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You can watch the Matson Racing team perform
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Matson Racing 2008 Schedule  Schedule is Subject to change
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| Date | Class | Event | Location |
| March 7-9 | NHRA HS | A/B Gas | Bakersfield |
| April 11-12 |
WCTSA | Funny Car Fever (T/S) | Sacramento |
| April 18-19 |
WCTSA | Cool April Nights (T/S) | Redding |
| or | NHRA HS | A/B Gas | Fontana |
| May 2-4 | NHRA HS | A/B Gas | Las Vegas |
| May 9-10 |
WCTSA | Fremont Reunion (T/S) | Sacramento |
| May 23-24 |
WCTSA | Rocky Mtn Raceway (T/S) | Salt Lake City, UT |
| May 30 - June 1 | NHRA HS | A/B Gas | Bakersfield |
| June 6-7 | WCTSA | Nitro Nite of Fire (T/S) | Sacramento |
| June 20-21 | WCTSA | Firebird Raceway (T/S) | Boise, ID |
| June 27-28 | WCPGA | A/B Gas | Sacramento |
| July 11-12 | WCTSA | Fox Hunt (T/S)(P/G) | Sacramento |
| July 20 | WCPGA | A/B Gas | Infineon |
| August 1-2 | WCTSA | T/S | Medford, OR |
| August 8-9 | WCPGA | A/B Gas | Sacramento |
| August 23 | ANRA | A/B Gas | Bakersfield |
| September 13-14 | NHRA HS | A/B Gas | Fontana |
| September 19-20 | WCTSA | Governor's Cup (T/S)(P/G) | Sacramento |
| October 4-5 | WCHRA | A/B Gas | Sacramento |
| October 10-12 |
CA Hot Rod Reunion | A Gas | Bakersfield |
| October 25-26 |
ANRA | A/B Gas Finals | Bakersfield |
| November 7-9 |
PSCA | World Finals A/B Gas | Fontana |
| November 20-23 | PSCA | Street Car Nationals | Las Vegas |
Throughout the vast complexity of the human mind, and for reasons unknown, we all seem to react and reflect quite differently to those of both memory and time. Might one say for instance, High School. (Reflection) Whoa...(Reaction) has it been...wow. Sure seems like yesterday. I guess it all depends on how old you are. Let's say you are a teenage boy in the early 70's going to Elk Grove High.Then let's say there is a drag strip not very far away and you just so happen to own a hot rod. Throw a few teenage honeys in the mix and bada bing, you will most likely have an instant passion for most young boys. At least it was for Dave Matson.The Grass Valley California native found himself many a Wednesday nights at Sacramento Raceway Park feeding that passion in his 1955 Ford pick-up. He built a deep love for the sport only to find himself building something else...a relationship. Before he knew it, school days and the single life were a thing of the past. He had developed a new love...family. Together he and his wife Jeri set out to raise three wonderful children. During that time they also built a concrete construction business. Dave kept his focus on his family and business through out the years. His efforts and hard work were about to pay off. With his children raised and his business well established, Dave soon found himself some 30 years later wanting back into that teenage passion he held so dear... drag racing.
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In 2002 Dave's desire for a 1967 Camaro that he could race was put into motion. His search lasted almost a year before finding one with a 4-link suspension and a roll cage that would certify to a 7.50 second e.t.. There was only one catch though, it was in Iowa. Having desire won out over convenience. Dave went to Iowa and bought the car as a roller. He would then spend close to another year getting it race ready. The car was front and back halved. RPM Racing Engines of Grass Valley built the 565 c.i. Chevrolet big block power plant, while CRE worked over the powerglide transmission used to transfer the 1075 horsepower to the Dana 60 rear end. All that muscle would be applied through the 32.5 inch Hoosiers on Weld Racing wheels. During the build Dave found some time to sneak off and attend Frank Hawley's Drag Racing School in Pomona California. It was under the exquisite instruction of one Jack Beckman that Dave attributes a lot of his early success to. "Fast Jack" as he is known through out the racing community is currently driving a Top Fuel Funny Car in the NHRA Powerade Drag Racing Series. "His methods of instruction and passion for the sport are obvious...Fast Jack taught me how to drive" Matson said. It was shortly after that when he felt the car was ready and started testing. Getting power from the front to the rear was not a problem. However, trying to calm it down at the starting line was. The car was a monster. With a total of 80 test passes and some fine tuning of the suspension, the time slips finally showed some promising numbers for his targeted 8.60 e.t. B/G (B-Gas) index cl Assn. "Just to get to this point takes a lot of help and support" Matson says. That help and support came in the form of Daryle Miller, Dean Conn, Cloy and Monti Fitzgerald, and Chris and Stephanie Rae to name a few.Back to top
With some consistency in his pocket Dave felt that it was time to go racing. Where else, but where he started as that young lad? Sacramento Raceway of' course. He entered the 2004 Fremont Reunion. I still remember the race pretty well. He didn't know me from Adam. I saw Dave with his car back in the staging lanes with NE-2 on his windshield. I went up to him and said he had to move the steering wheel over some and had to pitch the doors prior to his run. Come on...you have to make things interesting sometimes right? I try to help keep things as safe as I possibly can out there, but like to have a bit of fun whenever possible as well. Turns out that there wasn't a B-Gas class to run in so he was put in the 8.60 NE-2 index clAssn. What happened next isn't something that you can test for. As he launched the car on his pass, the steering wheel pops off and slams back into his chest. Well, there isn't much you can do there except to get out of it fast and hope she goes straight. Atta boy Dave. That's just what he did. He mainly focused on testing for the remainder of the season until the final event in Bakersfield came around. The Fuel and Gas Finals. He qualified for the show, and managed to keep the steering wheel on, but went out early.
