Matthew Light may be a rookie to the American All-Star Series Presented by PPM Racing Products. However, his family isn’t new to racing. He hopes some of that experience rubs off when he competes this Saturday, November 16, with the series’ $10,000-to-win race at his home track of Beckley Motor Speedway in West Virginia.
Light’s grandfather is Burton Auxier, a drag racer with a national NHRA pro modified championship. However, instead of hitting the drag strip, Light decided to hit the local dirt track.
“I don’t know why [I never went drag racing],” said Light, of Dixie, West Virginia. “It just never happened. I didn’t even know what dirt racing was until two years before I started racing. Honestly, it was the most random thought we had, and we went at it.”
Light ran a couple of enduros before he and co-worker Justin Elliot bought late models this past spring. Both were new to dirt racing. Before hitting an actual race, they turned some laps at Princeton Speedway in West Virginia under the tutelage of National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame inductee Dale McDowell. Not a bad choice, considering McDowell mentored two NASCAR drivers, Austin and Ty Dillon.
“We asked Dale to help us try to not look like idiots when we go on track,” Light said. “He would tell us what to do, when to turn, when to brake, what type of grooves to run, and basically get our feet wet in how to race on dirt. We had never touched anything like that before.”
Light debuted at Beckley Motor Speedway in July.
“The biggest surprise to me is how much faster it feels when you’re in the car,” said Light. “When we were coming around the track, getting ready to go green for the first lap of my first race, I’m as nervous as can be. I’m just hoping I can finish this race and not freak out. As soon as I hear in my RaceCeiver ‘green, green, green,’ I see Robert Roberts, Jacob Rucker, and Shane Greco … beating and banging in front of me and they were about go around the first turn. That moment right there, I was like, ‘Wow, this is incredible and scary and very intense at the same time. You know, I could actually be a fan of this.’”
Matthew Light finished last that night, but has steadily improved to a top-10 racer. Now, he’s going to face his biggest challenge yet: The American All-Star Series Presented by PPM Racing Products’ $10,000-to-win race at his home track, Beckley Motor Speedway, on November 16. His expectations are modest, but perhaps realistic.
“I’m just going to go there, do the best we can and run faster than we ever have,” Light said. “Whatever outcome that will be, we’ll take it.”
Outside Groove Note of Transparency: Outside Groove is a sponsor of the American All-Star Series. The American All-Star Series paid for the production of this article. The content is not subject to the approval of the American All-Star Series.
The Outside Groove Executive Editor has covered motorsports since 2000. His many awards include the 2019 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Jim Hunter Writer of the Year and the 2013 Russ Catlin Award for Excellence in Motorsports Journalism.
