ASSEMBLING THE ROCKET - March 25th, 2006

With a little over a week left in the off-season, Matt and crew are busy putting the final touches on the car.  While awaiting the engine from Mark White, the '05 Rocket received a facelift from last season.  Gone is the black look, returning is the predominately white look from 3 seasons ago.  The car is expected to be finished early next week as the majority of the graphics were applied this past Saturday.  Graphics on the car were done by Matt's Modified car owner, Scott Bidwell.  New sponsors to the team are Fame RV Center and Rottin' Ink tattoo parlor, located in Franklin.  Get a sneak peek at the photos of the '06 car before it hits the track here. 

OPENING NIGHT ENDS IN HEARTBREAK - April 14th, 2006

The team suffered a setback during hotlaps when Matt was rear-ended under caution, ruining the rear bumper.  The team was actually lucky to walk away from that incident with minor damage as the impact was fairly violent.  Matt took the green flag in the 6-hole of the third heat and cautiously worked the racetrack.  Those that witnessed the first two heat races understand that a cautious approach was necessary due to the shear carnage that took place prior to heat #3.  Matt found himself running one spot out of the pill draw with three laps to go, behind the #22 of Greg Satterlee.  One lap later, Matt stuck the car to the bottom of turns three and four and powered off ahead of Satterlee to take command of the final pill draw spot.  Matt drew another sixth starting spot in the 24-car field. 

It appeared early on that Matt was going to be fighting a tight racecar for the 25 lap A Main.  The car pushed twice on him in the first three laps.  Running the high side would be virtually impossible with the car being tight.  The car turned out to be perfect as Matt discovered the high side on lap four.  After a restart, while in fourth, Matt blasted the high side and was able to drive by Dave Hess, Jr.  One lap later, he passed Ken Schaltenbrand to take over the runner-up spot.  His sights were now set on Jared Miley, driving the H1 car, who had began to gap the rest of the field.  Matt reeled Miley in almost immediately, sending the message that the fastest car was not necessarily the car running in first, but the AlturnaMats sponsored Rocket #21 in second place.  Matt continued his super-smooth line on the high side, waiting for Miley to make the slightest mistake.  Miley drove a very nice race, using the same line, forcing Matt to think about changing his strategy.  He knew that his car was not going to work well off the bottom, so he waited.  Unfortunately, the motor was not so patient as the oil temperature climbed to a dangerously high level.  On lap fourteen, while he and Miley had the rest of the field covered by over a straight away, Matt decided to pull the car into the pits.  Matt noted later that "1000 is not worth 20,000" comparing the winning purse to a motor bill.  Well said.  Miley cruised the last 10 laps to victory.  Congratulations to Jared Miley and his team on their first Late Model victory. 

The team hopes to right the oil temperature problem in time for their next trip out, which could possibly be next Friday back at Lernerville.  The team does plan to race at Hagerstown for the Lucas Oil Series race on Saturday, April 29th.   

 

SECOND TRIP TO LERNERVILLE RESULTS IN A TOP FIVE FINISH - April 28, 2006

A good pill placed Matt on the pole for the first late model heat race alongside Mike Blose.  Blose jumped out to an early lead and held that spot with Matt in tow for the first half of the race.  On lap 5, coming out of turn two, Matt rocketed off the bottom and took the lead from the veteran racer from Dayton, PA.  Matt was able to lead the final three circuits to capture the heat race victory.

Matt took the green flag for the A Main from outside the second row and immediately ran into trouble.  The polesitter, Neil Brown, slid up the racetrack in turn two, forcing Matt over the backstretch, losing several positions.  As luck would have it, a caution forced a complete restart, allowing Matt to regain his fourth starting spot.  It was “déjà vu all over again” as the same car slid up in front of Matt at the same spot on the racetrack forcing the same result.  Matt fell back as far as 14th spot four laps into the race.  Once Matt found the bottom of the track, he began to efficiently dispose of the cars ahead of him.  Matt was in seventh position on lap 17 when a caution halted the race.  When the next caution flew a few laps later, Matt found himself in fifth.  While Matt was making his charge to the front, Alex Ferree, Lynn Geisler, and Josh Richards were staging quite a battle for the fans.  At one point, Geisler and Richards came together on the front stretch.  The melee that ensued caused the innocent bystander, Ferree, to spin in turn one, bringing out another caution.  At this point, Matt had overtaken Gary Lyle and restarted in third with two laps to go.  Because of a caution on the white flag lap, the race was extended by an additional two laps.  On the restart, Matt slid under Geisler coming out of turn two and took the white flag in second.  Geisler was able to use his momentum from the high side to vault past Matt at the end of the front stretch and hold that spot until the end.  Matt crossed the line in third place.  The official race results do not tell the whole story.  Officially, Matt started fourth and finished third...ho-hum.  However, those in attendance witnessed a nice run on a track that was not ideal for passing.  Congrats to the entire team on another fine effort. 

