Matt Ponton might have been out of the seat for well over six months, but that didn’t stop him from going all the way to the finals at the recent South Coast 660 at South Coast Raceway.
Ponton claimed the runner-up honours in the Modified class at the January 7 and 8 event, facing off against Josh Baker in the final.
“In our first qualifying pass for the South Coast 660, we ran a 4.99 which I was happy with considering I hadn’t driven the car for more than six months, and the track felt great,” Ponton explains.
“In Q2 things didn’t go so well – we tried the other lane and the car headed straight towards the wall and with the weather conditions, the track temp had gone through the roof.
“We took some power out for Q3 and got out of the hole great. We made it to half track before turning the tyres, so that left us with no data.
“On Sunday it was again really hot, so we took more power out and hoped for the best. We were lucky enough to win round one, and then we came up against Kenny Stewart who is always a hard racer to beat.
“I went .002 on the tree and the car went straight and got me over the line first, which was great.
“We then had a round three bye and sent it just for the data. The track was hot, but it still hooked up well.
“When it came to the final against Josh, I got him on the tree and went 5.02 on a 5.00 dial-in, but unfortunately it wasn’t quite enough and so we had to settle for the runner-up spot.
“Losing by just .003 in a final is a little disappointing – but at least it was not a red light or something stupid like that! We gave it a red hot crack, that is for sure.”
The South Coast 660 event was the first Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series appearance for Ponton since he took out his first ever ANDRA Christmas Tree at the 2022 Twilight Nationals after 15 years of trying, with the racer eyeing off a hopeful repeat performance when the event returns for its 2023 instalment next month (February 17 and 18).
“Winning at the Twilight Nationals was really awesome. Having that reward after all the hard work over the years was great and we were on a high for a good few weeks afterwards,” Ponton reflects.
“As far as whether we can do it again – when you are running in the Modified class you can never be confident as there are so many great racers, it would be really nice to do it though and we will be doing all we can to make it happen.
“Mildura’s Sunset Strip is a great track and a great club – Kingsley and Lauren always put on a great show and are very welcoming.
“Hopefully we can go rounds and see what we can do. We are trying another fuel for this event too as we have seen great results with that, but other than that we will be taking our usual approach to the event.
“We will just chip away at it – having more seat time in this altered is key and I am feeling relaxed in it now, which is letting me focus on the other aspects of racing.”
As Ponton prepares for the February event in Mildura, there are a number of people he wants to recognise for the roles they play in his racing.
“There is one person in particular that makes all of this happen, and without her, I would not race. She is my crew chief, my mentor and my wife, so thank you Sally.
“I also want to say thank you to Jayden for helping out; CBH Air Conditioning and Electrical, Hellbent Fabrications, Frankston Engine Centre for their support; as well as ANDRA and Summit Racing Equipment.”
The Twilight Nationals will mark the penultimate round of the 2022/2023 Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series when it is held at Mildura’s Sunset Strip across February 17-18. For event information, visit www.sunsetstrip.org.au
For more from ANDRA, visit www.andra.com.au
Photo thanks to Automotive Event Images
