Ryan Mathews (racer)
Encyclopedia
Ryan Mathews is an American racecar driver from Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
. He is currently the part-time driver of the #75 Ray Hackett Racing
Ford in NASCAR
.
in Flint, Michigan
. During his time there he also served as a contributing member of the Kappa Sigma
chapter of the Theta Xi
Fraternity.
He began racing in a kart at age 15. He moved to a mini-sprint
car at Wilmot Speedway in Wilmot, Wisconsin
, and was the track rookie of the year and fourth overall. He finished second in mini-sprint points at Wilmot in 1996, and fourth overall in the Wisconsin Mini-sprint Association (which included races at the Calumet County
Racing Association). He had five wins on the second, and recorded three wins at Wilmot in 1997. Late in 1997 he raced the one mile dirt track
at Springfield, Illinois
in an ARCA
series event.
Matthews moved to the Mid-American
SuperTruck Series on asphalt in 1998. He had three Top 5 finishes as a rookie, and two features wins and a pole position in 1999 and 2000. He then moved to the Super Late Models at Slinger Super Speedway
in 2001, and was the series Rookie of the Year.
In 2003 he quit his job as an engineer
at Harley Davidson to race full-time. He competed in the Midwest All-Star Racing Series (MARS), and he won his fiftieth race on a short track that season. He competed in the Slinger Nationals, and finished fifth against nationally known drivers. Another season highlight was finishing third at Madison International Speedway
ahead of Kurt Busch
and Matt Kenseth
. He moved to the American Speed Association
National Series in 2004 as well as selected Super Late Model events. In 2005 he competed in six different Super Late Model series from Minnesota
to Florida
. He earned 34 top-10's, 17 top-5's, and 1 win during the 2005 season. He also finished top 5 in points in three major touring series that same year. In 2006 he competed in the ARCA
series with Eddie Sharp Racing where his best finish was 2nd at Michigan Speedway.
after Tyler Walker
was suspended for violating NASCAR's substance abuse policy, and the team had lost its sponsor. He earned his first pole position
on July 13, 2007 at Kentucky Speedway
, and finished fourth in the race. His other Top 10 finish in 2007 was a sixth place finish at Memphis Motorsports Park
. Mathews competed in one NASCAR event in 2008 for the newly formed CHS Motorsports. The one event was the Chevy Silverado 350K at Texas Motor Speedway
. He would start the race in 34th and finish 33rd. For the 2009 season, Mathews signed on to drive in select races for Ray Hackett Racing
in the #75 Ford F-150
, starting with the WinStar World Casino 400 at Texas Motor Speedway
. He would also drive select races for CHS Motorsports. In 2010 it was announced that Mathews would again drive for Ray Hackett Racing, he made his season debut at Atlanta Motor Speedway
in the EZGO 200 in March.
Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
Lake Geneva is a city in Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 7,148 at the 2000 census. A resort city located on Geneva Lake, it is southwest of Milwaukee and popular with tourists from metropolitan Chicago and Milwaukee.-History:...
. He is currently the part-time driver of the #75 Ray Hackett Racing
Ray Hackett Racing
Ray Hackett Racing is a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and Nationwide Series team owned by Ray Hackett. Hackett is also the owner of sponsor . RHR fields the #76 SUPERSEAL Construction Products Ford F-150 for Ryan Hackett as well as the #75 JandRSupply.com Ford F-150 in NASCAR's Camping World...
Ford in NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
.
Background
His education background is in engineering from Kettering UniversityKettering University
Kettering University is a university in Flint, Michigan, offering degrees in engineering, math, science, and business. The campus is located along the Flint River on property that used to be the main manufacturing location for General Motors...
in Flint, Michigan
Flint, Michigan
Flint is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit. The U.S. Census Bureau reports the 2010 population to be placed at 102,434, making Flint the seventh largest city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Genesee County which lies in the...
