Matt addresses his racers.

Racing Promoter, Maribel, WI
Impact Survival Series: traveling enduro-series for 4-cylinder front-wheel drive cars.

Besides running a salvage yard, used car business, and traveling racing series any given weekend from April through November, Matt travels to other race tracks in Wisconsin, Iowa and Michigan with his electronic scoring equipment to score their enduros. I guess you could say he truly has racing in his blood. He’s more than a promoter, he’s a die-hard race fan!

Matt has been promoting races for 14 years and has a 20-year on again, off again, driving career. “The years I didn’t race were the years I was recovering financially from the season before. It took an awful lot of years to figure out that what many view as the lowest level of racing actually has the highest rate of return,” shares Matt.

Matt was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. His father, Donald, is a professor of Medieval English. During his elementary school years, Matt and his family lived in Madison. However, his father’s research took them abroad and he lived in

England for a number of years.

Matt soon learned that engineering was not his passion and decided to pursue a career working with automobiles. Matt opened a small auto repair shop called On Track Auto. It was at this point that he began pursuing his dream of driving a race car.

His career began at Columbus 151 Speedway in the Super Stock division, but the very next year he moved up into the traveling Mid-American Series where he competed for seven years.

After 7 years of racing (and going broke doing so) he decided to buy a race track to finance his racing career. After all, any race car driver will tell you how much the promoters make – MILLIONS! Well, maybe not millions, but certainly enough to fund a late model team right? 10 years of running the 141 Speedway didn’t afford a race car after all or allow the time to compete.

After 10 years at 141 Speedway, Matt decided it was time for a change. He had the itch to return to racing himself, and purchased a small salvage yard that he was anxious to get off the ground. He sold the race track, but couldn’t bring himself to distance himself from the enduro racers who so genuinely enjoy what they do, so he decided to take the series on the road. Thus, the Impact Survival Series was born. Over the past two years, the series has taken hold and started to generate quite the following. The upcoming season for the series includes races at Columbus 151 Speedway, Wisconsin International Raceway, and Shawano Speedway.

About the Impact Survival Series

Originally, the Enduro series was started at 141 to cultivate new drivers. After 10 years of running as a feeder system, it became obvious that they were much more than just a “feeder”. They had a following of their own.

“When you strap in for one of our races it’s usually for 300 laps. You’ll race against some amazing drivers; guys and gals who can negotiate an ever-changing course with the precision of a surgeon,” shares Matt.

To keep the playing field level and the costs at a minimum, the top 2 finishers always “lose” their cars to the automatic claim rule. Build another one for the next contest. It’s this confiscation rule that prevents racers from buying expensive equipment. It almost becomes a contest to spend less than the other guy!

Finally an affordable form of racing. Veteran racers “dropped down” a level or 2 to join us.

The need for speed can be downright addictive at times. Perhaps it just attracts additive personalities. You just have to see it for yourself. CLICK HERE to learn more about Rowe’s next ISS event.