NEW CASTLE — Brandon Matus won’t soon forget his victory over a racing legend, but he’s determined not to dwell on it.
Besides, if the Wampum teenager continues on his current course, he may become a legend someday, too.
Three days after beating Tony Stewart and some other prominent drivers to the finish line in the All-Star sprint feature at Sharon Speedway, Brandon was gearing up for his next challenge tonight at Mercer Speedway.
“I’m not going to brag about it,” Brandon said. “You can’t get caught up in that.”
His first feature win was worth $5,000, but the experience was priceless.
“You can’t be intimidated when you’re on the track,” said Brandon, who admitted that he knew Stewart was leading much of the race before blowing a tire. “When the race starts, he’s just another guy out there trying to win.”
Perhaps. But that’s like saying LeBron James is just another guy on the basketball court.
Still the laid-back 17-year-old understands that his Tuesday night performance in the 30th annual Ohio Sprint Speedweek Circuit of Champions is going to raise eyebrows wherever he goes.
“Your car has to be just right to run in the top 10. You’ve got to be perfect to stay with those guys,” Brandon said. “I played my cards right.”
Matus survived qualifying and finished second in his heat race to start 18th in the 24-car field. He moved up to seventh when tires started popping. World of Outlaws legends Dale Blaney and Kyle Larson joined Stewart in suffering flats on the closing laps.
Matus knew the dirt and clay oval track would be abrasive on tires so he went easy on the throttle when he could to help save them. The strategy worked.
He noticed during cautions that tires were being worn down. “I could see strings showing,” he said.
Familiarity with the track and three years on the sprint car circuit gave Brandon the impetus for a last-lap pass. He held on to take the checkered flag.
Speeds reached 115 mph and Brandon was on the verge of crashing a few times. Obviously the bumper on his car isn’t the only thing made of steel. So are his nerves.
“I’ve raced Sharon before,” he said. “If that was my first night (at the track), I doubt I would have made that move.”
Brandon began sprint car racing at age 14, two years before he should have been allowed to compete. His first win came last August at Lernerville, one of his favorite tracks.
“Because of his size, Brandon looked older than his age so nobody questioned him,” said his father, Brent Matus, a veteran driver and one of Brandon’s victims Tuesday night. Brandon stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 190 pounds.
“He runs really smooth and nothing shakes him up,” said Brent of his son’s attributes as a driver. “He doesn’t get that from me. “I’m the most nervous driver out there.”
But one thing Brandon did get from dad was competitiveness. “Whether we’re racing, playing basketball or eating supper, there’s always competition,” Brent said.
Brandon graduated last month from Lawrence County Career & Technical Center, where he was involved in the auto mechanic training program. He probably could have taught the course, having served as his father’s chief mechanic at age 12. Brandon works his father’s business, Matus Service Station on Old Route 18 in Wampum.
While attending Mohawk High School, Brandon was on the Warriors’ baseball team, but it took too much time away from racing. Brandon sold out a few years ago. “I’ve been around it my whole life,” he said.
There was no time for anything else. No sports, no girlfriends, “It became my life,” he admits. “I didn’t go to the prom because it was on a Friday night and I raced at Lernerville.”
Racing is just in Brandon’s genes. Before his dad began driving 28 years ago, his grandfather, Jerry, was speeding around local tracks in the 1960s.
Brandon spends much of the winter months in the garage, building cars to race in the spring. “Racing is what I live for.”
Tony Stewart can vouch for that.