. During his time there he also served as a contributing member of the Kappa Sigma
Kappa Sigma
Kappa Sigma , commonly nicknamed Kappa Sig, is an international fraternity with currently 282 active chapters and colonies in North America. Kappa Sigma has initiated more than 240,000 men on college campuses throughout the United States and Canada. Today, the Fraternity has over 175,000 living...
chapter of the Theta Xi
Theta Xi
Theta Xi was founded at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York on 29 April 1864. Theta Xi Fraternity was originally founded as an engineering fraternity, the first professional fraternity...
Fraternity.
He began racing in a kart at age 15. He moved to a mini-sprint
Sprint car racing
Sprint cars are high-powered race cars designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval or circular dirt or paved tracks. Sprint car racing is popular in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa....
car at Wilmot Speedway in Wilmot, Wisconsin
Wilmot, Wisconsin
Wilmot is an unincorporated census-designated place and residential and business community in the town of Salem in southwestern Kenosha County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population is 442...
, and was the track rookie of the year and fourth overall. He finished second in mini-sprint points at Wilmot in 1996, and fourth overall in the Wisconsin Mini-sprint Association (which included races at the Calumet County
Calumet County, Wisconsin
Calumet County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is included in the Appleton, Wisconsin, Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2010, the county's population was 48,971. The county seat is Chilton.-History:...
Racing Association). He had five wins on the second, and recorded three wins at Wilmot in 1997. Late in 1997 he raced the one mile dirt track
Dirt track racing
Dirt track racing is a type of auto racing performed on oval tracks. It began in the United States before World War I and became widespread during the 1920s and 30s. Two different types of racecars predominated—open wheel racers in the Northeast and West and stock cars in the South...
at Springfield, Illinois
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the third and current capital of the US state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County with a population of 117,400 , making it the sixth most populated city in the state and the second most populated Illinois city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area...
in an ARCA
Automobile Racing Club of America
Automobile Racing Club of America is an auto racing sanctioning body in the United States, founded in 1953 by John Marcum. The current president of ARCA is Ron Drager. The ARCA RE/MAX Series races stock cars similar to those seen in past years in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and indeed most cars...
series event.
Matthews moved to the Mid-American
Mid-American Stock Car Series
The Mid American Stock Car Series is a traveling Sportsman Series in the Midwestern United States. The series races exclusively on paved racetracks. The cars are based on a 108" metric stock frame, less costly suspension parts and a maximum of 358 cubic inch engine...
SuperTruck Series on asphalt in 1998. He had three Top 5 finishes as a rookie, and two features wins and a pole position in 1999 and 2000. He then moved to the Super Late Models at Slinger Super Speedway
Slinger Super Speedway
The Slinger Speedway is a quarter mile paved oval automobile race track with a 33-degree bank located in Slinger, Wisconsin....
in 2001, and was the series Rookie of the Year.
In 2003 he quit his job as an engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
at Harley Davidson to race full-time. He competed in the Midwest All-Star Racing Series (MARS), and he won his fiftieth race on a short track that season. He competed in the Slinger Nationals, and finished fifth against nationally known drivers. Another season highlight was finishing third at Madison International Speedway
Madison International Speedway
The Madison International Speedway is a stock car racing oval in the town of Rutland in rural Oregon, Wisconsin a short distance off of Wisconsin Highway 138. The track is billed as "The Track of Champions" and "Wisconsin's Fastest Half Mile." The weekly program at the track runs on Friday...
ahead of Kurt Busch
Kurt Busch
Kurt Thomas Busch is an American NASCAR and NHRA driver. He drives the No. 22 Shell Oil Company/Pennzoil Dodge Charger in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and will race on an "opportunity permitting" basis in the Pro Stock division of NHRA...
and Matt Kenseth
Matt Kenseth
Matthew Roy "Matt" Kenseth is an American stock car driver. Kenseth currently drives the No. 17 Crown Royal Ford Fusion in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for Roush Fenway Racing...
