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Matt Streeter wins at Hanford to cap off weekend
By Gary Thomas
May 14, 2007... The double header weekend for Tracy’s Matt Streeter turned out to be very solid as he drove two different cars at two different tracks and the former BCRA Midget champion put the Matt Streeter Racing Inc. No. 14 into victory lane for the first time this year on Saturday night.
The weekend began on Friday in Chico where Matt sat aboard the Orth Family Racing No. 24 machine for Silver Dollar Speedway wingless spec sprint Point Race #7. Matt found himself on the outside of the front row in heat race number two and he settled into second on the start aboard the A.R.T. Enterprise, M & S Racing Engines, Mike German & Sons No. 24. Matt sat there for the rest of the heat until the final lap when he slowed going down the backstretch and fell to fifth by the finish.
The 20 lap wingless spec sprint main event saw Matt start way back in the 14th position. He was stuck back in a thick pack of cars and after an eventful main event Matt ended up with a very respectable sixth place finish in Vaughn & Family, T & T Trucking Inc, Orth Family Racing No. 24. It continued the consistency for Matt and the team as it marked the fifth top 10 finish in seven starts for Orth Family Racing.
On Saturday Matt made the five hour drive down to Hanford’s Kings Speedway to compete with the USAC Western States Midgets. Matt was forced to qualify last and with the track getting drier as the session went on, it put him at fairly large disadvantage. Matt ended up qualifying 16th quickest aboard the Matt Streeter Racing Inc, Delta Demolition, F & V Podesta Farms, Spike Chassis No. 14. He then lined up on the front row of the second heat race and he marched away from the field to pick up the win.
The 20 lap USAC Western States Midgets feature saw Matt start from the 10th position in the T & T Trucking Inc, 4 M’s Construction, Troy’s Body & Paint No. 14. The track had dried up considerably but Matt didn’t have any problems with it and moved forward quickly. He was on the move and made it up to sixth within a few laps.
As the race wound down Matt was sitting in third and he got the break he needed with just three laps to go when the top two cars tangled to bring out a red flag and it now put the No. 14 Van Dyne Engineering powered Spike into the lead. During the red flag situation, second running Johnny Rodriguez made a tire change, but as Matt’s crew chief went to put some left rear weight in Matt’s midget, he was told by a USAC official that it was a closed red.
When racing went back to green J-Rod was still in second and on the start he went by Matt with the fresh rubber and went on to win. Matt ended up second, but there were some issues because if you change a tire on a red flag you have to go to the back of the pack. After approaching officials there was some discussion and after a while Rodriguez was dq’d for the tire change and it gave Matt the win. A win’s and win and although not pretty, rules are rules and they have to be fair for everyone.
We would like to thank Delta Demolition, T & T Trucking Inc, Troy’s Body & Paint, F & V Podesta Farms, Eloy Construction and our two new sponsors who came on board recently, 4 M’s Construction and the Hitch House of Stockton.
Next up for Matt Streeter will be this Friday night at the Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico for Point Race #8. Matt and the Orth Family Racing No. 24 team sit fourth in points going into the night and will look to put the 24 machine into victory lane for the second time this season.
www.sprintcarchallengetour.com
www.placervillespeedway.com
www.stocktondirttrack.com
www.thunderbowlraceway.com
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