The 2005 season would start out very well and would prove to be a successful one for Dave. He went to the B/G finals at the March Meet in Bakersfield, then won the B/G class at both Sacramento Raceway's Funny Car Fever and Famous Fox Hunt events, as well as winning the Fremont Reunion in NE-2. (I let him keep the doors) He also found success running the Goodguys nostalgia circuit along with winning the B/G Championship for the West Coast Pro-Gas Association. Pretty impressive for just his first full year of racing. It was during this season though that Dave felt himself wanting more. He was having fun, but what he wanted, was to go faster.Back to top
Soon Dave set out to build another car. He managed to find another 1967 camaro that he fell in love with from the start. This Camaro by the way was quite different. It just flat out looked mean. The unique body originating in Australia, now comes from Cynergy Composites out of Ontario, Canada. Made of carbon fiber, it is the 9th in the United States and the 1st in California. Dave chose Dennis Sacramento (Sacramento Fabrication Inc.) of Yuba City to to build the chassis and fabricate the metal work for the new body. This time he wanted a car that would certify to a 6 second e.t., that he could run in both Top Sportsman and the 7.60 e.t. A-Gas (A/G) clAssn. A chrome moly, double rail would surely fit the bill. Once again RPM Racing Engines was called upon for the "umph". This time they built a 618 c.i. big block Chevrolet that would produce more horsepower and torque per cubic inch than any other engine builder could produce with two carburetors on gasoline. The cast iron block boasts a set of steel rods, a pair of aluminum Dart "Big Chief" heads, with twin 1150's sitting on top of a Hogan intake manifold. Fire is produced through the crank triggered MSD 7AL3. "It's basically a de-stroked 632" Matson says. With compression at 16:1, this engine puts out 1305 horsepower and 965 foot pounds of torque on the dyno. CRE again got the nod to build the powerglide transmission for the car. Power to the bead-locked 34.5 inch Hoosier Racing tires comes through the Fab 9 rear 44 splined, gun drilled Strange axles via Weld Racing Wheels."The car went together really well" Matson said. They wasted no time and soon were testing.
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A good combination was found to start out the 2006 season, but Dave soon found himself being pulled in all sorts of directions as he was driving both cars at the same events. He did pretty well though with most of his good fortune coming in the new A car. He won the Goodguys Nitro Nationals at Pomona (Fairplex) in A/G and also took top honors at Sonoma (Infineon) in A/G for a West Coast Pro-Gas Assn. event. Dave was having another successful season so far, but he could not help but feel that he could do much better if he had another driver for the B car. There are ways of doing that.
I think that sometimes, you just have to sneak off to that back room, dig down deep in the closet, and pull out the secret box you had buried below. You then remove the twelve race shirts you had so wittingly concealed it in only to find a several inch thick layer of dry rotted duct tape masquerading as an armored barrier. It simply shatters as you slide your thumbnail along it's sides. You peer over one shoulder, and then the next, to make certain that nobody is watching you. Then, and only then, do you lift the lid, and uncover the tarnished metal relic that you have entrusted to absolutely no one. Grasping it as though it were your first born, you speak a few choice words while gently rubbing it and suddenly... a magic "POOF" complete with smoke fills the air. As the cloud starts to clear a hovering, cross-legged, well tanned man in baggy pants...awe come on now... are you really buying this crock. How does one go about finding another driver you ask? You do what all the other car owners do. You go to a ball game and talk racing to a stranger! Duh! And if you want the truth, that is pretty much how it all happened. Back to top
During the fall on an off week, Dave was at one of his wife's softball games when he noticed a some what familiar looking stranger in the stands. He sat down next to him and discovered that the stranger's wife was also playing in the game. They started talking about work and then Dave realized why this guy looked familiar. The job. As it turns out, this stranger, Jerry Tittle, works as a foreman for a paving company and had been on a job that Dave was also working on. They end up talking more about work, their wives,and about racing. "Dave invited us to watch him race at the Governors Cup in Sacramento" Jerry said. "While we were there he asked if I would like to be on the crew. I was honored and excited" Jerry added. Jerry had been working on the cars for a few months when Dave asked him if he would like to drive the B car. "Oh Yeah" Jerry told him. "I would love to drive" he added. Dave wasted no time. He and Jerry were soon at Sacramento Raceway getting Jerry the runs he needed for his competition license. With just six passes Jerry had his dream in his hand. It's funny sometimes how things seem to come about.
