Tyler Matthews picked up his first career Late Model win at East Carolina Motor Speedway in Robersonville, North Carolina on Saturday night in the second of two feature races.
The 18-year-old from Richlands, North Carolina had a fast car all night and dominated the second race, lading 47 of 50 laps, after winning the pole for the first race. While Matthews made it look easy, it was anything but. A series of crashes set up a series of restarts which Matthews had to survive.
“We sat on the pole and made a few mistakes in the first race,” Matthews said. “We didn’t expect the track to tighten up as much as it did. We made some adjustments and led about every lap in the second race. There were many cautions. We had a bunch of restarts. They were racing and wrecking behind us. We just stretched it out and got away from it all.”
Matthews has been a regular at both East Carolina Motor Speedway and Southern National Motorsports Park in Lucama, North Carolina. He’s had some strong runs at Southern National this season prior to his victory at East Carolina on Saturday night. With a win now in the books, Matthews feels confident that he can win more races.
“We hit on something these past few weeks,” Matthews remarked. “We’ve been fast these past few weeks. At Southern National, we needed a few things to fall our way. I knew we had a fast car but I didn’t know it was that good. We know we can win a race with the best of them. The first one’s always the hardest. Once you get that one, they fall in place. We’re not too far off in points [at Southern National] if the right things happen.”
Thomas Burbage scored the win in the first race.
Haley Moody Injured in Late Race Crash
While Tyler Matthews was celebrating his first career win, 20-year-old Haley Moody was being transported to Vidant Medical Center in Greenville, North Carolina with a fractured wrist after an accident involving her and Thomas Burbage.
“Me and [Thomas Burbage] went in turn one and just hit and I went in the air,” Moody said. “The car landed before I went in the wall so I was very lucky. The steering wheel just snapped my wrist. It happened so quick. Only thing I felt was that my arm didn’t feel right. But other than that, I’m good. It happens. It’s racing. It could have been worse. My seat really helped. LaJoie seats are top notch.”
Moody’s injury is the latest in a series of tumultuous events that have rocked the sophomore driver. It was her first race in over a month after she had been sidelined while her team, led by veteran Late Model driver Jamey Caudill, worked to get the car repaired from previous incidents at East Carolina and back to winning form.
Last year, Moody had three wins and 16 top-five finishes. This season, Moody has failed to finish better than sixth.