 
 

TEAM TRAVELS TO K-C AND SCORES ANOTHER TOP 10 - May 20, 2006

With racers such as Steve Shaver, Mike Balzano, Greg Oliver, Rod Conley, and Jason Montgomery occupying the top 5 to start the feature, it was obvious that cracking the top 5 would be no easy task.  The top 5 was awarded their spots by virtue of their qualifying times and dash performances.  Matt started third in his heat and ran second to Doug Drown as the two pulled away from the rest of the field.  Matt took the green for the A Main in the 10th position and engaged in a side by side battle with Rick Aukland for the first three laps of the feature.  Matt was able to move up a spot into 9th around lap 10 and was working on sixth-starting Jared Hawkins for 8th.  Caution flags and lapped cars proved to be Matt's Achilles' heel as several passes were negated due to caution flags.  Matt got into 8th place and was about to make a move under the 7th and 6th place cars, but a lapped car prohibited him from making the pass.  Lap 23 saw Matt fall back to 10th place when he finally cleared the lapped car.  Matt slid past the 9th place car to regain his spot and finish the race in the top 10.  The car worked great, but luck was not on the team's side.  A 9th place finish with such a strong field of cars made the trip worthwhile.  The team looks forward to traveling back to K-C in the near future.  The next race for the Late Model will be Friday, May 26th at Lernerville Speedway.     

 

 


LUX TEAM SCORES ANOTHER TOP 10 AT LERNERVILLE

Frequent visits to the mattlux21.com website for two-plus months have yielded no pertinent information.  Such insufficient results may have caused one to think that Matt and crew were no longer members of the Late Model "circuit" in the greater Tri-State area.  Quite the contrary.  The team has been battling the best around en route to capturing top ten finishes in over 75% of their starts.  Ironically, discouragement has set in amongst the team members, frustrated with missed setups, mechanical woes, and overall bad luck. 

This weekend presented a dilemma for Matt and crew; head to Lernerville, where they have not been much good of late, for a regular purse or seek to break out of the rut and chase the cash at a familiar venue, Raceway 7.  Careful analysis lead to the decision to return to the Sarver oval, where Matt was sitting in the top quartet of points.  By remaining in the points battle at Lernerville, the team might be able to get their hands on a provisional starting spot in the World of Outlaws "Summer Sizzler" on August 4th should they need it.

The night was exciting.  Matt started on pole of his heat and won going away.  The car appeared to be working properly, good news for a team that has been tirelessly working to return the car to its early-season form.  Matt started the feature in the 4th spot.  Early on, the race was polluted with cautions, disallowing any of the drivers to find their rhythm .  Matt worked his way around Dutch Davies and Jared Miley, setting his sights on race leader and Lernerville Legend, Lynn Geisler.  Geisler, piloting the famous #1 Cochran Rocket took the lead on lap two and seemed to be on his way to yet another feature victory.  Matt, while running 2nd, fought of advancement attempts by Dutch Davies.  A restart on lap 10 allowed Matt to take advantage of a Geisler slip-up in turn two and take the lead.  Matt lead to the flag, however, another caution halted the field.  The restart on lap 11 proved to be the turning point in the race for Matt.  Geisler, the wily veteran slid up in front of Matt on the restart and took his line.  Coming out of turn two, Matt hopped the cushion and found himself on the wrong side of the backstretch apex.  Unfortunately, Matt fell all the way back to the 10th position on lap 13.  He was able to battle his way back to mount a strong charge on the top 5, but his efforts came up just short, finishing in the sixth position.

Sixth place was a hard pill to swallow at first, but the team is encouraged by the car's performance.  The team will be back in action the next night at Sharon Speedway, competing against the World of Outlaws.  Matt will also be racing the Modified on Saturday.

