[kousley]

VERSATILE MATT WESTFALL AMONG RUMBLE IN FORT WAYNE MIDGET DIVISION HOPEFULS

Late Model and Modified Championships at Eldora Speedway Propel Pleasant Hill, OH Driver



FORT WAYNE, IN (Nov. 22) – One of the more versatile drivers in short track racing, Matt Westfall, will be among the hopefuls to make the Midget division starting field when the 18th annual Rumble in Fort Wayne (IN) unfolds December 26 and 27 inside the massive Memorial Coliseum Expo Center.

Most recently, the Pleasant Hills, OH veteran captured Eldora Speedway’s Late Model season championship, where the previous year he prevailed as champion over the Modified division. Over the years Westfall has also competed in non-winged Sprint Cars and USAC’s (United States Auto Club) Silver Crown division and in each class he has had success.

His Midget appearances are less frequent and most notably occur during the off-season when racing turns to the climate-controlled indoor venues. Primarily a dirt track chauffeur, Westfall’s driving exploits at Tulsa, OK’s famed Chili Bowl Nationals have earned him a fan-favorite moniker. Over the past several years on the dirt oval, Westfall has been one of the few drivers to advance repeatedly through the rugged ‘alphabet features’ during the final night of the Chili Bowl.

Fort Wayne’s concrete surfaced Rumble oval is one of Westfall’s rare non-dirt appearances. He has been a loyal supporter of the unique event since 1998, and has cracked the starting field time five times, with two top-five finishes. His best finish was in his initial Rumble attempt in 1998 when he crossed the line third. Two years ago (2013) Westfall finished fifth.

As has been the case for many years, Westfall will be behind the wheel of a Dave Ryder owned machine.

The duo teams up once a year for the Rumble in what is a family tradition. Ryder is Westfall’s uncle and helping to turn the wrenches on the Troy, OH based machine is Matt’s father, Phil.

Joining the Midget division of racing over the two-day period on the 1/6 mile concrete oval will be two classes of 600cc Midgets along with multiple classes of Go Karts and Quarter Midgets.

Advance reserved seat tickets for each night of the annual post-Holiday race meet are available through Ticketmaster and the Memorial Coliseum Expo Center box office.

[smith19]

to bad he lost his late model ride. he didn't get a fair chance with only 1 full year of lm experience. thought he did a good job... jmo

[PJ Wright]

IMO, Matt is an exceptional talent. If I had the funds to field any kind of race team, he would be the first guy I called.