Matt Merrell; Win-Tron Look To Continue Strong Start At Salem

Matt Merrell; Win-Tron Look To Continue Strong Start At Salem

Topics: Matt Merrell, Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200

Matt Merrell; Win-Tron Look To Continue Strong Start At Salem

Chris Knight
Knight Motorsports Management
Win-Tron Racing
April 28, 2011

SALEM, Indiana (April 28, 2011) - - On the heels of two consecutive top-10 finishes at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway and Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway respectively, Matt Merrell will return to the cockpit of the No. 32 Win-Tron Racing Dodge Charger for Sunday’s Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200 at Salem (Ind.) Speedway.

Merrell, the Portland, Texas native will make his fourth career-start at the tricky and treacherous short track. And while his starting positions have been impressive, short track bad luck has hindered the 26-year’s old ability to celebrate in victory lane. This weekend, Merrell and his team believe their chance is as good as any.

“I’m stoked about going back to Salem,” said Merrell, who also has competed at Salem (Ind.) Speedway in the USARacing Pro Cup Series. “The Win-Tron Racing team has given me very stout race cars all year long and I know our Win-Tron Racing Dodge Charger will be just as strong this weekend. Hopefully we can cap off a strong start to the season with our first victory together Sunday afternoon.”

Merrell has been close to victory lane. With back-to-back runner-up finishes at Berlin (Mi.) Raceway and Pocono (Pa.) Raceway in 2009, he has proven no matter what the track size or its unique characteristic he can contend.

“When you drive for a team like Win-Tron Racing, you have a shot to win each and every week,” Merrell added. “This team is full of heart and devotion to racing. They want to win just as bad as I do, so hopefully our time has come where we’ve paid our dues and we can finally score an ARCA win.”

He added, “I enjoyed racing at Daytona and Talladega. To compete at those places back-to-back is like a dream come true. But, I’m looking forward to some beating and banging. Salem has the potential to provide drama. It’s super fast but extremely tight with little room for error. We just have to keep doing what we’ve been doing the last two races and hope the first of several wins for Win-Tron Racing comes this weekend!”

Nate Thiesse, co-owner of Win-Tron Racing is thrilled to have Merrell at the helm for a third consecutive race. “It seems like our magic is back. Matt is such a privilege to work with. He enjoys racing and appreciates it. He does a great job for Win-Tron Racing and our supporters. I know he is anxious to win and we’re itching to take him to victory lane, hopefully it will finally come on Sunday!”

Merrell will make his 16th career start and fourth at Salem in the ARCA Racing Series presented Menards this weekend. In his previous 15 outings, Merrell has six top-fives including runner-up finishes of second at Berlin (Mich.) Raceway and Pocono (Pa.) Raceway (August) in 2009 and eight top-10s. His best start position for Win-Tron Racing occurred at the tricky triangle of Pocono (Pa.) Raceway where he qualified his No. 32 CollinsHope.org Dodge Charger second in June of 2009.

Win-Ton Racing will continue to welcome the support from partner Champion Brands, who joined the Lakeville, Minnesota-based team at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway earlier this month in the third of 19 ARCA Racing Series contests this year.

The Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200 (200 laps / 111 miles) is the third of 19 events on the 2011 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards schedule. The 86th ARCA race held at Salem Speedway is a two day show. Practice begins Saturday, April 30 with an hour and half practice session planned from 12:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Menards pole qualifying presented by Ansell is set for later in the day slated to begin at 3:30 p.m. An on-track autograph session has been etched in before the contest on Sunday, May 1st set to launch at 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. The event will take the green flag shortly after 2:15 p.m. The race will not be televised but race coverage including live timing and scoring and radio broadcast will be available through the ARCA Racing Network (ARN) online at arcaracing.com. All times are local.

Further information including driver opportunities with Win-Tron Racing is available by visiting win-tronracing.com or contacting Nate Thiesse at 952.469.1839.

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TEAM COMMUNICATIONS CONTACT:

NAME: Chris Knight, Knight Motorsports Management
PHONE: 239.834.9797
EMAIL: chris@chrisknightpr.com