 

MATT CAPS WEEKEND WITH A 13TH PLACE FINISH AT "SUMMERFEST"

Friday night at Lernerville Speedway Matt scored his 11th top ten finish of the season.  At the drop of the green, Matt stood in the 3rd spot in the weekly points battle, trailing only Lynn Geisler and Ken Schaltenbrand.  Matt won his heat race and pulled an 11 pill for the feature.  Early in the feature it appeared as if a top 10 finish would be a struggle.  However, around the midway point of the 25 lap feature, Matt bounced to the high side and instantly got fast.  He soon found himself in the sixth spot with 5 laps remaining.  It took him three laps to reel in the pack ahead of him and latched onto the bumper of the fifth place car of Gary Lyle.  Unfortunately, Matt's charge to the top five came up a lap short, ending in sixth. 

The team returned to a familiar venue Sunday evening when they visited Challenger Raceway.  Challenger, an extremely popular racetrack located near Indiana, Pennsylvania, has limited their schedule to just four races this season.  The team chose not to run the season-opening "Spring Fest" which drew an impressive field of cars.  Last season, Matt raced his way to a top five finish in Summerfest, making that two top fives in as many attempts for the July event.  An ominous start to the evening (7th in the heat) left Matt's fans wondering if he would be even be able to qualify out of the B Main.  Matt qualified by finishing fourth in the B, moving up two spots from his sixth starting spot.  In the A Main, Matt raced the wheels off the Rocket to finish in the 13th position.  The boxscore does not do his run any justice.  Matt, in uncharacteristic fashion, chose the extreme high side of the track to advance forward.  How high was he on the track?  When Tim McCreadie made his pass on Matt, he actually had to move down a groove to complete the pass.  How's that for the high side?  It was another encouraging evening in the car as the team seems to be getting ever-so-close to that elusive win. 

 


MOTOR TROUBLES SIDELINE LUX TEAM AT LERNERVILLE - July 28, 2006

The motor problems have been fixed and the team is ready to take on the traveling World of Outlaw Late Models this Friday evening at Lernerville Speedway.  Due to Matt's absence last week at the Sarver, PA oval, he fell one spot in the points standings to fifth.  This drop in points could prove costly as provisional spots could be on the line if the team fails to qualify for the feature through the heats or B-Mains.  Assuming there is no extensive damage to the car, the team will be heading to Muskingum County for a MACS  event the following night.  Matt has visited Ronnie Moran's venue located in Zanesville, Ohio just one time.  Matt failed to qualify for the NARA feature due to a flat tire sustained while running in a qualifying spot. 

 


LUX TEAM CAPTURES CAREER-BEST WORLD OF OUTLAW FINISH AT LERNERVILLE - August 4th, 2006

Last week's motor woes and resulting absence from Lernerville's regular show left the crew and driver very discouraged; not necessarily the mindset needed to compete against some of the very best Late Model drivers this country has to offer.  Regardless, the team got the motor back in and was ready to go when the traveling World of Outlaw Late Model Series made its way to Sarver, Pennsylvania for the Summer Sizzler 50.  The last time the team competed against the WoO at Sharon Speedway less than a month ago, a poor qualifying run left the team with a long, uphill battle - one that proved to be insurmountable.  In order for the team to have a chance to make the A Main, a good qualifying run was essential.  A good qualifying run was what they needed and a good qualifying run is what they got.  Matt turned an impressive 16.416 first lap time, which was bested by only 13 of the 49 other drivers.   Since the Outlaws employ a "straight up start" format, Matt would start outside second row in the second heat. 

Josh "Kid Rocket" Richards paced the second heat to the green flag flanked by Lewistown's Jeremy Miller.  Mike Blose and Matt made up the second row, while Outlaw points leader and Late Model legend, Billy Moyer and David Scott filled row 3.  At the drop of the green, Matt wasted little time showing the large crowd that he was not going to allow the invaders to show him the way around his home track.  Matt tore up the high side of turns 3 and 4 and crossed the line in second place after lap 1.  Miller slid back by Matt coming out of turn 2 on the low side, allowing Matt to then drop to the bottom and begin defense of his transfer spot.  Moyer had made his way into fourth spot, but was not a threat to Matt as the top three began to pull away from the rest of the field.  Several cautions, highlighted by Eric Jacobsen's barrel roll in turns 3 and 4, kept the field grouped together.  "Delaware" restarts continually placed Matt on the outside, but he fended off the challenges each time and drove the AlturnaMats, Maloney Tool and Mold, Fame RV Center, Yellow Trucking #21 Rocket Chassis right into the A Main with a third place finish behind Richards and Miller.  David Scott was able to outrun a fading Moyer to capture the final transfer spot.  Other heat winners were Dave Hess, Jr., Darrell Lannigan, and Steve Francis.

