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Posted
by John Davison
February 26, 2007
Matt Stover Continues Racing Successes
Gastonia Teen to Test With Gordon School
Matt Stover, five-time Bandolero champion
in 2006 – winner of the Bandolero Nationals
and last season's INEX Racing Bandolero
Young Guns national champion, tied for the
point lead in his first season of Legends
Car races during Lowe's Motor Speedway's
Winter Heat season.
Running in the Legends Cars Young Lions
division, Stover had an average finish of
2.75 with two wins and only a spin in his
last race which dropped him to last on the
restart hurt his average finish. Until that
last race, when he finished seventh, the
Gastonia, NC teen's worst finish was
third, coupled with a pair of wins and four
second-place finishes. Only a better total
of wins gave Ryan Blaney, his chief competition
in the winter sessions, the championship
as they tied in point totals, but Blaney's
extra wins gave him the crown, in spite
of an average finish of 3.125. "Finishing
second in the Winter Heat series championship
was great for my first year in the Legends
car," said Stover.
"That last weekend we had a little
mess there, and got caught up in the wreck,
but we were probably due for a bad week.
We had seven very good weeks and we do have
that Jeff Gordon Driving School coming up
on the 27th." I think that's going
to be great.
In spite of a disappointing end to the
Winter Heat season, Stover's classy
attitude showed as he chatted with the driver
who caused a spin and again at day's
end when he pointed out that "I know
a lot of people would want to be in my place
right now."
The disappointment of finishing second
in the Winter Heat races was eased by learning
that he will be driving a "Car of Tomorrow"
at the Jeff Gordon Racing School on February
27. "[I'm] just going to be turning
sixteen – it's probably what a
lot of people dream of, going into one of
those cars. I think we'll have a lot
of fun. It's a lot bigger car,"
than the karts, Bandoleros and Legends cars
Stover has raced.
The young driver is being helped in this
ambition by grooming from the Future Stars
in Racing Academy; learning how to conduct
sponsor presentations, media interviews,
how to comport himself on and off the track
and even how to conduct interviews as the
interviewer rather than the interviewee.
Future Stars in Racing is the exclusive
driver development partner with the ASA
Late Model Series and provides members with
practical experiences in dealing with sponsors,
the public, media, other drivers and promoters.
Founded by Rolfe Schnur, the Academy features
a stellar board of advisors with decades
of experience in all aspects of motorsport.
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