MATT WOOD RACING ANNOUNCES HANGTOWN 100 DRIVER LINEUP

By: Gary Thomas

Placerville, California (October 29, 2019)………As the inaugural Elk Grove Ford Hangtown 100 approaches, Matt Wood Racing is pleased to announce its driver lineup for the upcoming event on November 19th and 20th at the Placerville Speedway in California.

Matt Wood Racing has brought on an eclectic mix of drivers to take part in the USAC NOS Energy Drink National/Western States Midget event, which features a $130,000 purse over two nights of racing. The MWR/Elk Grove Ford team will be made up of Fremont’s Shane Golobic, Hollister’s Ryan Bernal, Roseville’s Colby Copeland; Sydney, Australia’s Kaidon Brown and a fifth car to be announced.

Golobic is the full-time pilot of the Matt Wood Racing machine and has been a several-time A-main starter at the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma, along with being a former Indiana Midget Week champion. He swept both nights of the Louie Vermeil Classic in 2018 and is a former two-time winner of the prestigious Winged 360 Sprint Car Trophy Cup in Tulare, California. Golobic also drove the Elk Grove Ford/ NOS Energy Drink No. 17W to his second career World of Outlaws victory this season at Placerville Speedway.

Bernal, a versatile driver out of California has made the Chili Bowl A-main twice in his career, with the highlight being an impressive charge from 24th to fifth in 2018. He also has a third-place finish at the Turkey Night Grand Prix in the past and a fourth-place result at the Hut 100.

Copeland, another Northern California racer, made the A-main at the Chili Bowl for the second time in his career this year. He has accumulated big victories in Winged Sprint Car racing at the Howard Kaeding Classic in Watsonville and in Wingless Sprint Car action at the Louie Vermeil Classic in Calistoga.

Australian racer Kaidon Brown will also make his first start in the United States for Matt Wood Racing, beginning at the Hangtown 100. The 18-year-old has been racing midgets for three-years and in 2017 became the youngest driver to win the Australian National Championship in the events 78-year history. He has competed in New Zealand the last two seasons during the International Series racing against the likes of Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson. Brown is also the 2018/ ’19 New South Wales Midget Champion.

Brown spoke about the opportunity to join Matt Wood Racing for not only the Hangtown 100, but also the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget events at the Bakersfield Speedway and the annual Turkey Night Grand Prix at Ventura Raceway. “I am very excited to head over to America and race for the first time,” Brown commented. “I can’t thank Matt Wood enough for this amazing opportunity and look forward to working with him, as well as Shane and Dustin Golobic. Although it will be tough, hopefully I can put some good results together for the team.”

Tuesday’s PureCrop1 main event on November 19th will be 30-laps, $5,000-to-win and features the top-12 cars in combined points inverted. Following the action on opening night there will be a post-race party on the fairgrounds with food, drinks, a live band and a lot of fun to be had.

Wednesday night’s Royal Truck Body A-main on November 20th will be 100-laps around the famed red clay oval with the winner picking up a $20,000 payday. The overall points champion for the two nights will pocket a $12,000 bonus.

Reserved seating continues to be on sale for the Elk Grove Ford Hangtown 100 and can be purchased by visiting www.hangtown100.com/tickets.

A rain date has also been established for Thursday November 21st in case of inclement weather. To stay up to date with event news be sure and visit www.hangtown100.com and follow along on Twitter https://twitter.com/hangtown100

The Placerville Speedway is located on the beautiful El Dorado County Fairgrounds in Placerville, California. Take Hwy US-50 to Forni Road/Placerville Drive exit. Then go north on Placerville Drive to the Fairgrounds. The physical address is 100 Placerville Dr., Placerville, CA 95667. For more information on the Placerville Speedway log onto www.placervillespeedway.com