Lannigan and Hess led the field of 26 to the green flag following the traditional four abreast sendoff.  Matt dropped several positions from his 10th starting spot early in the race as the cars scrambled to find their grooves.  Up front, Hess, Francis, Lannigan, and Bart Hartman were doing serious battle.  Lannigan was the early race leader.  However, contact between Lannigan and Francis left the "Blue Grass Bandit" with a flat tire, forcing him to the pits.  Hess inherited the lead and ended up leading laps 3 through 16, with Francis, Hartman, and 7th place-starting Chub Frank swapping positions more than Matt switches color schemes on his Late Model.  While this was going on up front, the aforementioned Franklin, PA driver was hovering in the 10th to 13th range.  Josh Richards took a wild flip on lap 24, similar to Jacobsen's heat race high-wire act.  The Outlaw officials declared an "open red" during this stop in action, allowing the crews on the track to strategize with their drivers and make minor adjustments to the cars.  A left rear air pressure adjustment is all that Matt's crew decided to change, while encouraging Matt to keep working the bottom of the track.  There was some fear amongst the drivers that this long stoppage in action might cause the tires to seal over, preventing the reheating of the tires.  This was not the case for the #21 as Matt began to immediately advance forward from his 11th position.  The last half of the race saw Matt "bottom-feeding" his way around the likes of Hartman, Shane Clanton, Hess, and Clint Smith.  Matt and Smith appeared to be attached as they worked each other for the last quarter of the race.  Up front, Hess and Hartman faded, while Timmy McCreadie and Rick Eckert moved up to the front.  McCreadie inherited the lead on lap 32 after Chubzilla, who appeared to be checking out on the field, suffered a flat right front tire, forcing him to the pits.  T-Mac and Scrub gave the fans a real treat for the last 5 laps.  Matt seemed to be in control of sixth position, with Clint Smith in tow, but was looking to crack the top five.  In his way was another Lernerville regular, Alex Ferree.  Matt and Alex did battle for several laps, however Matt was unable to make the pass.  On lap 49, McCreadie and Eckert raced neck and neck down the backstretch, with T-Mac high and Eckert low.  McCreadie would have the momentum coming off the high side of turn 4 and Eckert obviously was aware of this as he overdrove the #24 RayeVest Rocket deep into turn three, losing control and spinning out.  The spin moved Matt up one position, allowing him to capture the 5th spot, a career-best.  Congrats to the team on their well-deserved and hard-earned success.      

 

MATT'S CHARGE TO THE FRONT ENDS IN PHOTO FINISH - August 11,2006

Courtesy of a fifth place finish in the heat race, Matt started the feature in the 15th spot.  In the early stages of the race, while waiting for the tires to develop some heat, Matt did not move forward, aside from a couple of spots.  Eventually, Matt began his assault on the field and began to climb the ladder.  Working both the high side and the low side, whatever was open, Matt found himself in 4th for a lap 20 restart.  Nailing his marks, he slid into third and then second.  With two laps to go, Matt set his sights on the fourth race leader of the evening, Mike Blose.  The two ran side by side on the last lap, with Matt diving low in turn three and Blose opting for the high side.  Coming out of turn four, Matt had the lead.  However, Blose was able to use his momentum from running the top side of the track to edge Matt at the line by the narrowest of margins.  The official winning margin was 0.058 seconds.  The team is certainly close to capturing that elusive first Lernerville checked flag.  Could it happen this week?  Stay tuned...

