Matthew Waltz (born October 6, 1989) is a retired American professional stock car racing driver. He competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving for

Derrike Cope Racing Derrike Cope Racing with JP Motorsports (formerly known as Creation-Cope Racing, CFK Motorsports, Stratus Racing Group, Cope/Keller Racing and Derrike Cope, Inc, and Quest Motor Racing) was an American professional stock car racing team that com ...

and

Obaika Racing Obaika Racing is an African professional stock car racing team. The team is owned by African entrepreneur Victor Obaika. It has competed in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series. The team was formed in early 2015 and co ...

, and raced

late models A late model car is a car which has been recently designed or manufactured, often the latest model. (An early model car or classic car is a car old enough to be of historical interest; there is no usual intermediate term.) The precise definition ...

at Langley Speedway, winning the track championship in 2017.

Racing career

Late models

Waltz grew up racing

Late Model A late model car is a car which has been recently designed or manufactured, often the latest model. (An early model car or classic car is a car old enough to be of historical interest; there is no usual intermediate term.) The precise definition ...

cars on his home track Langley Speedway, which he shared with fellow

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

driver Brandon Gdovic. He took second in the

Denny Hamlin James Dennis Alan Hamlin (born November 18, 1980) is an American professional stock car racing driver and NASCAR team owner. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 11 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. He co-owns and ope ...

Short Track Shootout in 2014, the same year he won twelve races at Langley. Returning to Langley in 2017, Waltz claimed his first

late model A late model car is a car which has been recently designed or manufactured, often the latest model. (An early model car or classic car is a car old enough to be of historical interest; there is no usual intermediate term.) The precise definition ...

championship at the track.

Xfinity Series

Waltz began his

career in a one race deal driving the No. 70

Chevrolet Camaro The Chevrolet Camaro is a mid-size American automobile manufactured by Chevrolet, classified as a pony car. It first went on sale on September 29, 1966, for the 1967 model year and was designed to compete with the Ford Mustang. The Camaro ...

for

Richmond International Raceway Richmond Raceway (RR) is a , ''D''-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in unincorporated Henrico County. It hosts the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Known as ...

in fall 2015, Waltz's first race with live pit stops. He started 37th and finished 33rd after retiring with electrical issues and a lap penalty for pitting too early. He attempted another race later in the season with DCR, at Phoenix International Raceway, but failed to qualify. The relationship stemmed from a chance encounter with Cope and his team at the spring Richmond race, which led to Waltz driving the Cope hauler to

Iowa Speedway Iowa Speedway is a 7/8-mile (1.4 km) paved oval motor racing track in Newton, Iowa, United States, approximately east of Des Moines. It has over 25,000 permanent seats as well as a unique multi-tiered RV viewing area along the backstretc ...

for the race there. In return, Cope gave Waltz the ride at Richmond. In 2016, Waltz debuted with

New Hampshire Motor Speedway New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a oval speedway located in Loudon, New Hampshire, which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since 1990, as well as the longest-running motorcycle race in North America, the Loudon Classic. Nicknamed "The Magic Mil ...

, qualifying 39th and finishing 28th. Two races later at

, rear gear problems dropped him to a 35th-place finish. Waltz then ran four races for Obaika in the Xfinity Series Chase, finishing no higher than 34th. After the 2016 season, Waltz returned to late model racing because of inadequate sponsorship and did not compete in a NASCAR race in 2017.

Retirement

In early 2018, Waltz announced his retirement from full-time racing due to a number of factors, mainly a lack of opportunities to advance, a want of more free time, and spending more time running his family business. He did, however, come out of retirement to attempt the 2019

ValleyStar Credit Union 300 The ValleyStar Credit Union 300 is a late model race held at Martinsville Speedway in the early fall each year since 1985. History In 1970, Martinsville Speedway added 250-lap twin features for the Late Model Sportsman and Modified classes annu ...

Personal life

Waltz is an

Old Dominion University Old Dominion University (Old Dominion or ODU) is a public research university in Norfolk, Virginia. It was established in 1930 as the Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary and is now one of the largest universities in Virginia w ...

graduate with a

Mechanical Engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, an ...

degree, racing while attending classes.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

( key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Xfinity Series

Season still in progress
Ineligible for series points

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Waltz, Matt NASCAR drivers 1989 births Living people Sportspeople from Newport News, Virginia Racing drivers from Virginia