Starrett Company To Sponsor Mod Drivers Timmy Solomito And Matt Swanson In 2017

(Press Release from L.S. Starrett Co.)

Timmy Solomito (Photo: Courtesy L.S. Starrett Co.

The L.S. Starrett Co. announced today that it will expand its motorsports marketing program by continuing support of the newly combined NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.

Under the banner of Starrett Racing, the company will be the primary sponsor of the Flamingo Motorsports #16 with driver Timmy Solomito. In addition to sponsoring the 16 car, Starrett Racing will also support the future of the sport through a driver development program as the primary sponsor of the Matt Swanson Racing #89 and driver Matt Swanson.

“Starrett is very pleased to expand our racing program in 2017 to include two high-quality teams. Flamingo Motorsports is a proven, championship and race winning team that fought in the 300×250 PFC 2017 Jan2016 points battle to the end. Matt Swanson is a really great young driver that has won championships and who is progressing quickly through the racing ranks and was the Rookie of the Year in 2016. At Starrett, we believe in striving for excellence and continuous improvement. We see these two relationships as meeting those goals and we expect to be winning races and championships now and well into the future. We are really looking forward to having Timmy, Matt and their teams represent our company,” explained Jim Taylor, Starrett’s VP of Operations.

“We are thrilled to have Starrett on board as our primary sponsor, “ said Eric Sanderson of Flamingo Motorsports. “ We have the right cars, the right driver, the right crew chief, and now we have the right sponsor. This is going to be a great year of racing and we are going to do everything necessary to win the championship.”

Flamingo last won the NWMT championship in 2013 with driver Ryan Preece and also won with Mike Stefanik in 2006. It’s a bit of a stretch, but Stefanik also plays into the history of the 89 team, having won championships in 2001 and 2002 driving for Art Barry. Ken Barry is the crew chief on the 89 and has been a big part of bringing Swanson along in his development. “By the end of the season we were consistently running in the top ten and pushing the top five. Finishing 4th at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway last September was a big achievement for such a young driver. Winning Rookie of the Year and finishing 9th in the points were really feathers in Matt’s cap,” Ken said.

It may be the “off-season”, but preparations are well underway for 2017. Timmy Solomito is looking forward to racing speedweeks at New Smyrna and having his first indoor TQ experience at Atlantic City later this month. “It’s been great to spend more time with family, but we have been really busy getting the cars ready for the season. I’m ready to strap in and excited to get to racing for this championship. We have the full package and showed that we can win races last year. With Starrett on board we are looking forward to taking it to the next level this season.”

Matt Swanson is looking forward to the season for a lot of reasons. “We made a lot of progress last year and it really helped getting to go to the tracks for the second time. Most of the tracks we ran I had never turned a lap on. By the end of the season I was feeling comfortable and was able to give Ken better feedback on the cars. We should be able to consistently run well this year. I’m really grateful for Starrett’s support and look forward to representing them. Starrett tools are the best measuring tools on the market and we use them to build our cars. They are made in America, right here in Massachusetts, and I’m proud to have them on our race car.”

Starrett sponsored the Bob Garbarino owned Mystic Missile and driver Jimmy Blewett throughout the 2016 campaign. The #V4 finished 4th in the owners championship and won the Stafford 150 in August. “We really appreciated getting introduced to this series by Bob and his team. We were thrilled to win a race and to have our company represented by such professional and experienced people as the Mystic Missile team. We loved working with Jimmy and living the excitement that ‘Showtime’ brings to every race. Jimmy is going to be devoting more time to his family this season and to getting his nephew, John Blewett, started in his modified career. He plans to run select Tour races and we hope to help him in that endeavor. We admire and support his decision to focus on his family,” said BJ Guerin, Motorsports and Education Specialist at Starrett

 

Comments

  1. looks like the 4 is odd man out of this deal …..which makes you believe bob is all done or would have had at least a first shot at a resign for 2017

  2. Kudos to Starrett for their support for Timmy and Matt.The Mods really need businesses like Starrett to stay in business.Also thanks for the info on Jimmy.See you at the races!

  3. Starrett was Jimmy’s sponsor that he brought to the team.

  4. geoffrey doppelgänger says

    Maybe Bob wouldn’t paint his car red. He needs a yellow sponsor. How about Chiquita bananas? 🍌🍌🍌 Do not slip on the banana peel.

  5. Congrats for Matt. This kid is the real deal with a great support network and I wish him the best of luck in ’17.

  6. Fast Eddie says

    I was fortunate to have a couple of conversations with Tim and he is a great young man, sincerely thrilled and humbled to be where he is in his career. I’ve seen Matt Swanson drive midgets and small block supers as well as modifieds. Both drivers have a ton of talent and I would expect both teams to do a great job representing their new sponsor. Best of luck to both teams!

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