 

MATT OVERCOMES LATE RACE DRAMA TO EARN LERNERVILLE VICTORY

Matt's first Late Model victory at Lernerville Speedway has been a long time coming.  After missing a regular show at the Sarver venue on July 28th, Matt has been arguably the fastest Late Model in the pits the past three weeks.  August 4th's World of Outlaw show earned Matt some well-needed exposure on a larger stage.  Last week's heartbreaking 2nd place to Mike Blose gave Matt added confidence in the car and himself after he charged from 15th place to become a player at the end.  Although it may not have been spoken aloud, there were many people, the team included, that felt as if this would be Matt's week to steal the headlines.  Rarely in the racing business do the events unfold as predicted, but destiny certainly was in Matt's corner this week.

Donning the old black body from last season, Matt started the second heat race from the pole position and won going away.  In what would turn out to be a prelude to the A Main, Matt bested Lernerville legend, Lynn Geisler by a convincing 2.7 seconds.  Matt started the feature outside second row, but was unnervingly mediocre early in the race.  Matt shuffled between the fourth and fifth positions for almost the first half of the race as he struggled to get his brakes dialed in well enough to navigate the extreme bottom of the oval.  On lap 12 Matt was able to slide under Ken Schaltenbrand to overtake the third position.  Out front, Sam Stile and Geisler were checking out on the rest of the field.  With 10 laps to go in the race, it appeared that Matt really had the car going as he closed on the two leaders with relative ease.  Matt and Stile swapped positions three times in five laps while Geisler was cruising around the high side all by his lonesome.  By lap 17, Matt had gained total command of 2nd place and reeled in Geisler immediately.  Coming out of turn two on lap 19, Matt drove the #21 AlturnaMats Rocket off the bottom and pulled beside Geisler.  As Geisler rode the cushion through three and four, Matt's left front wheel was mowing the infield lawn.  Matt had first place at the line on lap 20 and completely checked out on the pack in the two laps that followed.  Unfortunately, a caution on lap 22 negated Matt's straightaway lead and bunched the field for the late race drama that has become customary at Lernerville this season.  The cars that Matt had lapped opted to go to the rear, placing Geisler outside of Matt for the restart.  Matt had no problem leading lap 23, but another caution doubled the field up again.  This restart would not be the last as the yellow flag appeared on lap 24, forcing a two-lap shootout.  Geisler made a valiant attempt, blasting the high side and remaining super smooth as Matt methodically worked the low side.  It appeared that the fans were watching a rerun from the week prior as Matt and Geisler entered turn three side-by-side.  Knowing that if he missed his line on the bottom, he would not get enough bite to beat Geisler to the line, Matt nailed his marks and drove away from the field and into victory lane.  It was an emotional and crowd-pleasing victory as the team finally got the monkey off their back.  Congratulations to Matt and the entire team on a job well-done.  There is no team more deserving of this win than the Matt Lux Team. 

 

LUX TEAM DEBUTS NEW COLORS FOR HOMECOMING VISIT

Tri-City Speedway abandoned the inclusion of Super Late Models from their weekly racing program after just one season(1997).  Since 1997, Tri-City has only raced Late Models five times prior to this weekend's World of Outlaw invasion.  As a result, Matt has rarely had the opportunity to showcase his Late Model prowess in front of his hometown crowd.  Debuting a new graphic scheme complements of Scott Bidwell at B1D graphics, Matt was representing AlturnaMats and Gierlach Crushing, the major sponsors of this Labor Day event. 

Saturday's event was postponed due to two rain-filled days.  Sunday did not look much better as rain lingered around the area.  The team was not excited about the soggy conditions because they knew that they would be vastly underpowered in relation to the traveling superstars of the World of Outlaws.  That is exactly what happened.  A poor qualifying run placed Matt towards the back of his heat race, with only three making the transfer.  Matt was unable to advance his position and was now slated to start near the rear of his B Main.  Not being able to produce enough power to move forward, Matt was forced to use a track provisional to ensure him a spot in the 50 lap feature on the super-fast half mile oval.  Opting to run only a small fraction of the laps in order to save the equipment for the following day, Matt dropped out after only sixteen laps.

Monday's conditions were much more suited for Matt's success.  The track looked as it did on most Sunday evenings - dry and slick.  Matt qualified much better, 15th out of 37 cars, and earned a starting spot outside of the second row.  The heat races would qualify four cars for the feature.  Matt raced the likes of Tim McCreadie, Darrell Lanigan, Eddie Carrier, and Clint Smith to a fourth qualifying position and a 15th starting spot in the A Main.  In the feature, Matt raced for 26 laps before breaking some front end steering components, ending his evening prematurely.  The team was encouraged by Monday's events, even though the box score displays a 23rd place finish. 

