Elmvale, Ontario – This past weekend Matt Garwood and Vallis Motorsport headed south of the boarder to take on the ‘Tricky Triangle’ of Pocono Raceway for the fourth round of the 2015 Formula 1200 Challenge Cup Series Championship and earned two podium finishes.

After an 8-hour drive to the venue the team arrived Thursday to prepare for the weekends festivities and the test day on Friday. As this was a new track for Garwood a day full of on track activity was crucial. After a solid day of testing on Friday Garwood and the team felt like they had prepared a good car and were ready to battle for another win.

Saturday morning the team had a game plan for Qualifying and knew every lap would count, as the session was only 15 minutes in length. Since Pocono Raceway is such a large and fast track having a drafting partner was key to assist a good lap around the venue. As qualifying concluded Garwood stood third overall only tenths off the pole. Knowing we had a car and driver to get the job done Garwood was frustrated with the starting spot but knew we were close enough to make a run at the win!

As Saturday afternoon’s race began Garwood quickly made his way to the second position entering turn one and then a pass for the lead entering the long NASCAR back straight, he wanted the lead and took it. Throughout the race there were many cars in the mix as the field changed positions each lap. On the last lap it was Garwood leading but he knew it was going to be difficult to keep the long line of cars drafting and pushing behind him. On the back straight Garwood could do nothing but watch as two cars nose to tail pushed their way by to take the lead leaving Garwood in third place crossing the finish line.

“It was very hard and frustrating to watch two cars pass you on the last lap after working so hard to get to that position but there is nothing a driver can do” said the 20 year old driver.

Garwood would once again get another podium finishing third. After the race the crew and driver went to work making a few adjustments to try and improve it for Sunday’s main event.

With a different schedule this weekend, the Challenge Cup Race was scheduled to be 40 minutes and the field was lined up by Saturdays finishing position.

At the start of the race Garwood quickly jumped to second making passes into turn one and again wherever he had an opening. As the race went on Garwood started to experience a lack of straightway speed and radioed to the crew that he could hear a noise and had no power. This was very difficult for the Elmvale, Ontario-based driver as he knew something was wrong and that he would get passed on the long straightway. He had to put his head down and focus on the big picture, collecting points for the championship. As the race concluded Garwood gave it his all crossing the line third in class. Once the team took a look at the car the end result was a crack in the manifold that caused the noise and lack of power.

Garwood commented: “Finishing third is disappointing for us as we had come off a win last weekend at PIRC and we knew we could back it up today. As the end of the season gets closer we need to start thinking about our points and will take third even with the problem, it could have been much worse”

Garwood also had a busy weekend as he announced two new partners. Driverseat Barrie and the Automotive Business School of Canada have both partnered with Garwood for the remainder of 2015.

“I am thrilled to have the support from a local company like Driverseat Barrie and my College Program; the Automotive Business School of Canada. I could not ask for better partners to have on board as we fight for my first Formula 1200 Championship.” Garwood added. “I would like to thank the team and all my sponsors for their hard work and support! The crew traveled many hours to get to Pocono and I could not be more proud to be a part of Vallis Motorsport, let’s go win this championship at NJMP!”

Garwood still has a commanding lead in the 2015 Formula 1200 Challenge Cup Series as they head to New Jersey Motorsport Park August 28-30.

For the second weekend in a row Garwood will donate money to the Laps For Muscular Dystrophy (Laps4MD) campaign as well.

Garwood’s impressive list of partners he is proud to represent include; FEL (Franczak Enterprises Ltd.), The Automotive Business School of Canada, Driverseat Barrie, Vallis Motor Sport, KarmaComa Studio, Core Evolution Fitness, Athletes Brand and Autoglym Canada.

To learn more about Matt Garwood and his racing program please visit www.mattgarwoodracing.com, www.facebook.com/MattGarwoodRacing and follow him on Twitter at @mattgarwood31.

About Matt Garwood

Matt is a 20 year-old race car driver from Elmvale, Ontario currently studying at the Automotive Business School of Canada. Matt competes in the Formula 1200 open wheel racing series and in the near future looks to jump from regional racing to a national level series such as the Canadian Touring Car championship. He is a 3-time Canadian Karting League Champion and the 2012 Formula 1200 Rookie of the Year.

www.mattgarwoodracing.com