Matt Dumesny scored his first win of the 2018/19 Ultimate Sprintcar Championship (USC) at Valvoline Raceway on Saturday night for round three of the series.
The local talent kicked off the two-heat format with a fourth in heat one before ramping things up in heat two with a win to advance his Simmons Civil Contracting-backed entry into the pole shuffle.
“In the first heat it was really heavy and we couldn’t really pass, so I only advanced from fifth to fourth spot,” Dumesny said. “In the second heat I started out of four and ended up winning that heat, which gave us some solid points to put us in the pole shuffle.
“I won two of the match races in the pole shuffle and the car was good, but it’s just hard to get going outside on the slick. We ended up fourth in the pole shuffle which allowed us to start out of four in the main.”
Racing his way into second position early in the all-important main event, Dumesny eventually moved into the lead following a mistake from the lead driver and went on to claim victory comfortably in front of his loyal supporters, friends and family.
“I was running second to Sammy [Sam Walsh] in the main after making up two positions early,” he explained. “He ended up making a mistake and it did cost him, so for the last eight or so laps I went on comfortably to win, which was awesome.
“It’s not exactly the way you want to win races, but I’ve had it the other way around plenty of times, so you have to take them however you can get them and I’m really happy with the night and the win.”
Claiming victory within the opening three rounds, Dumesny thanked his hard-working crew for providing a winning car and looks forward to further improvements as the season progresses.
“We definitely had a strong car out there all night and I have to say a big thanks to Cam [Coghlan] and Dave [Boyd],” he said. “It’s great to get a win early in the season and we’re getting better each week, so I’m looking forward to keeping this momentum going.”
The Simmons Civil Contracting/Matt Dumesny Racing team will now make their way to Premier Speedway at Warrnambool in Victoria this weekend in preparation for the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic set to take place in January 2019.
“We’re on to Warrnambool this weekend,” Dumesny commented. “I’m going down there to improve at that track ahead of the Classic next year. It’s a huge event for us and I really want to put on a strong showing there for myself, the team and our great sponsors.”
For further information on the Simmons Civil Contracting/Matt Dumesny Racing team visit www.mattdumesnyracing.com or Matt Dumesny Racing on Facebook.