 

FIRST-EVER VISIT TO FREMONT YIELDS TOP FIVE IN ALMS ACTION - 9/16/06

Fremont Speedway is a one-third mile bullring that offers very competitive racing.  The Sunoco ALMS, based primarily in the states of Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan, boasts some very popular regular competitors.  Previous event winners this season included the likes of  Matt Miller, Aaron Scott, Jeep VanWormer, Brian Ruhlman, and Brad Neat.  Matt would not only have his hands full trying to figure out a new track, but he would be doing so against some of the toughest competition in the Ohio, Indiana area. 

Matt started third in his heat and engaged in a nice battle with "Insane Duane" Chamberlain for the duration of his heat race.  Matt was unable to get past Chamberlain and settled for third place as Ruhlman had the field covered. 

Matt took the green from the ninth starting spot in the A Main, attempting to work his way to the front and collect the $2000 winner's prize.  While most of the drivers battled the middle and high grooves of the track, Matt's car was good enough to enter on the bottom and exit the bottom.  By lap 20, the race's final caution, Matt cracked the top five.  Matt was able to climb to the third position over the final 10 laps by passing Chamberlain and Jerry Bowersox.  The team was satisfied with the run.   Matt felt that another caution with a couple of laps remaining might have given him the chance to steal the victory. 

 

MATT DRIVES TO FIFTH PLACE FINISH IN ULMS COMPETITION AT MCR

Last week at McKean County, the pill draw had Matt starting his heat race in the fifth position.  This week was a much different story.  Matt drew the #1 pill, placing him on the pole of the first heat race.  The heat race was no gimme, however, as McKean legend, Bob Close started outside pole and row two was made up of Robbie Blair and David Scott.  Matt certainly would have his hands full.  The car worked extremely well from the start as Matt led the first several laps while under heavy pressure from Close.  Close took advantage when Matt slid off the bottom of turn two, stealing the top spot.  Matt now had to fend off Robbie Blair.  Blair's advances on the runner-up spot were repeatedly denied by the Franklin, PA driver, relegating him to a third place heat finish.

Due to his finish in the heat race, Matt qualified to race one of the two dashes to determine the first five rows of the feature.  Matt started scratch in his dash.  He was able to move up two spots at the finish to take third place behind World of Outlaw drivers Chub Frank and Rick Eckert.  Matt would start the 50 lap A Main in fifth position.

Matt again was given an excellent car as he battled Eckert for the fourth spot early in the event.  Matt did overtake Eckert by the time the first caution stopped the race.  The odd starting spots were the coveted ones as the bottom of the track was clearly the place to be.  As expected, Matt dropped two spots while trying to find room on the bottom of the track.  Patiently, Matt worked back into fifth spot and attempted to conserve tires.  Abrasive track conditions during the feature made short work of even the hardest compound of tire.  Matt crossed the line in fifth position, but commented that his right rear tire might not have made two more laps.  As it was, the team can be proud that they ran well against elite competition on a track that has given them fits in the past.  Congratulations to the team and best of luck at Fall Fest!

 


MATT RACES TO THIRD PLACE FINISH IN NIGHT #1 OF FALL FEST XII

On a track that some deemed "locked down", Matt charged from his tenth starting spot to capture a third place finish on night #1 of Challenger Raceway's famous "Fall Fest XII".  The winner of the forty lap A Main was Dick Barton, but this was no gimme.  Barton and Bart Hartman put on a tremendous show for the crowd as they swapped the lead multiple times.  While the two leaders battled each other, Matt worked his way through the field into third place.  As the race progressed, Matt reeled in Barton and Hartman and appeared to be the fastest car on the track at the end of the race.  Unfortunately, Matt ran out of time.  Matt was able to race under Hartman at the checkers only to be beaten by half a car length. 

The team was thrilled with their effort on night #1.  Considering Matt and crew had yet to qualify for any portion of Fall Fest in four attempts, this finish was extremely gratifying.  The car was clearly working well and the track was suited for Matt's driving style.  The team hoped to carry this momentum into the MACS portion of the show the following two evenings.

 
 

“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out."  - Robert Collier

There marks a time in most successful careers that can be identified as the turning point; the event that propelled one to irreversible recognition and continued triumphs - a time of arrival, if you will. 

