With the Northwest Sprintcar Racing Association taking a little time off, series points leader and reigning champion Matt Hein did something a little different on the 4th of July. He jumped into a non-wing sprint car and did a little dirt track racing.
Sponsored by Coastline West Insulation, Independent Motor Rebuilders, Tonka Excavation LLC, Long's Building Supply, C&R Striping Company and Oregon Tool & Supply, Hein spent America's birthday driving the Smith Motorsports No. 6 Hein-powered Eagle at Coos Bay Speedway with the United Sprint Car Association. While it wasn't his first time on dirt, it was the pavement racer's first time at the 1/4-mile dirt oval, located by the southern Oregon coast.
Despite his inexperience with both dirt racing and Coos Bay Speedway in general, Hein walked out of the place with his head held high after a very good fifth place finish in the main event. Matt hopes to get back on the dirt one or two more times this season. He currently has the NorthWest Wingless Tour's October 3rd finale at Willamette Speedway on his schedule.
This Saturday, Matt will return to winged pavement sprint car racing and jump back into the Hein Racing No. 98 Shaver-powered Beast. Saturday will be the ASA-affiliated NSRA's return to Spokane County Raceway in eastern Washington after a one year hiatus. At that 2007 race, which saw the track's biggest crowd of the season, Hein would finish a respectable seventh on the very fast 1/2-mile oval, where straightaway speeds were estimated to be around 135-140 mph.
So far this season Hein, the defending NSRA champion, has one victory in three races and currently holds a 20-point lead over former series champion Jeff Montgomery. Hein won the season opener on Friday, May 29th at Meridian Speedway, just outside Boise, Idaho. He finished fourth at the same track the next night in the Diamond Cup finale and on June 13th he earned a second place finish in the Casey Diemert Memorial at Douglas County Speedway in Matt's hometown of Roseburg.
At 21 years of age, Matt Hein is one of the top pavement sprint car racers on the west coast, having multiple main event victories to his credit along with the 2008 Northwest Sprintcar Racing Association champion. Matt would like to thank all of his sponsors and fans for their great support. For more information on Matt and his race team, including photos, apparel and race schedule, check out Matt's website at www.heinracing.com.
