Column: With a look at ‘the big picture,’ Matt Chester chases chance to make history at Grundy County Speedway

Street stock points leader Matt Chester is living the dream these days at Grundy County Speedway.

I had a fun conversation with him about it just the other day.

We talked about when he was a fan.

“I was that kid up in the stands who used to go crazy over this stuff,” Chester said. “I thought the idea of being out there and racing was awesome.”

We talked about the track’s future.

“I’d like to see Grundy stay around,” Chester said. “I don’t ever want to see this place go away.

“I want to do some traveling in the future. But on a weekly basis, I will always give Grundy my money on Friday nights.”

We also talked about becoming a Grundy County Speedway legend. That suggestion left him kind of speechless.

“I have never really thought about that,” Chester said. “The idea has never crossed my mind.”

The truth is, though, it’s a very realistic possibility. We’ll get into the reason why shortly.

First a quick bio.

Chester, 23, started his career as a pit crew member for the Sontag and Gilmore racing families. Behind the wheel, the Joliet native has raced in a pure stock, a street stock and a late model — sometimes two of them in the same season.

He won his first track title in the pure stocks division in 2019. That same season, he was among the top contenders in his street stock.

While it’s far from a done deal, he’s in an excellent position to win the street stocks championship in 2023.

Chester has six feature victories, including a win on July 21 over rugged veteran Randy Weese. Chester has a 792-758 points advantage over runner-up Cameron Preisler.

Preisler, just 17 years old, has been a worthy contender during his rookie season in a street stock. But he knows he has his work cut out for him to catch Chester.

“Matt is a good driver,” Preisler said. “He’s patient. Instead of just driving through the field on Lap 1, he takes his time. He knows he will be there at the end.

“We’ve been good buddies for awhile. Even when he had his 4-cylinder, we would help each other out with parts. He’s a good guy.”

Indeed, Chester also has the right attitude to be a champion.

“You know, I have enough checkered flags for the year,” Chester said. “Right now, we just have to be happy to finish races.

“At this point, if somebody’s knocking off my back bumper, willing to wreck me over third place, I’ll just let him go. I’m going to look at the big picture. You have to if you want to win the track championship.”

If that happens, Chester will be joining a relatively short list of drivers who have been champions in two different divisions at Grundy.

I’m pretty certain that none of them did it by the time they were 23 years old. And while some of them are legends in their own right, none have won a title in a third division at Grundy.

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Chester still has his late model, with plenty of time to go chasing that crown. A late model title would give Chester his own place in track history.

But hold on. Check this out.

If Preisler is able to turn things around and swipe the street stock title away from Chester, he would have the same opportunity to be a future Grundy legend.

Preisler won the pure stocks title in 2021 — when he was only 15 years old.

Given the large group of young drivers in the pure stocks and the Super Cup divisions, I’d say the future looks bright at Grundy.

“All of these young kids who have been getting into racing, honestly we’re just the kids in the stands watching our favorite drivers and our family members,” Preisler said. “You’ve just got to keep pushing and chase your dreams.

“One day, you can be one of those people out on that racetrack and keep the train going.”