NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Matt Carter says he has left Specialty Racing after becoming frustrated with the direction of the team. Carter replaced Brandon Whitt in the team’s #61 Ford in June and raced in 15 events for the team. He was credited with a 29th-place finish at Lowe’s Motor Speedway last weekend, though he said Chase Miller finished the race. “We’re done,” Carter said in a telephone interview. “Things have been going downhill real fast the past couple of weeks. [Team co-owner] Doug Taylor told me he just can’t keep trying to race like he’s been doing. He just wants to go start-and-park these last four races with somebody else driving.” Carter said he wasn’t offered the chance to start and park, and he said he “wasn’t really interested in doing it anyway.” “I told him that,” Carter said. “It’s just gotten real bad there. I want to race, but I don’t want to keep doing like we’ve been doing.” Carter said the car was handling so poorly at Charlotte last Friday that he thought something was mechanically wrong. Carter said he pulled the car in the garage and intended to work on it, but Taylor didn’t allow it. Carter said he has talked to some other owners about driving, but he knows he’s in a tough position. “I just don’t have any money to bring to a team,” Carter said. “I’m working with some people, trying to find some. Hopefully, something will work out.”(Scene Daily)(10-20-2009)
UPDATE: Now, the relationship between Carter and Taylor appears broken beyond repair. When asked further about the driver’s departure, Taylor noted it was not simply a matter of him deciding to leave, claiming he “didn’t hear from Matt all weekend.” “My partner (co-owner Charlie Shoffner) told him [Matt] to give me a call,” he said. “But during the race, one of our crew texted Charlie that Matt had just pulled in the garage and I told him not to. Charlie told Matt from what he saw on TV, ‘it looks like you quit.’ Matt told Charlie he wasn’t quitting, that he didn’t want to quit, but Charlie told him ‘you need to take that up with Doug.’ You know, you park the car and get out of it, and refuse to get back in, it’s pretty much like you’re quitting. And I hadn’t heard from Matt by Sunday evening, so…” According to Taylor, hiring Carter also put a string on his budget, as attempts to buy better equipment for the rookie didn’t lead to better results. As a result, he feels the most prudent financial decision going forward is to start and park for the final four races while using them as glorified test sessions to improve.(Frontstretch Newsletter)(10-22-2009)
