MATT SCRANTON – ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS

Who is Matt Scranton?

That was the big question being asked by nearly everyone prior to the first round of eliminations at the 38th ACDelcoGatornationals two weekends ago.

No one is questioning the Florida native's talents now. Scranton, armed with KB Racing engines, made quite an impression during his initial fray into Pro Stock competition in Gainesville, Fla. He qualified 13th in a stout field and advancing to the semifinals.

2004 Sport Compact champ makes big splash in Pro Stock

"We're just living a dream right now," said Scranton, 2004 NHRA Xplod Sport Compact Series Pro RWD champion. "Pro Stock racing is something my brother (Jay) and I have always talked about doing. We knew we would eventually find a way into Pro Stock, but didn't quite know how all the pieces of the puzzle would fit.

"Then basically we got a call from Greg Anderson telling us that they had some engines lying around that they would like to lease and had chosen us to be the team they would like to lease them to.

"At first, I thought somebody was messing with me on the other line. But it was the real deal. We never thought in our wildest dreams we would be able to work with KB Racing."

Scranton's link with Anderson and the KB Racing team, which has combined with Anderson and Jason Line to win the past four NHRA Pro Stock class titles, actually goes back to before the beginning of this season. The two-time NHRA Xplod Sport Compact champion first hooked up with KB Racing when he and his brother, who is his crew chief, decided to give POWERade Series Pro Stock racing a try. They first attempted to buy a car from chassis builder Rick Jones. But when Pro Stock's No. 1 car builder couldn't promise delivery before August, the Scranton Brothers put their dilemma out on the grapevine.

Then the phone rang.

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It was Rob Downing, Anderson's crew chief. He had called to tell Scranton that the KB Racing team had a car they were willing to sell to the new team at a reduced rate. After a quick negotiation, the exchange would be made at Gainesville Raceway.

"Greg was coming down to test in Gainesville (in January), so they brought a car to the track and we met them there," Scranton said. "The car was basically what they said it was. It was one of Greg's personal cars, so we knew it was great piece. I met Greg, and we just kind of hit it off. I kind of made a joke to him that hopefully he had left an engine in the car for us. And that kind of sparked the conversation to eventually led to KB leasing the engines to us."

The deal has been a win-win situation for both parties. The KB Racing organization gets to bring in some extra revenue, and the Scranton Brothers get a powerplant that has produced four consecutive championships and some of the quickest runs in the class over the past few seasons.

"I couldn't ask for a better scenario to get ourselves involved in Pro Stock racing," Scranton said. "It's just an awesome deal so far. Just going to the first race and being able to qualify (was great). Before this deal with Greg, we thought that out of the 10 or 13 races we had talked about going to, we were hoping maybe by (the U.S. Nationals) to have a good showing. We even talked about maybe leasing an engine from Steve Schmidt or someone to just make a good showing at Indy. Then this deal comes along, and it's been awesome."

And Scranton's opening performance at the Gatornationals was more than even he could ask for.

He struggled a bit out of the box, but the team made the necessary corrections to his Pontiac GTO and he drove to the No. 13 qualifying position on Saturday. He then turned some heads during eliminations, first beating six-time series champion Warren Johnson with a stout 6.599-second run before marching into the semifinals with a victory over Erica Enders, running a 6.627. His day ended when Anderson made a 6.569 pass to beat Scranton's 6.651 in the semifinals.

"I almost thought it was a big dream," Scranton said. "It just went so smoothly. We had a little bit of a mishap on Friday. Our first run we had transmission issues and the second run we had an issue with the ignition box.

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"The biggest hurdle I had was doing the burnout and not getting the engine to over-rev. Basically, Jason and Greg sat me down and said, 'Look, take our advise and try this and that' and (thanks to) some coaching from them by Sunday I had it figured out, and the momentum we had on Saturday we were able to carry into Sunday."

Scranton hopes to continue that success when the POWERade Series tour resumes with this weekend's O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals near Houston.

"Obviously our goal is just go out and be there on Sunday," Scranton said. "And that's so difficult these days. If we can just be one of the 16 teams competing on Sunday, it'll be another dream-come-true weekend for us."

Scranton's recent success, combined with his past association from Toyota while competing in the Sport Compact Series, has had the rumor mill grinding away in overdrive recently. Some reports indicated that Scranton was a link to bringing Toyota not only into Pro Stock, but also into the KB Racing camp. But Scranton denied those unsubstantiated reports.

"That's the million-dollar question right now," Scranton said. "I'm sure there's a lot of speculation, a lot of rumors floating around. We want to set the record straight. To be honest, we had the opportunity to re-evaluate our program with Toyota and possibly run the Sport Compact Series maybe one more year. But for my brother and me every year that goes by is one more year we miss out on Pro Stock. We had a long discussion with Toyota and decided that we really wanted to do this Pro Stock deal and (Toyota) wasn't ready yet. We just said, we're going to do this deal. We'll buy the engines, the parts and the pieces and maybe some day Toyota will give us a hand. That's what our dream was. But (with KB Racing), we feel we're hooked up with great group of guys who love racing as much as we do."

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But still the rumors persist and Scranton can only report what he knows.

"I have no reason to lie," he said. "If there was a tie-in with Toyota, I would say it. I would be excited to say it. But right now, the truth of the matter is that the gang at KB Racing was just looking to create some extra revenue for the team and that's why we were able to get on a program with those guys.

"There are a lot of things going on with Toyota. It's an exciting group and they are so focused on racing. We're fortunate to have a relationship with those folks. Do we want to continue on with them? Absolutely, without a doubt. They've been too good to me for me to turn my back on them. But right now they don't have an engine for us. But maybe some day. The more exposure we generate, it all makes a difference in their eyes. It's all about vehicle sales, and the great thing about Toyota is that not only do they have a great racing program, but they also produce the best vehicles out there. It shows how focused they are. What ever they put their mind to, they are going to put 110-percent into it."

As does Scranton.

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MATT SCRANTON – ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS