Matthews Motorsports


 * For information on the individual drivers, please see Ryan Matthews, Tiffany Matthews, Kellan Rogers, and Billy Ray Smith-Thompson.

Matthews Motorsports is an American racing team competing in the TM Lights, ARLA Elite Series, Dash Cup, and RROL Elite Series. The team is based in Bristol, Connecticut.

Prior to the 2012 season, the team fielded entries in the Vaughn Stock Car Championship, running a partial schedule in 2011. It was one of two VSCC teams that fielded the Juneau S1.

Pre-stock car history
Matthews Motorsports began operations in 2001 as a late model team in the Can-Am Touring Series. Team owner Ryan Matthews was the lone driver, fielding a green and blue No. 6 Lenard. Matthews experienced little success that first season, finishing 30th in the final points standings. Matthews improved steadily through 2002 and 2003, finishing 20th in 2002 and 14th in 2003. By 2004, Matthews had won three races en route to a 3rd-place finish in the points.

The team took its current shape in 2005. At the Can-Am tour stop in Barrie, Ontario, Matthews finished fifth, but it was the driver that finished in front of him that caught his eye: a 19-year-old named Tiffany Rogers. She had finished third despite being spun twice and fighting a loose race car throughout. Impressed by her skills, Matthews made a point to introduce himself after the race and offer her a ride. After a little convincing over dinner, she accepted the offer and moved to the team for the 2006 season.

The duo started the 2006 campaign on a colossal roll, racking up four straight top-5 finishes. Both Matthews (in the No. 6) and Rogers (in the No. 16, her car number prior to joining the team) earned victories in that stretch, with Matthews' win coming at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Rogers' coming at Cayuga 2000. The mojo continued through the year, with Matthews winning the championship and Rogers finishing third.

Matthews and Rogers married prior to the 2007 season, in which both drivers finished in the top ten in points.

2008 and 2009 saw more of the same from the Matthews duo, as Ryan won his second championship in 2009. Tiffany would place in the top five each season, with a second-place points finish in 2009 - the first time in Can-Am history that teammates finished one-two in the final standings.

In that offseason, discussion began of taking the operation to a different discipline – the world of stock cars. In March of 2010, Ryan Matthews announced that the 2010 season would be Matthews Motorsports' last in the late-model ranks, and would move to stock cars in 2011 ("whichever series will have us," Matthews said during the press conference).

The 2010 season would show a reversal of sorts for the team, as Tiffany would finish higher in the final points standings than Ryan for the first time – she would finish third while he finished fifth.

2011: Moving to the stock car ranks
In the 2010 offseason, Matthews Motorsports, as promised, began investigating its options for its stock car debut. The TM Master Cup Series was eliminated outright as an option, as both Matthewses felt that, in spite of their prior successes, jumping into the deep end of the pool would be counterproductive. As a result, the search for a series focused on the lower divisions of racing as a starting point. Lenard had signed on to provide technical support and cars (continuing the working relationship from the Can-Am Tour), but when Matthews suggested ARLA as an option, Lenard terminated the deal, citing its exclusivity to Jaguar Racing as a consequence of ARLA's one-chassis-per-manufacturer rule. The ASCC was also floated as a possible destination (short season and all-American locations were the main selling points), but once the rules discouraging foreign as well as non-male drivers (meaning Tiffany would technically have two strikes against her as a Canadian-born female) were made public, that option was also eliminated. That left the VSCC as a destination. By the time things shook out, however, no full-time spots in the VSCC remained, so the decision was made to run a part-time schedule there and pick up other races wherever possible.

Neither car number 6 nor 16 were available, so each driver selected numbers closest to the last two digits of their years of birth for their new cars - 75 for Ryan, 85 for Tiffany. Sponsorship also followed quickly, with Jiffy Lube signing on to sponsor Ryan in the 75 and Stop & Shop inking a deal with the 85 team. But there was still one thing left unresolved - which car model the team would run.

With about a month before the season was to begin, representatives from the Inglesby Motor Company contacted Matthews about providing cars and engines for the team. The manufacturer had launched its Juneau division late in 2010 and was looking for teams to run its cars. Matthews jumped on the opportunity, selecting the S1. With the last piece of the puzzle in place, the team could finally concentrate on going racing.

