2.
16 THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS
JUNE 29 - JULY 5, 2005
Mathews races across the finish line at the Kansas Speedway,leading one of the student drivers around the track. The flagman was signaling to the student to follow closer and pick up more speed.
Pulling back in to pit road, Mathews gets ready to lead another driver around the track in the number 88 car.
Racer
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"I talk to him the entire time he's racing as if he can hear me," she said. "But he doesn't make me nervous, it's the other guys out there. But still, I'm always saying 'Oh, bad move...back off him..."
Mathews said he was not the speed demon people might have thought he was and it was not just the speed that drew him to the sport.
"Racing attracts me because it is the illusion of being in control of a man-made machine. A machine that you must time and know how to tune to be faster than the other guys," Mathews said. "Behind the wheel is another dimension - it's like a zone. You don't want to be bothered, just focus. You don't really think and you are making thousands of decisions every second."
Jonna Yencic, who currently dates Mathews, said she thought there was a little bit of a speed demon in him.
"When he drives, even on normal streets, I hold on for
Mathews will spend the rest of his summer at Petty and traveling the country marketing himself to race teams. He said his ultimate fantasy would be to find a job racing in a series.
Mathews' mother said all the worry and money that it has taken to get him this far was worth it because it had made him happy.
"It's what we all hope for our kids," she said. "That they succeed at what they enjoy."
dear life," Yencic said.
Mathews said he understood how much his family had sacrificed for him to be where he was today.
"I am very grateful for where I came from, know where I came from, I know how lucky I am," Mathews said. "Racing is a part of me, but not just because I race. Racing has made me who I am, and also made me care about people in my life."
—Edited by John Scheirman