Matt Hein at Spokane County Raceway. RB-IMAGES.NETSo close: Blown tire costs Matt Hein victory in SpokaneWhen it looked like Matt Hein was about to cruise to his second Northwest Sprintcar Racing Association victory of the season, one of the most important things on his car gave way. A tire, specifically the left rear, shredded, and the sudden instability of the car put his machine in the wall, ending what had otherwise been a spectacular night for the 21-year-old.The Roseburg, Oregon driver, piloting the Hein Racing No. 98h Shaver-powered Beast sponsored by Coastline West Insulation, Independent Motor Rebuilders, Tonka Excavation LLC, Long's Building Supply, C&R Striping Company and Oregon Tool & Supply, was making his first visit to Spokane County Raceway in two years. He wasted no time making his mark, as in qualifying he set fast time with a new all-time Spokane County Raceway track record with a lap of 15.113 seconds around the very fast ½-mile, semi-banked asphalt oval, averaging a whopping 119 mph.In his heat race, Matt started last and moved all the way up to finish third and transfer to the A-Main event. Being the fast qualifier, Matt had to make the draw for the invert, and it was an eight, putting him outside the fourth row. On the very first lap of the feature, Hein moved past four cars to get himself up to fourth place.Running behind Justin Mack, Andy Alberding and Kevin Burke, the reigning NSRA champion went to work. On Lap 7 he got Mack for third place. Two laps later, he got Alberding, the man who was the NSRA champ before Hein, for second place and then set his sights on Burke. On Lap 13, Hein made his move on Burke and took the lead away. Hein motored away from there, extending his lead to a half lap.Hein was thrilled with his car, saying it was amazing and it would go anywhere he needed it to go. All of a sudden, Lap 21 saw visible problems with the car as sparks were flying out the back of the car, being caused by his left rear tire going soft and the bottom of the frame dragging on the pavement because of it. Shortly after, the tire shredded and sent Hein into the front stretch wall. A tough end to what was a dominating performance by Matt Hein.Matt and the team will now regroup and get ready for the next NSRA event, the annual Rebel Jackson Memorial at Ephrata Raceway Park in eastern Washington, scheduled for August 1st. Hein has finished runner-up twice at Ephrata, so he and team believe they’re due for a victory at the ¼-mile, high-banked faded asphalt oval. Just a couple of weeks later, they will take a boat ride to Victoria, British Columbia for the Daffodil Cup race at Western Speedway.At 21 years of age, Matt Hein is one of the top pavement sprint car racers on the west coast, having multiple main event victories to his credit along with the 2008 Northwest Sprintcar Racing Association champion. Matt would like to thank all of his sponsors and fans for their great support. For more information on Matt and his race team, including photos, apparel and race schedule, check out Matt's website at http://www.heinracing.com.- - -Matt Hein's sponsorsIndependent Motor Rebuilders
Tonka Excavation LLC.
Long's Building Supply
C&R Striping Company
Cam Cat Tractor
Oregon Tool & Supply
Dirksen & Sons Oil
Double R Powder Coatings
Shaver Race Engines
Kaeding Performance
Bell Helmets
Douglas Welding Supply- - -Matt Hein
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