Back in 1976 at the age of 13, Jerry decided to leave his home and family in Tennessee to live with his grandmother in California. Nine years later in 1985 he and Toni, the woman he fell in love with, decided to marry. Over time he became the father of three children. Two boys and a girl. His oldest is a son (19) and is currently in the United States Air Force. His second son is 17 and his daughter is 14. "I have worked in the construction field all of my life" Jerry said. Without that background, the lives of both these families would most likely be very different. For Dave, and Matson Racing, things seemed to be working out very well. Along with his previously mentioned wins, he also took 2nd place overall in the 2006 Good Guys A/Gas points championship. With the racing year coming to an end, Matson Racing took full advantage of this down time to do a few changes to the cars. He had Rod Burbage of Spec-Rite Torque Converters in Redding, Ca. work over both of the transmissions and install a 6000 rpm spragless converter in each car. The B car also received a new dual carb tunnel ram for Christmas. Remember...it's all about giving, not getting.
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2007 would again prove to be yet another successful year for Dave and his teams. In his very first race at "The Strip" in Las Vegas during a PSCA event Jerry vaulted himself in B/G to a second place finish. Dave kept on showing his winning ways.. He won the ANRA Cool Summer Nights race in A/G. He finished third in points for the year with the West Coast Top Sportsman Assn. and also received the A/G Championship for the West Coast Pro-Gas Assn. by winning all but one event. With that in mind, you can bet that Dave is very pleased with the way things are going. "Jerry can do anything he is asked to do on the cars, and he can drive" Matson said. "I have been driving, learning, and having a lot of fun racing with Dave" Jerry said. " We have a friendship that is growing everyday. I'm very comfortable driving the car, and my goal is to improve and learn something new, at every race that I didn't know before. I want to be as successful in racing as I can, and I want to enjoy every minute of this blessing and opportunity that Dave has given me" Jerry added. Dave feels blessed as well. "I've got an awesome group of people around me" Matson says. "Dean Conn for instance, has helped me from the start. He does a lot and he's always calm, and never gets rattled, no matter how hectic things may seem to get. Ron Hale who has an extreme passion for the sport is our computer analyst and tuner. Ron's two sons, R.J. and Zach both work on the two cars. Then there is Ron's mom Sandy, who does the cooking and helps keep things tidy and clean. I just can't thank them enough. They are truly awesome. Most importantly I want to thank my wife and my kids for allowing me countless hours in the shop working on these cars. My wife Jeri also prepares the food we take to all of the races we attend. I couldn't do it without her" Dave said. I would also like to thank all of the great sponsors for their help and support with both cars. DMCE Inc. (including past and present employees) which has been the biggest sponsor, also to Les Schwab Tires for providing the Hoosier Racing tires, and RPM Racing Engines for providing the all of the machine work, along with Spec-Rite Torque Converters for their work and support with the transmissions and torque converters and most recently to Kirk Schubach for his financial support. Dave and myself would also like to thank both, Dave Smith Sr. for the use of Sacramento Raceway Park for the recent photo shoot, and to Kenny Breneisen for his help and assistance during that shoot as well. Back to top
"The future looks very exciting" Matson says. He is planning to step up both cars. As a matter of fact, the B car is under going some major changes as we speak. Massive liposuction is currently being performed. The plan is to lighten the car up a good 150 pounds or so. You know how it goes. It's winter time...the holidays come around...the cars get lazy...the next thing you know is you have that ugly looking cellulite coming out all over the rear quarter panels. You can't have that. What will the neighbors say? I don't see that happening with this determined bunch at all. Other plans will be to swap out the Dana 60 for the much lighter Fab 9. Matson says, "We plan on adding a 250 horsepower shot of Nitrous to it this winter with some more modifications. That should bring the total output to somewhere around 1400". "We need the car to run in the 7.70's - 7.80's to be competitive in Top Sportsman" he added. The A car will also take on a major change. It will receive a new Bruno-Lenco transmission for now. "I plan on stepping up to Pro-Mod soon, so I would like to get comfortable with shifting the car. I think that will make for one less thing that I will have to learn once all of the other changes are made" Dave stated. A recent trip back to Indiana to pick up his Toterhome and new stacker race trailer definitely shows the serious commitment Matson has to his racing operations. "We will be racing a lot this year and in the future. Our teams will be running with several organizations next season" Matson stated. Those will Include the West Coast Hot Rod Assn., Pacific Street Car Assn., the West Coast Pro-Gas Assn., the West Coast Top Sportsman Assn., and the NHRA Nostalgia series for the most part. The teams are currently looking for more sponsors and anyone that is interested in being part of a winning operation may contact Dave Matson at (530) 274-8000. I can only say, that for the few short years that Dave has been racing, he has displayed an incredable ability to stay focused and has shown his keen sense of direction that will only lead to success. Back to top
