Pro Soccer Star Heath Pearce & Matt Young Motorsports team up with Ranger Sports Racing for Barber 2011 event
Matt Young Motorsports with Heath Pearce is a professional motorsports organization partnering with Ranger Sports Racing to run a Porsche 997 in the Grand-Am Continental Tires Challenge Series for the upcoming Barber 200 at Barber Motorsports Raceway in Birmingham, Alabama. MYM w/ Heath Pearce has signed 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup Championship runner-up Andy Lee to pilot the #89 Porsche alongside Baja 1000 ace-turned-road racer Harry Curtin. In 2010 Lee evolved into a driver coach for the TDI cup series and also is an instructor at the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving in Phoenix, where he first met Curtin in early 2010.“ I’m so excited to get back behind the wheel of a race car; in this economy it’s been tough to find a ride. My sincere thanks to my co-driver Harry Curtin, Matt Young Motorsports, and Heath Pearce for putting me on board with Ranger Sports Racing for Barber and Mid-Ohio.”
Matt Young Motorsports first launched operations in the Infiniti Pro Series (now the Firestone Indy Lights Series) in 2004 before re-branding in 2011.
In addition to seeking funding to run both Lee and Curtin in more events this season, MYM w/ Heath Pearce will focus on developing opportunities to run at least one race with Heath Pearce as one of the drivers, however this will depend on finding time in his extremely busy schedule. Pearce not only plays a 36-game March to October schedule for Chivas USA, a club based in Los Angeles that is a part of Major League Soccer’s 18 team league, but he is also in contention to be a member of the United States National Team roster when the US competes in this summer’s CONCACAF Gold Cup. Pearce, a member of the last two US Men’s National Team 30-man FIFA World Cup Rosters and the 2010 MLS All-Star team, is looking forward to the challenge of becoming a competitive race team owner and ultimately a driver “I am very grateful to both Matt Young and Barry Ellis for giving me an opportunity to be a part of this amazing sport. I love what I do for a living, but if there is anything I could chose to do after I retire from soccer, racing would be it. I will one day trade in my soccer boots for racing ones, but in the meantime I am so excited to be a part of the Grand Am family thru my relationship with Matt Young Motorsports, and look forward to the day that I get to race in this series whether it is this season or next!”. Curtin and wife Nicole are expecting their first child in June so currently he does not plan to compete in any races from June through August
It was January of 2000 when then 14 year old Heath Pearce met 13 year old Matt Young. Each student-athlete attended the IMG Sports Academies in Bradenton, Florida, Pearce as a member of the United States U-17 National Soccer Team residency program, while Young attended the Baseball Academy. The two became friends and kept in touch over the next 9 years. Both young men had aspirations to compete in sports professionally, but as it turned they each chose to pursue different career paths within sports. Pearce saw his dreams realized and went to Europe after a successful College Career at the University of Portland, and became a well known professional soccer star playing in Denmark and Germany. He has also been staple of the United States Men’s National Soccer Team player pool since 2005. On the other hand, in 2003, Young decided to pursue a new passion, race team ownership and later started Aries Sports Marketing, a marketing firm representing professional athletes in various sports venues.
So when Pearce signed with FC Dallas of Major League Soccer in September of 2009, it was an easy decision to team up with Young in order to build his brand in the US Soccer market. It did not take long for the two of them to figure out they had a mutual interest in cars, race cars in particular. Young had a taste of racing professionally when he became the youngest team owner in Indy Lights Series history in 2004, and had long planned to return to professional motorsports as a team owner. Pearce has long desired to refine his driving skills so that one day after his career in soccer is over, he can spend many long weekends pushing himself to the limits in a race car at race tracks across the country rather than on the pitch as he does today.
So with the help of Barry Ellis and his Ranger Sports Racing team Matt Young Motorsports with Heath Pearce will compete in no less than two events on the 2011 Continental Tires Challenge Series calendar. The Barber event on April 9th and the season ending EMCO Gears Classic at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio on September 17th. Matt Young Motorsports w/ Heath Pearce plans to run a full season in 2012 and has not ruled out running additional races in 2011 and sponsorship announcements will be made in the coming days. “We are excited to join the Grand-Am family and run in what is a very competitive race series. I want to thank both Heath and Barry for working so hard to help make this program a reality. I know that I speak for Heath when I say we are very pleased to be partnered with a class organization like Ranger Sports Racing for at least two events, and we hope to find additional sponsorship so that we can enter even more events this season with them” Young said.
“We are happy that Matt Young Motorsports w/ Heath Pearce came to us with a two race deal in order to start up their group in the Continental Tire Series” says Barry Ellis. “Since our own groups inception 7 years ago with my partners Fraser Wellon & Frank Rossi, we’ve generally run our two car team with rental drivers that we’ve come to know and race with over the years. Having Matt and Heath bring their newly branded group together with ours is a win-win situation for us and we are excited to meet Harry & Andy!” Barry Ellis and Frank Rossi will pilot their other car, #88 in the GS class.
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