Welcome to MATTHARMS53H.COM the online home of Sprint Car Driver Matt Harms. Matt races for D&M Racing in the Sprint Invaders race circuit.

June 28, 2009 - We ran with the Invaders at East Moline Raceway. Things started out kinda rough for us, the rear axle snapped in two in hot laps. I'm very thankful though that I was just starting to roll my foot into the gas pedal when it broke, and I was on the straightaway and not in the corner. That could've ended up in a nasty crash! We had the front row outside for the heat race, but we were unable to start the heat race due to changing rear ends, and fixing all the other things that got broken or bent when the axle broke. Big thanks to Matt Rodgerson for the parts; Andy Huston (and Crew) for the help; and Jeff and Shawn for being the pit crew. 22 cars started the A main, and we started 21st. I raced my way up to 15th. Oh well, we'll keep plugging away like we always do and we'll get the results we're looking for. We're getting the car ready for the 1/2 mile West Liberty Raceway in Iowa on the 4th of July!

June 19, 2009 - Rained out at Spoon River. Reschedule Comming.

June 16, 2009 - We've added some pictures from the Illinois Sprint Week event at Spoon River Speedway. Check them out on the Photos page.

June 10, 2009 - D&M Racing raced at Spoon River Speedway as part of the non-wing Illinois Sprint Week. There was tons of "air" present once again weather wise giving us a lean condition with the engine. This set us back in qualifying and in the heat race, starting us last in the 30 lap A main. We richened up the fuel mixture on the engine and had the chassis dialed in, and were able to climb up from 20th to 12th in the A main. A little bit better starting position and we could have really done something in the A main! We think we found something with the fuel setup on the engine, and we'll start the night off better next time! We hope to see you all again at Spoon River Speedway for the Midwest All Star Series race on Friday June 19th!

June 8, 2009 - We've added a feed for weekly results and D&M Racing Announcements.

June 6, 2009 - We raced at 34 Raceway with the Sprint Invaders. We didn't draw very well for the heat race starting us in the last row on theoutside. We had the engine set a little lean giving us a little hesitation out of the corners. We finished 7th in the heat race starting us 19th in the A main. We had the lean condition fixed after some advice from Manny Rockhold and we were able to salvage a 13th place finish in the A main. The second feature would be the 20 lap non-wing A main, which was the first non-wing race in Sprint Invaders history. We ran 3rd for quite a bit of the race, but after a caution flag, we slipped to 4th. We had a great time running with the wing off at Burlington, and our hats are off the Sprint Invaders and 34 Raceway for trying out such a great idea! We'll see ya this Wednesday, June 10th for some more non-wing action at Spoon River Speedway as part of the Illinois Sprint Week!

May 30, 2009 - D&M Racing once again took the wings off and headed to Danville IL at Vermilion County Speedway for some non wing racing. A fantastic racing surface was present, with plenty of moisture and traction. This might be the only time I'd complain about that. With us having a 360 cubic inch engine under the hood racing against competitors with 410 cubic inch engines in their cars it made for a tough night. We finished 6th in our heat, 2 spots out of a transfer, and 10th in the B main making us ineligible for the A main. We had the car setup pretty good, we just came up a little shy in the horsepower department against some of the best 410 guys USAC has to offer. All is not lost though! We got some good seat time for the non wing show at 34 Raceway in Burlington IA next Saturday. The Sprint Invaders will have double features- one 25 lap winged feature, and then a 20 lap non-winged feature. We can't wait for next Saturday, and we hope to see all of you there!

May 22, 2009 - We raced with the Sprint Invaders at Columbus Junction in Iowa. We had a bad draw for our heat race starting us in the last row on the outside in 8th. We had worked our way up to 3rd when a accident happened in front of us, and I was unable to miss the infield tire that got kicked out on the track. The right rear shock was broken off, and the jacobs ladder was bent, forcing us to the pits. We're just hoping that John Schulz is feeling better after the crash, it was very unfortunate. In the feature we started 14th, and were able to finish 12th on a very rutty racing surface in turns 1 and 2. It was a good points night moving us from 11th to 9th in points!

May 9, 2009 - D&M Racing headed to Danville IL, at Vermilion County Speedway to take on some 410 non wing racing with 27 cars in attendance, 4-5 of which were some of USAC's finest. We again had the 360 under the hood. We were one spot shy of transfering out of the heat race to the A main, again forcing us to run the B main. We were able to transfer out of the B main to start 21st in the A main. We hit the right setup and were able to run from 21st to 14th in the A main against the 410 guys. With a little better starting position in the A main we think we found the setup to run top 10 or better with the 410 non wing guys. We'll be back at Danville before the years out, and we'll try to be even better next time! We felt really good after the race!

May 8, 2009 - D&M Racing took on the IRA 410's with our 360 at 34 Raceway in Burlington. It wasn't the best night we've had. We had a mediocre qualifying run, which put us behind in the heat race lineup. We weren't able to transfer out of the heat race, so we had to run the B main. In the B main we had the car dialed in a little better and were running in the final transfer spot to the A main when taking the white flag we were hit in the rear bumper going into turn 1 by a fellow competitor spinning us out. There weren't enough laps left in the race on the lightning fast track to get into the A main. All was well with the car though, and we learned some things with some experimental engine fuel setups we were trying. The 410 guys are tough, so we didn't have too much to hang our heads about. We'll be in good shape when we take on Burlington again with the 360 guys.

May 4, 2009 - This year's schedule is now available in a downloadable format. Click here to download the file.

April 19, 2009 - D&M Racing finally got the season going. We finished 4th in the heat race with a pretty stout field of cars assembled at 34 Raceway in Burlington IA. In the feature, we started 14th and had worked our way up to about 8th or 9th when we had used up too much of the rear tires and ended up fading to 15th. All in all it was a decent night with a freshly assembled car, and we're looking forward to the rest of the year judging by the handling ability we see with the new chassis. We'll hit as many non-wing and Midwest All Star Series shows as possible when we aren't running at all of the Invaders races. Keep your eye on the 53H in 2009!

3 Wide at 34 Raceway in Burlington, IA

February 26, 2009 - Welcome to 2009. We're getting ready for another season with Sprint Invaders. Construction of this years car is underway and we're looking forward to the first race on April 3 at Morgan County. The Schedule has been updated with our plans for the season. We've updated some of the pictures with some help from Dana Royer. Also, the "Gear" has been updated.

December 14, 2008 - We've worked out a way to start selling merchandise. Please click on the "Gear" link to go to the store.

2008 Season Summary - To sum up the 2008 season, it was the best season I've ever had behind the wheel of a sprint car. Although D&M Racing experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows all in the same year. From the lows of getting rear ended by "Big Brown" while coming home from the races, to the highs of getting my career best finish with the Invaders at West Liberty Speedway with a 2nd place finish.

2008 Updates