Bowling Shines in Special Events
Sellers Team Member Chasing Wins
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR Whelen All-American Series late model driver Matt Bowling excels in special events.
Last month he won the 200-lap Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown at South Boston (Va.) Speedway. In 2012 he won the prestigious Hampton Heat 200 at Langley Speedway in Hampton, Va., and took the late model track championship at South Boston. In 2013 he had top-10 finishes in the late model portion of the UNOH Battle At The Beach at Daytona International Speedway and the Virginia Is For Racing Lovers 300 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
Bowling drives for Sellers Racing of Danville, Va. The company fields cars for four full time drivers. Teammates include Peyton Sellers, the 2005 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national champion, Michael Maresca and 2009-10 South Boston champ Justin Johnson. Sellers’ brother, H.C., is crew chief.
Bowling, 20, of Ridgeway, Va., said consistency is a big key to success.
“We prepare the same way for every race. If we have any pressure, it’s to do the best we can and try to win every one of them,” Bowling said. “H.C. and the team keep the car consistent. When something unexpected comes up, we all work through it.
“For the Hamlin race they used a different tire compound than we usually run. We worked hard to get the car dialed in. H.C. came up with a new game plan. We regrouped, worked on it all day and hit on the right set-up.”
The Hamlin race was a non-points event but Bowling has a good foundation for 2014. He has nine top-five finishes in nine Virginia starts, including four runner-up finishes at South Boston. He’s second to Sellers in track and state points. With a 10th top-five finish at Caraway Speedway in Sophia, N.C., Bowling is fifth in national points entering this weekend.
“We’re going to run South Boston and get as many wins as we can,” Bowling said. “We’ll run at Motor Mile too. We’re not focused on points. Our goal is just to win races.
“We’ve been close to winning a couple of times and just missed it,” Bowling said. “There was one we really should have won and things just didn’t fall our way. If we can keep ourselves in a position to win, we’ll start winning. We want to take our momentum and go forward from here.”
Bowling is studying business administration at Patrick Henry Community College in Martinsville and works for his family’s business, Bowling Logging & Chipping, which is also a car sponsor. Other sponsors include Hopkins Lumber and Bill Lemons. The Sellers Racing Chevrolet is based on a Hedgecock Chassis and powered by a Billy Banks-built engine.
Bowling began his racing career in go-karts while in elementary school. He joined stock car racing with a limited sportsman car in 2010, then moved up to late models the following year.
Sources: Paul Schaefer/NASCAR PR