Marion Edwards Memorial – New Smyrna Speedway – November 15, 2008
An Awesome 3rd Place Finish for Matt Bowers Saturday Night

It was a 1 – 2 – 3 finish Saturday night at the races with veterans Wayne Anderson, Tim Russell, and rookie, Matt Bowers keeping the MBR Team #3 in the race for the points!

In his first official ride in Dick Anderson’s #92 car, Matt’s first mission of the day was to accomplish a solid qualifying run. Matt placed 2nd fastest time on the board and started in 4th position after the inversion of the top 5 qualifiers. The green flag flew right on schedule and the radio came alive on lap #2 with Matt’s message to Dick and to his spotter, Leroy Porter, “Leroy, this car is ready to go right to the front”.

On lap five, Matt nudged the 2nd place car on the back stretch and by turn three, the 2nd place car was out of shape and spun bringing out the caution. Obviously, some controversy emerged and the competitor then targeted Matt hard enough under caution that the toe in the tire was affected, but hopefully only slightly. The ensuing restart would certainly tell all.

Two more challenges as the green flag flew. During practice, the shifter mount cracked into three pieces requiring replacement. The linkages would need replacement soon. Unfortunately, on the restart, Matt could not get high gear to hold, thus an opportunity was lost and the field stacked behind him forcing a restart. Back in 4th position, Wayne Anderson anticipated the same outcome and used the outside lane to force his way all the way to the front in just one lap. Great spotting from Leroy Porter prevented Matt from drifting into Wayne’s charge in turn two but it now left an interesting sight in high stakes short track racing: Two Anderson cars, the #84 and #92 racing one-two, away from the field. The toe (in the tire) was making Matt tight in the center, thus limited his options, although Wayne admitted that he was down on power. Wayne had the lead locked up and it would take a mistake on Wayne’s part for Matt to set up a clean pass. Well, fat chance that that would happen, so Matt enjoyed several laps as the student chasing the master.

Although Tim Russell lost his entire right side door in an earlier encounter, it had not slowed his progress and he was slowly gaining on the two leaders. A caution left some good options for the 2nd and 3rd place cars. This is where Matt had an advantage, assuming the shift would be clean, and Tim had an advantage should Matt’s shift not be clean. With the green flag, once again, Matt could not get high gear to hold, thus Russell had an easy pass for 2nd leaving Matt fair game to all if we had another caution….and we certainly did. Some discussion on the radio determined some strategy with Matt claiming to have a plan that he kept to himself. All we knew, he had a plan as we had experienced a similar problem at Lakeland in the 84x car. Dave Pletcher was now aware of either easy prey or a stacked up restart, so Dave gave Matt plenty of room.

On the restart Matt was able to make high gear stick, then becoming a 3-car race to the finish. With the car tight in the center, Matt couldn’t set up anything less than a clean move for 2nd or 1st, so a first time ride in the famed #92 car became a very respectable 3rd place for Matt Bowers. He brought home a clean car needing a shifter, toe adjustment, and possibly a left spindle in preparation for next week’s prestigious Governor’s Cup.

At the end of the day, one of the most exciting events of the entire race was listening to two veterans coach Matt. Mr. Leroy Porter as spotter and Dick Anderson as strategist: “Matt, what ever you did on that last start, do the exact opposite on this one!” It worked.

We welcomed many new guests in a growing group of supporters: Glen Carter and Gerry Hafer representing the Villages Motorsports Fan Club; Linda Marsh, Fundraiser, Angela West, Stallion51 Corp, and a host of fantastic pit crew and supporters.

The Matt Bowers Team, along with Dick Anderson’s Villages Fan club is expecting over 200 supporters this Saturday for the 43rd running of the Governor’s Cup. Dick’s #92 car is the defending champion from 2007….not to put any pressure on our rookie driver, Matt Bowers. So as we wrap up the 2008 racing season with the biggest race of all, racing against the best in the business, we know without a shadow of a doubt that we will be right up front with a great chance of remaining one of several great cars to beat.

Will the Nextel Cup pit crew be able to meet their guarantee of a 4-tire change and fuel inside of 15 seconds?

Ned Bowers