. He moved to the American Speed Association
American Speed Association
The American Speed Association is a sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States formed in 1968. The Association was based in Pendleton, Indiana and currently is headquarters in Daytona Beach, Florida. ASA was most famous for a national touring series which began in 1973 but was...
National Series in 2004 as well as selected Super Late Model events. In 2005 he competed in six different Super Late Model series from Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
to Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. He earned 34 top-10's, 17 top-5's, and 1 win during the 2005 season. He also finished top 5 in points in three major touring series that same year. In 2006 he competed in the ARCA
Automobile Racing Club of America
Automobile Racing Club of America is an auto racing sanctioning body in the United States, founded in 1953 by John Marcum. The current president of ARCA is Ron Drager. The ARCA RE/MAX Series races stock cars similar to those seen in past years in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and indeed most cars...
series with Eddie Sharp Racing where his best finish was 2nd at Michigan Speedway.
NASCAR career
Mathews started racing in the Craftsman Truck Series at the seventh race of 2007 for Bill Davis RacingBill Davis Racing
Bill Davis Racing was a racing team that participated in all three of NASCAR's top divisions until 2009.The team had run Toyota-branded stock cars and trucks in both the Camping World Truck Series and Sprint Cup Series since 2007. Dodge, Ford, and Pontiac previously backed the team...
after Tyler Walker
Tyler Walker (NASCAR)
Tyler Walker , is a NASCAR driver. Walker began racing bicycles at the age of six and motorcycles at age eight. He then began racing go-karts, and won four California state karting championships and had a total of 200 wins. At the age of sixteen Walker started racing in the All Star Circuit of...
was suspended for violating NASCAR's substance abuse policy, and the team had lost its sponsor. He earned his first pole position
Pole position
The term "pole position", as used in motorsports, comes from the horse racing term where the number one starter starts on the inside next to the inside pole. The term made its way, along with several other customs, to auto racing. In circuit motorsports, a driver has pole position when he or she...
on July 13, 2007 at Kentucky Speedway
Kentucky Speedway
Kentucky Speedway is a tri-oval speedway in Sparta, Kentucky, which has hosted ARCA, NASCAR and Indy Racing League racing annually since it opened in 2000. The track is currently owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports, Inc. and Jerry Carroll, who, along with four other investors, owned...
, and finished fourth in the race. His other Top 10 finish in 2007 was a sixth place finish at Memphis Motorsports Park
Memphis Motorsports Park
Memphis International Raceway is an auto racing park located across the Loosahatchie River from Memphis, Tennessee, approximately ten miles south of Millington, Tennessee. The facility opened in 1987 with a drag strip and 1.8-mile road course...
. Mathews competed in one NASCAR event in 2008 for the newly formed CHS Motorsports. The one event was the Chevy Silverado 350K at Texas Motor Speedway
Texas Motor Speedway
Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas....
. He would start the race in 34th and finish 33rd. For the 2009 season, Mathews signed on to drive in select races for Ray Hackett Racing
Ray Hackett Racing
Ray Hackett Racing is a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and Nationwide Series team owned by Ray Hackett. Hackett is also the owner of sponsor . RHR fields the #76 SUPERSEAL Construction Products Ford F-150 for Ryan Hackett as well as the #75 JandRSupply.com Ford F-150 in NASCAR's Camping World...
in the #75 Ford F-150
Ford F-Series
The F-Series is a series of full-size pickup trucks from Ford Motor Company which has been sold continuously for over six decades. The most popular variant of the F-Series is the F-150...
, starting with the WinStar World Casino 400 at Texas Motor Speedway
Texas Motor Speedway
Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas....
. He would also drive select races for CHS Motorsports. In 2010 it was announced that Mathews would again drive for Ray Hackett Racing, he made his season debut at Atlanta Motor Speedway
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Atlanta Motor Speedway is a track just outside Hampton, Georgia, twenty miles south of Atlanta. It is a quad-oval track with a seating capacity of over 125,000. It opened in 1960 as a standard oval. In 1994, 46 condominiums were built over the northeastern side of the track...
in the EZGO 200 in March.