VSCC: Successes, and disappointments
The Matthews Motorsports cars made their debut in the second qualifying race for the VSCC season-opener at Daytona International Speedway. Both drivers expressed concerns about being placed in the same race in pre-race interviews, with Ryan saying "getting through clean would be a priority." Tiffany took it a step further, saying, "It's the other guys that worry me."

Tiffany's words would prove to be prophetic: she was involved in the aftermath of a third-lap incident and her car was severely damaged. Though she managed to finish the race, she ended two laps down in 21st place and on the outside looking in. Ryan had better luck, finishing in 11th and making the race.

Ryan would show the skills he honed over the years in the main event, as he kept the car clean and was in the lead pack in the closing laps. He would work his way to second place, where he eventually finished. The 75 team was the highest finisher of the five Juneau cars that were on the initial entry list.

At Karjala, which was slated to be the second event Matthews Motorsports was to enter, it was more of the same – Tiffany got caught in someone else's incident and finished 15th in the qualifying race, while Ryan got through and made the show. However, his Karjala luck (or lack thereof) kicked in, as he, like Tiffany in the qualifier, got caught in someone else's wreck and was turned tail-first into the guard rail. He would finish 22nd.

TM Master Cup Series: a taste of the big time
Building on its successful Daytona debut, Matthews Motorsports announced its intentions to attempt to make the Karjala Grand Prix, the crown jewel of the TM Master Cup schedule. Due to Master Cup regulations, the team could not (initially) re-skin its Juneau S1s and bring them to Karjala. (It was later announced, after the entry blanks were submitted for both drivers, that Juneau would have given them the OK to do so.) As a result, the team invested in a pair of Omecha MA02 cars, one each for Ryan and Tiffany. Jiffy Lube would carry its sponsorship to Ryan's entry, which would carry the number 76 (as 75 was already in use). Stop & Shop, however, was reluctant to do the same for Tiffany's car, citing its, along with parent company Ahold's, absence from the Finnish marketplace. (Jiffy Lube, interestingly, had no such reservations.) The team announced Blackberry would sponsor the car in a one-off arrangement. As with Ryan's entry, Tiffany's car also received a number change to 86.

However, once the final approved entry list was released by Master Cup officials, Tiffany's entry was not on it. Stewards cited a number conflict as the reason for the rejection (another team also wanted to enter a No. 86 entry), and as a result only Ryan would be entered.

Paperwork issues arose again once the Matthews Motorsports hauler arrived at Karjala, as track officials declined to let it into the paddock. After a brief discussion, it was determined the officials were using an out-of-date listing and the hauler was allowed to enter. The team was assigned paddock number 76, which Ryan Matthews called "a good sign".

Unfortunately, a poor first-round qualifying effort put Matthews into the pre-qualifier stage, and he finished 28th in the second race.

Decatur was kinder to Matthews Motorsports, as Ryan Matthews' No. 76 Omecha performed well enough for him to finish sixth in his pre-qualifying race and he advanced to the main qualifying race for the first time in his two Master Cup attempts. Matthews started 31st and couldn't make any headway, finishing 32nd. Fortunately for him, 32nd was the final transfer slot, which meant that, for the first time, Matthews Motorsports would compete in racing's top division – quite an accomplishment considering that just one year ago the organization was still in late model racing.

ARLA Elite Series
Matthews Motorsports announced it would attempt to qualify for the ARLA Elite Series endurance event, the 150 Laps of Dwyer, at the Dwyer Speedpark in Minnesota. Tiffany was listed as the primary driver for the event, with Ryan assuming the role of relief driver. Despite a mid-race get-together with Anthony Griffith, Tiffany rallied to bring her Cromwell CS home in eighth place – one of the best finishes for a debutante driver in the event.

At Rockford, Tiffany started shotgun on the field in the first heat race, but could not advance any further than 12th, missing the opportunity to advance.

2012: Expansion of operations, and a reunion
The new year saw a number of changes for Matthews Motorsports; most notably, the team received (and accepted) an invitation to run ARLA. Matthews Motorsports fielded two cars, with both Ryan and Tiffany moving up from the VSCC to drive them. Tiffany is driving full-time in the Elite Series, while Ryan is running a partial schedule. The promotion also allows Matthews Motorsports to rekindle its long-time relationship with the Lenard Motor Company.

Additionally, Matthews Motorsports announced, in an effort to reconnect with its history, a change in car numbers for ARLA. Effective January 1, 2012, the team's cars will carry the numbers 106 and 116, in a number style to be designed in-house.

