Ryan Mathews (born July 1, 1978) is an American

stock car racing Stock car racing is a form of Auto racing, automobile racing run on oval track racing, oval tracks and road courses. It originally used Production vehicle, production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifical ...

driver from

Lake Geneva, Wisconsin Lake Geneva is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located in Walworth County and situated on Geneva Lake, it was home to 8,277 people as of the 2020 census, up from 7,651 at the 2010 census. It is located southwest of Milwaukee and no ...

. He was a part-time driver of the No. 75 Ray Hackett Racing Ford in the

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck-based stock car racing, s ...

in 2009.Biography at nascar.com
Retrieved September 7, 2007 His career also went through ASA, ARCA, and the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East.

Background

His education background is in engineering from

Kettering University Kettering University is a private university in Flint, Michigan. It offers Bachelor of Science, bachelor of science and master's degree, master’s degrees in Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, STEM (science, technology, engineer ...

Flint, Michigan Flint is the largest city in Genesee County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. Located along the Flint River (Michigan), Flint River northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the Central Michigan, Mid Michigan region. Flin ...

. During his time there he also served as a contributing member of Kappa Sigma chapter of

Theta Xi Theta Xi () is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. It was founded at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1864. Of all the social fraternities today, Theta Xi was the only one founded during the Civil War. Its Grand Lodge is ...

fraternity. He began racing in a

kart A go-kart, also written as go-cart (often referred to as simply a kart), is a type of small sports car, close wheeled car, open-wheel car or quadracycle. Go-karts come in all shapes and forms, from non-motorised models to high-performance ...

at age 15. He moved to a mini- sprint car at Wilmot Speedway in

Wilmot, Wisconsin Wilmot (also Gilead) is a residential and business community in the village of Salem Lakes, Wisconsin, Salem Lakes in southwestern Kenosha County, Wisconsin, Kenosha County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the United States Census, 2010, 2010 ce ...

, and was the track rookie of the year and fourth overall. He finished second in mini-sprint points at Wilmot in 1996, and fourth overall in the Wisconsin Mini-sprint Association (which included races at the Calumet County Racing Association). He had five wins on the season, and recorded three wins at Wilmot in 1997. Late in 1997 he raced the one mile dirt track at

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its population was 114,394 at the 2020 United States census, which makes it the state's List of cities in Illinois, seventh-most populous cit ...

, in an ARCA series event. Matthews moved to the Mid-American SuperTruck Series on asphalt in 1998. He had three Top 5 finishes as a rookie, and two features wins and a pole position in 1999 and 2000. He then moved to the Super Late Models at

Slinger Super Speedway The Slinger Super Speedway (also known as Slinger Speedway) is a quarter-mile paved oval automobile race track with 33-degree banked corners located in Slinger, Wisconsin. The track is billed as the "World's Fastest Quarter Mile Oval." The curr ...

in 2001, and was the series Rookie of the Year. In 2003 he quit his job as an

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

Harley Davidson Harley may refer to: People * Harley (given name) * Harley (surname) Places * Harley, Ontario, a township in Canada * Harley, Brant County, Ontario, Canada * Harley, Shropshire, England * Harley, South Yorkshire, England * Harley Street, i ...

to race full-time. He competed in the Midwest All-Star Racing Series (MARS), and he won his fiftieth race on a short track that season. He competed in the Slinger Nationals, and finished fifth against nationally known drivers. Another season highlight was finishing third at

Madison International Speedway The Madison International Speedway (MIS) is a half-mile paved oval racetrack in the Town of Rutland near Oregon, Wisconsin, United States. With 18-degree banked turns, the track is billed as "The Track of Champions" and "Wisconsin's Fastest H ...

ahead of

Kurt Busch Kurt Thomas Busch (born August 4, 1978) is an American auto racing driver. He is best known for competing in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2000–2022, last driving the No. 45 Toyota Camry TRD for 23XI Racing. Busch is the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series ch ...

and

Matt Kenseth Matthew Roy Kenseth (born March 10, 1972) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and the current competition advisor for Legacy Motor Club in the NASCAR Cup Series. Most recently, he raced part-time in the Superstar Racing Exper ...

. He moved to the

American Speed Association The American Speed Association (ASA) is a sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States formed in 1968. The Association was based in Pendleton, Indiana, Pendleton, Indiana, and later in Daytona Beach, Florida. The ASA sanctioned asphalt a ...

National Series in 2004 as well as selected Super Late Model events. In 2005 he competed in six different Super Late Model series from

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. He earned 34 top-10s, 17 top-5s, and one win during the 2005 season. He also finished top 5 in points in three major touring series that same year. In 2006 he competed in the ARCA series with Eddie Sharp Racing where his best finish was 2nd at Michigan Speedway.

NASCAR career

Mathews started racing in the Craftsman Truck Series at the seventh race of 2007 for

Bill Davis Racing Bill Davis Racing was a racing team that participated in all three of NASCAR's top divisions until 2009. The team had run Toyota-branded stock cars and trucks in the Camping World Truck Series (Toyota Tundra) since 2004 and Sprint Cup Series ( T ...

2007 NASCAR driving statistics at racing-reference.info
Retrieved September 7, 2007 after Tyler Walker was suspended for violating NASCAR's substance abuse policy, and the team had lost its sponsor. He earned his first

pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the ra ...

on July 13, 2007, at

Kentucky Speedway Kentucky Speedway is an inactive tri-oval intermediate speedway in Sparta, Kentucky. It has hosted various major races throughout its existence, including NASCAR and IndyCar races. The track is owned by Speedway Motorsports, LLC (SMI) and ...

, and finished fourth in the race. His other Top 10 finish in 2007 was a sixth-place finish at Memphis Motorsports Park. Mathews competed in one NASCAR event in 2008 for the newly formed CHS Motorsports. The one event was the Chevy Silverado 350K at

Texas Motor Speedway Texas Motor Speedway (formerly known as Texas International Raceway from September to December 1996) is a quad-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. It has hosted various major races since its inaugura ...

. He would start the race in 34th and finish 33rd. For the 2009 season, Mathews signed on to drive in select races for Ray Hackett Racing in the No. 75

Ford F-150 The Ford F-Series is a series of light-duty trucks marketed and manufactured by Ford Motor Company since model year 1948 as a range of full-sized pickup trucks — positioned between Ford's Ranger and Super Duty pickup trucks. Alongs ...

, starting with the WinStar World Casino 400 at

. He would also drive select races for CHS Motorsports.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

( key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Camping World Truck Series

K&N Pro Series East

ARCA Re/Max Series

( key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mathews, Ryan 1978 births American Speed Association drivers Living people NASCAR drivers ARCA Menards Series drivers People from Lake Geneva, Wisconsin Kettering University alumni Racing drivers from Wisconsin