By: Matt Garwood Racing
July 6 2016
Lexington, Ohio – Challenge Cup Series driver and Champion Matt Garwood of Elmvale, ON headed to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course this past weekend for Round 2 of the 2016 Challenge Cup Series Championship. Garwood had his sights set on continuing his early season consistency with the hope of another race win.
This past Thursday, Garwood along with his Matt Garwood Racing team travelled to the famed 2.4-mile circuit for an evening of testing in preparation of the weekends on track activities.
It didn’t take Garwood long to get up to speed setting one of the fastest lap times during the open practice at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, a track Garwood never raced on until then.
Early Saturday morning Garwood set the fastest lap of the session and eventually the weekend earning his first career pole position by nearly four tenths of a second over the next fastest car. This was also a new track record for the series on this specific tire package.
Garwood starting from P1 in race one and with an impressive start allowed him to position himself in line and focused on setting himself up for the win. Garwood had a hard fought battle all race long with three fellow drivers for the win. This race resulted in a second place finish and his first laps led of the 2016 season.
“I was extremely happy with our performance on track throughout the first race of the weekend. We played it right and ended up with a great finish out of a very competitive field. Even though we did not end up with the win it was an exciting race for the fans.” said Garwood.
Early Sunday morning during qualifying session two Garwood ended up P2 just under a tenth of a second off yet another pole position.
During Race 2 Garwood quickly made his way to the lead without wasting any time. After swapping the lead back and forth with two fellow series drivers the race resulted in an exciting finish with Garwood crossing the line and winning his first series race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Garwood wishes to thank Crew Chief Ken Farrell for his expertise and Bill Vallis (Vallis Motorsport) for his incredible support throughout the entire weekend. Also a special thanks to Danielle Davies, for the ongoing assistance throughout the weekend.
Follow along with Matt Garwood Racing Driver, Matt Garwood throughout Round 3 of the 2016 Challenge Cup Series at Thompson Speedway Motorsport Park July 16-17, 2016.
MGR is proud to represent: FEL (Franczak Enterprises Ltd.) Vallis Motor Sport, Driverseat Barrie, The Automotive Business School of Canada, KarmaComa Studio, Core Evolution Fitness, Athletes Brand, Autoglym Canada, Leaf Racewear, Driven Steering Wheels, VOODOOAIR™, Millers Oils, the Township of Springwater and the County of Simcoe.
Garwood is also proud to be "Laps for Muscular Dystrophy" (Laps4MD) driver where he has pledged to donate $1 for every lap he leads to go to Muscular Dystrophy Canada.
To learn more about Matt Garwood and his racing program please visit www.mattgarwoodracing.com, www.facebook.com/MattGarwoodRacing and follow him on Twitter at @mattgarwood31.
About Matt Garwood
Matt is a 20 year-old race car driver from Elmvale, Ontario and a recent graduate from the Automotive Business School of Canada. Matt competes in the Formula 1200 open wheel racing series and is a 4-time Canadian Karting League Champion, 2012 Formula 1200 Rookie of the Year and 2015 Formula 1200 Challenge Cup Series Champion.