@MattPritiko @UnitedLMSeries LONDON, ON- Almost two months after a disastrous accident at Flamboro Speedway threatened to end his 2015 season entirely, Matt Pritiko is ready to jump back into the Pro Late Model fold in Round 7 of the APC United Late Model Series tour at Sunset Speedway on August 23rd.
Weeks of work – and a recent series of all-nighters – have allowed Pritiko to essentially rebuild his family-owned program from the ground up, after destroying his lone chassis in APC Series action on July 1st.
“Nobody is more surprised than me that we’re ready for this race,” laughs Pritiko. “As soon as we wrecked at Flamboro – and everything had stopped moving – I said to myself ‘well, that’s the end of our season’. The fact that Mike McColl was able to take the twisted mess that I left him with and turn it into a car is proof of how talented his guys are”
“Without the team at MRE, my sponsors and my crew, there’s no chance we’d be back,” continues Pritiko. “I’d still be on the sidelines watching”
The London, ON driver admits his team was already planning their efforts for 2016 after the crash – before a number of marketing partners banded together to get his No. 21 back on track.
“We didn’t even have the car out of the trailer before our sponsors started asking what could be done to get us back on track,” explains the former Delaware Speedway champion. “We were talking about what we could get going for 2016 when the phone rang. The amount of support we’ve received from our partners this season has been incredible. We’re lucky to be surrounded with such amazing people”
Pritiko is hopeful he’ll be able to find his rhythm aboard his revamped McColl Racing Enterprises chassis this Sunday at Sunset.
“Mike [McColl] is an absolute artist,” says Pritiko. “Our chassis was absolutely destroyed when we dropped it off and he made us something immaculate”
“This car is completely different from anything I’ve ever raced before. We shook it down at Delaware last Friday, and I’m confident that we’ll be comfortable in it after a few laps at Sunset”
The goal for Pritiko’s Global Warranty-backed team is to salvage some solid performances to close out the season – starting with 100-laps of competition this weekend.
“At this point, we’re out of the run for the tour championship and can just take things one lap at a time,” says Pritiko. “We’ll approach it like we do any 100-lap race and just hope to save our stuff early, and have enough left to play a factor at the end”
“Sunset has been good to us in the past, and I hope we can use it to salvage a small piece of our season before we’re finished for 2015.”
Details for Sunday’s APC Series sanctioned event can be found at www.SunsetSpeedway.ca or www.APCRacingSeries.com.
Matt Pritiko’s return to competition would not be possible without the continued 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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