko’s No. 21 and forced the team to work their way from the tail-end of the star-studded field.
“We were just racing hard for the lead,” explains Pritiko. “I wasn’t going to lift – he wasn’t going to lift and we just got together. There was definitely not malice on either side. It’s not going to be the last time you see that happen. When you have the best in the province in the same place at the same time, I think contact like that is just a product of the environment”
“Once we knocked the front end around – it was difficult to get our car to rotate the center. Salvaging a 7th place finish was, in a lot of ways, a best case scenario”
The tour will now take two weeks off, before returning to action with Round 3 at Delaware Speedway on June 26th. For Pritiko, a trip back to his hometrack could be just what the doctor ordered.
“We just need a little bit of luck,” offers the former road course standout with a grin. “We have some top-shelf equipment, and I have the best team that anyone could ever ask for. We get to go to Delaware next, and I can’t wait to see where we stack up against these teams on our turf”
“If we can use Delaware to get some momentum on our side, I think we can rebound in a big way through the second half of the season”
“This team is good at any track – I think our numbers speak for themselves,” states Pritiko matter-of-factly. “These guys have done an awesome job keeping us in contention when things haven’t gone our way – but we’re definitely ready to park this car in victory lane at Delaware”
Matt Pritiko’s 2015 season is made possible thanks to the support of Global Warranty, Cadillac Industrial Cleaning, Palasad: London’s Best Entertainment & Eatery, NAPA Certified Body Shop, Burwell Auto Body, SellToWin.com, In2Communications.
Fans can follow along with Matt all season via his Matt Pritiko Motorsports page on Facebook, or on Twitter @MattPritiko and be sure to visit the official www.MattPritiko.com.
By Spencer Lewis (@itsspencerlewis)
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