The Tolbert/Carr pits are fun & relaxing and they all work together like a well-oiled machine. I didn't get to go to Pomona last year and decided I wouldn't miss it for anything this year. We flew out on Thursday evening to give us an extra day to get used to the three hour time change, as I knew it would be a very long day on Saturday. The California weather was beautiful and I got to meet Sandra Bullock!

We didn't have our usual three practices, no throw away round, so Matt and Kenny had to try and get the bike dialed in and made several adjustments from the first practice to the second.

He qualified 10th and was still struggling a little before the heat race, which was the toughest of the day. Wiles, Halbert, Schnabel, Mees, and Matt were all in the third heat together and it ended up that these five riders were in the top eight of the main! We had some added excitement with a couple restarts in our heat race. Matt lost several spots on the restart and worked his way forward passing Mees and then Schnabel. He caught Sammy and the two battled a couple laps with Sammy getting second place and Matt a close third.

He was disappointed to have missed another dash and now would have to start on the second row. He felt fast and had a crazy line that only he seemed to be using. He had the ability to pass a lot of people on the second restart, so he felt confident that his line would enable him to move forward in the main.

It was time for our Feature and the track was in rough shape. With all the crashes and injured riders throughout the day, I was hoping and praying they would just get the main event off safely. The feature was very exciting to watch and all the riders did a great job showing their professionalism towards each other. On the original start, Matt came from about tenth place off of turn 2 all the way to fourth in just a few laps. He had passed Bonsey and Sammy on the third or fourth lap and as he went into turn 3 on the next lap, I could see someone fall behind him.

The red lights came out and as the riders came around, I could see that both Sammy and Bonsey had crashed. The restart was kind of a blur and I had trouble finding Matthew for a whole lap! The next lap I saw him come off of turn two in fourth place with Carr in fifth. For the next several laps Matt battled with Coolbeth for third.

The two passed back and forth many times and it made for a very exciting five or six laps. Smith, who was up front, broke, putting Matt in third. He stayed there by himself for several laps trying to continue to ride his line, which was through most of the major holes. I was so excited thinking that he might get his first podium at Pomona, but he was having a hard time holding on and almost got off three or four times. Mees, Kopp, and Sammy ran him down and looked like their lines were much smoother.

He seemed to catch Mees and Kopp at the end, but not close enough to do anything. He would have to settle for a sixth place, one spot better than last year. Everyone was in one piece, and the Twins title had been decided as well as the Overall. Congrats to Jared and Sammy on their championships and Henry on his first twins win.

Matthew has had a great year; consistently finishing in the top 4-8th place in all but one of the twins races and only missed one main with a bike failure. When I look at the names of the top ten riders in the Twins and Overall standings and see he is 8th and 10th, I am in awe. At just 18 years old, Matt is rapidly progressing into the top ranks, amongst his heroes, in the sport that he loves.

He looks forward to 2010 and is trying to put together a Twins ride or his own program for next year.

Once again we want to thank all our sponsors: Silkolene, Shoei, Screamin Eagle, Saddlemen, SuperTrapp, K&N, Tsubaki, EBC, Motion Pro, Tuff Plates, Moose Racing, Boughner Suspension, Chicken Hawk, Works Connection, Vortex, CP Pistons, White's HD, Cometic & Weiss Racing