USCS Dillon Race - Good Day, Bad Night...

As you can see we've welcomed aboard K&N Air Filters starting at Dillon, but a special thank you goes out to JB Banta Logistics, who made our first trip to South Carolina possible. Thanks again guys!

Our weekend got off to a good/bad start on Friday when the car broke a rear end during a media demonstration on the track. Bad that the rear end broke, but good that Wendy kept it off the wall and also good that the rear end broke on Friday and not Saturday.

After fixing the car Friday night, Saturday we loaded up and headed into town to help out track promoter Ron Barfield (you may remember him from running for Bill Elliott a few years ago and also running in the Craftsman Truck Series for Gloy Racing) get the word out for Saturday's race. It was a lot of fun and we made a whole lot of new fans, including these future racers:



Saturday night started off well enough and we thought we had a thing or two for everybody come feature time. In the Lucas Oil Power Dash, Wendy finished fourth and in the ButlerBuilt Heat Wendy came home second. Things were definitely looking up and Wendy was taking a shine to figuring out the quick way around the track.

Before the feature, there was an autograph session for the USCS drivers and to say that Wendy had a crowd for autographs would be quite the understatement. Look at that sea of Wendy fans!



Having gained a whole lot of new fans that were now cheering Wendy on, we were ready for the feature, lining up eighth. The green flag dropped and Wendy dropped the hammer like she was shot out of a canon. About to pass her third car in one lap, Wendy went to the outside and unfortunately the driver on the bottom couldn't hold his line, pushed up into Wendy and into the wall she went. After the standard ride in the ambulance, Wendy received a huge cheer from the crowd when they found out she was alright.

"That was a tough pill to swallow tonight," said Wendy. "We had a rough start to the weekend, but having never been to Dillon before, we were on the right track. When the green flag dropped for the feature, the car felt fantastic and I was going to the front. I'm at a loss to explain what happened with the driver I was passing on the outside, but I've got quite a few broken pieces to show for it. In racing, you'll have nights like this and Dillon was rough on us Florida drivers as the Reutimanns had mechanical problems in the feature and didn't finish either."

Undaunted, Wendy Mathis Racing marches on. "I can't say enough about the great hospitality shown to us by Ron Barfield and also all of the great fans I met in South Carolina," continued Mathis. "I can't wait to go back and give my new fans the finish they deserve. Dillon Motor Speedway hasn't seen the last of me!"

Next up on the USCS Asphalt Thunder Schedule is Peach State Speedway on July 26.

Wendy Mathis Racing Heads to South Carolina!

Wendy Mathis Racing heads to South Carolina this week for Race #2 on the USCS Aphalt Thunder Tour at Dillon Motor Speedway. To help promote this weekend's race, Wendy appeared on "That's Racing" with Dan E. Lockemy and Rudy Branham on WEGX-FM, EAGLE 92.9 -- covering over 42 counties in Eastern South and North Carolinas from a 2,000 ft. tower with 100,000 watts of flamethrowin' power featuring today's country music and NASCAR racing.

To listen to Clip #1 of Wendy on the show, click here!
To listen to Clip #2 of Wendy on the show, click here!

"I'm really looking forward to hitting the high banks of Dillon," said Wendy. "This is actually my first time racing in South Carolina and hopefully we can unload fast off the truck and go from there. Four-tenths of a mile sounds good to me and we have a pretty good baseline for the other high bank short tracks we run."

With a fifth place finish at the season opener at Cordele, Wendy is looking forward to another strong finish. "We're putting our best foot forward and really going to make a strong run at the USCS Championship for 2008. Make no bones about it, running against the likes of Terry Gray and Wayne Reutimann, Jr. is no easy task, but I think we showed everybody at Cordele that we mean business this year."

All the fans are invited out to the media event at the track on Friday to meet Wendy and get an autograph. Wendy will also have her t-shirts available for sale for only $15.

Wendy Mathis Racing would like to give very special thanks to JB Banta Logistics. JB Banta Logistics has been a great supporter of Wendy and their help for the race at Dillon means the world to us! Other special thanks go out to Bell Safety Products and also K&N Filters, who are coming on board as a product sponsor.

If you're in South Carolina, or towing up from Florida like us, be sure to stop by the pits or outside the track on media day and say hi!

Wendy to compete with TBARA at Desoto this weekend!

Wendy Mathis Racing pulls into Desoto Super Speedway this weekend for the 50 lap Dick Friedley Memorial race, sanctioned by the TBARA. Dick Friedley was the long time TBARA statistician and official photographer.

"I always enjoy running Desoto and generally do well, including a couple of fourth place finishes last year" said Mathis. "Starting at the back since we're not running the whole series won't do us any favors, but I'm up for the challenge."

The weekend will prove busy for Mathis as she will be talking to a few teams during the weekend's activities at the St. Petersburg Grand Prix about running some ovals in the renamed Indy Lights Series.

"It's my goal to run a few ovals this year and get some seat time to get ready for the Freedom 100 at Indianapolis next year," continued Mathis. "I've got one IRL team in particular that we've had a few discussions with and I'm working really hard to put some sponsorship packages together. It's difficult this time of year, but I just know there is a company out there that feels as passionately as I do about putting an American sprint car driver in the Indy Lights Series to mix it up on the ovals."

Pit gate opens at 2:00 for Saturday's festivities at Desoto.

If you're interested in learning more about sponsorship opportunities with Wendy Mathis Racing for the Indy Lights Series, USCS Thunder Tour, or selected USAC events, e-mail us at WendyMathisPR@gmail.com.