Leaning against his car, just moments after completing the most successful and lucrative weekend of his 10 year racing career, Matt stared off into the chaos that surrounded him.  Crowds of well-wishers were gathering, cars were racing by the pit, crews were scrambling, dust was flying, and the noise…oh, the noise.  As Matt stood staring, he undoubtedly saw nothing and heard nothing.  He had been transported into his own little world - a state of nirvana.  Moments such as this are so precious and rare and impossible to relive. 

Eventually Matt was able to reconnect and attempt to reflect on the events that had recently transpired.  What had just transpired was Matt finishing second in the biggest race in which he had ever competed.  A race that, when asked six years ago what race he would most like to win, Matt named Fall Fest.

Matt had earned his first-ever spot in Fall Fest XII by qualifying 14th fast, finishing second in his heat, and finishing second in the dash.  Starting outside of the front row of this race was, without a doubt, an achievement in itself. 

“When I was standing on the front stretch before the race, I just thought, ‘Wow!”  Matt said.  “This is the biggest race that I have ever been in and to be starting on the front row looking around at Dick Barton, Bart Hartman, Jeremy Miller, and Davey Johnson was a little scary.” 

As Matt and Barton stood by their cars, about to do battle, the wily veteran offered Matt one last piece of advice:  "Enjoy the hell out of this, kid." 

The 75 lap Fall Fest MACS Series race got underway and Barton immediately grabbed the lead.  Third-place starting Jeremy Miller was able to slide past Matt early in the race as Matt settled into third place.  Exploring a line on the track that perhaps only Timmy McCreadie has ever visited, Bart Hartman charged toward the front of the pack from his sixth starting spot.  Hartman would blast past Matt on the straightaway only to come back to him in the turns.  The two would race side by side for most of the first third of the race.  To say “side by side” may be a stretch as their extreme opposite lines placed them in separate area codes. 

“Entering the turn I would hear a motor screaming and see a flash of yellow” explained Matt about racing with Hartman.  “Then exiting the turn all I could see was a Hoosier tire about eye level, then it would go away.  This kept going on and on for so many laps.”

As Hartman continued to entertain the freezing crowd, Matt left him and set his sights on Barton and race leader, Miller. 

“On the long greens, I began to feel real comfortable. We started to get into lapped traffic and I thought, ‘he’s right there,’” Matt said, referring to Barton. 

As Matt chipped away at the advantage that the top two had gained, the most recent Fall Fest Champion, Robbie Blair had moved to the fourth spot all the way from his 25th starting spot. 

 Unfortunately for Barton, he broke a crankshaft on lap 58, bringing out the caution and ending his evening.  As a result of Barton’s departure, Matt inherited the runner-up position behind Miller, the hottest driver on the East Coast, and Blair.  Matt noticed the familiar #11 on the scoreboard in third while pacing around on the caution laps.

“All I thought was, ‘go into turn one and stay low’.  I didn’t want to do anything stupid, like hook the inside of the turn or miss my mark and slide up the track,” said Matt. 

“I knew that this was my type of track and I just wanted to make sure I was there at the end.”

As the race resumed, Matt did everything that he thought he should.  He hit his marks consistently, allowing him to run comfortably in second.  As the laps ticked away, Matt hoped that some unforeseen event did not occur. 

“I was just waiting for something to break,” said Matt.  

Miller held his ten car advantage over Matt, the same gap that Matt held over Blair.  At the end, Matt crossed the line in second, collecting $10,000.  This amount was by far the biggest payday of his career.  Blair came home in third, followed by Davey Johnson. 

Sure, ten grand to some of the participants in Fall Fest XII would not have near the impact that it will on the Matt Lux Team.  However, this is not all about the money.  There is not a driver or crew that works any harder to achieve success than Matt and his crew.  Congratulations to Matt, Michael, and Dave on a tremendous weekend at Fall Fest XII.  

As Matt leaned against his car this night, staring to who knows where, ten grand was not at the forefront of his mind.  Instead, he thought about how he is living his dream racing with the best and becoming part of that elite group.  This weekend was many things for Matt Lux Racing, but this weekend might very well turn out to be remembered as the weekend that Matt Lux arrived.  Welcome to the party, Matt...enjoy the hell out of this, kid!