Dave Matson started late in the drag racing world but what he's lacked in timeliness he's substituted with skill. The owner of a concrete and engineer contract business, Matson spends his time racing up and down the West Coast, dusting guys half his age with his altered 1967 Chevrolet Camaro. His big goals are to step up his racing operation, which right now only includes two Camaros, and solicit sponsors. The Union's Sports Writer Zuri Berry caught up with Matson for a one-on-one.



Much ado has been made about you starting to get into drag racing, seriously, late. What would you prefer people to talk about?

I'm not even looking at age as an issue. As far as reaction time and all that, I don't have any problem beating guys half my age. I don't even think about the later in life part of it.

If you could drive any car besides a Chevrolet, what would it be?

Probably an older style Barracuda or Challenger. We're thinking about making a body style change (on the Camaro), possibly.

Would you describe race car driving as expensive?

Yes, it's expensive. It's an expensive drug addiction, is what it is.



How hard is it to be an up-and-coming race car driver right now?

It's challenging, mainly because of the economy. I wanted to step up with the "A" car this year but I couldn't. Mainly because business has been down. I haven't had the financials to do it.



What do you love most about being a race car driver?

It's everything. It's the working on the cars between races as much as I enjoy driving them ... as much as I enjoy driving all night to get to the race track, which is what we normally do.

— Zuri Berry