PETERBOROUGH, ON- 2014 Rookie of the Year contender Matt Spence may have been the surprise of the Peterborough Speedway season opener, taking home a 4th place finish in his first career Limited Late Model appearance.
“We surprised even ourselves”, admitted an overjoyed Spence post-race. “Tonight was all about hard work. You get what you put in, and my guys have had a lot of hours in the shop to get us to the top-5 in our debut”
‘The Sidewinder’ appeared quick in the evening’s qualifying sessions, and improved after making adjustments prior to the 20-lap feature event.
“Our car was decent in the heat races, but really came alive in the feature”, explained the former Kawartha Speedway Thunder Car champion. “I really can’t say enough about my guys. They gave me a little more stagger and adjusted our bumpstop package prior to the feature, which really woke it up. It responded a lot better and allowed us to gain some serious ground after starting at the tail end of the field”
As is custom for Peterborough rookies, Spence started scratch in the feature, and wasted little time making his way to the front, infiltrating the top-5 by lap-6 after dodging the race’s first caution.
“As soon as we took the green I could feel our adjustments paying dividends”, said Spence. “We had a bad fast car tonight. We survived the two early restarts and worked our way to the top-5. Earning 5 spots in less than 10 laps did a lot for our confidence”
“For a while, it felt as though we had a good enough car to make a play for the top-3”, continued Spence. “But Amanda [Connolly] was quick tonight, and I really didn’t want to force the issue with her. No sense in tearing up two good race cars on opening night”
After a strong debut, there’s no questioning Spence’s confidence as he looks toward Week 2 at Peterborough.
“The car got better as the feature went on, which is always good news”, smiled the Rookie contender. “We’re good in turns 3 & 4 but just need to be a little better in 1 & 2. I felt as though we gave up some track position at that end, so we’ll go home and work on that to be ready for next week”
“I knew this team had potential all through the off-season, but being able to run with the leaders in our first division start is such an amazing feeling. This makes it a lot easier to spend those late nights in the shop getting ready for our next race”
‘The Sidewinder’ Matt Spence is proudly partnered with from Sellmunity.com, BLS Textiles, Pineridge NAPA Auto Supply, Durham Furnace, Heating & Cooling and Graphic Lettering Services through the 2014 season.
Matt will return to competition this Saturday, May 24th at Peterborough Speedway. Gate times and ticket prices are available at www.PeterboroughSpeedway.com
Visit the new Matt Spence Racing page on Facebook.
By Spencer Lewis (@itsspencerlewis)
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