In a surprising reversal, Matthews Motorsports announced prior to the beginning of the 2012 TM Master Cup season that it would indeed field an entry for the 2012 TM Lights season. It was believed the team would not do so after team owner Ryan Matthews was signed to a Master Cup deal with Majestic Motorsports, and the team even announced such after his signing was announced. "Tiffany begged me to reconsider," Matthews said in an interview prior to the Round of Las Vegas. "She saw the Lights opportunity as not only a way for her to gain more seat time, but also as a way for her to make our one-off entries more attractive to the stewards," he added, referring to her two failed attempts to go Cup racing in 2011. "So I told her I'd think about it. Little did she know that I already had a deal in place for her – I just had to fax over the paperwork."

The Matthews Motorsports entry will be sponsored by A&W, and will, as a nod to Tiffany's late-model career, carry her traditional number 16.

In an effort to make the team more visible in the European market, Matthews Motorsports fielded a part-time entry in the Dash Cup series. It tapped Kellan Rogers, the younger sister of Tiffany, to drive the No. 46 Canadian Tire STS. Rogers initially was tapped to drive in the VSCC for the team, but that series collapsed at the end of 2011. Rogers impressed in her limited schedule, finishing inside the top 20 in points and earned a full-time ride with Eichholtz Atlantic Motorsports in 2013.

Rogers, along with Florida sprint car ace Billy Ray Smith-Thompson, are also competing in the VSCC's successor series, the RROL Elite Series, in 2012.

2013: A season in flux?
Much is yet to be determined as far as the team's operations in 2013 are concerned. With Rogers leaving the Dash Cup program, it is believed that Matthews Motorsports will shut that operation down. The team will retain its ARLA spot, but with the possibility of Tiffany Matthews being signed to the Lynxe Women's Team in the TM Lights, that seat may become open. Smith-Thompson may get the ride, depending on what happens with Ryan Matthews' Cup career.

Applied learning: The Matthews M12/Aspira
Matthews Motorsports had expressed interest in competing for the 2012 Independent's Trophy in the TM Master Cup Series, and instead of purchasing an Omecha chassis for that effort, went about developing its own chassis for such an endeavor. The project, dubbed the M12 (for Matthews 2012), was launched in mid-2011. The prototype was unveiled in September, but the initial response was tepid (one reporter went so far as to call it "bland"), prompting team officials and engineers to make extensive cosmetic modifications to the prototype. ("I think the only thing we kept were the tail light decals," Ryan Matthews said in a November interview.) The revamped prototype was unveiled in 2012, prior to that year's Karjala Grand Prix.

A false start: Karjala
Matthews Motorsports announced it would attempt to debut the M12 at the 2012 Karjala Grand Prix. However, due to Tiffany's unavailability for the event (ARLA was scheduled to run in Toronto the same weekend), the team tabbed ASCC rookie and Connecticut driver Joe Olenick for the spot. It had registered for the number 46, which the team currently uses in the Dash Cup series. (The number 76 was not available as it had been assigned to Mitchell & Sons Racing's third car.)

However, Olenick was not approved by the TM Master Cup officials, and thus, the team was forced to skip the Grand Prix. It was expected that Matthews Motorsports would attempt Indianapolis, with Olenick listed again as the driver since Tiffany Matthews will be racing in Japan the same weekend.

The team's entry was accepted this time, and the M12, now co-branded Aspira, took to the track in a competitive setting for the first time. Olenick squeaked through pre-qualifying, but did not get through the main qualifying round and missed the event.

RROL Elite Series
The team also developed a version of the M12 dubbed the T-Type, for use in what was the VSCC. The collapse of that league had placed the T-Type's use in doubt, but the series' rebirth as the RROL Elite Series put those plans back into service.

The car made its debut at the 2012 RROL Daytona 250. Unlike its Master Cup cousin, the T-Type will not be rebranded as Aspira.

ARLA Elite Series
Matthews Motorsports developed an ARLA-spec version of the Aspira for possible use in 2013, but the team has not decided if it will use the chassis.

Future plans
The plans for an Independent's Trophy run in 2012 might be dusted off for 2013, but so far nothing has come from the team on that. A lot of the uncertainty revolves around the status of Ryan Matthews, who may catch on with another Master Cup team after it was announced that Lynxe had purchased Majestic Motorsports and will seek to hire its own drivers.