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Sunday, April 22, 2007 | Alive, and racing | Richmond driver back on track | Patrick McClary, Sentinel Staff

WINCHESTER — For most drivers, Saturday’s Spring Dash season opener at Monadnock Speedway marked the end of a long winter of tuning and tinkering in the garage and a chance to get back on the track. For Matt Mead of Richmond, it was the start of not only a second chance at a Late Model championship, but another shot at life. Last May, Mead thought he’d come down with a bad sinus infection. He went to the doctor, got a prescription and figured he’d be fine in a few days. But days past and his headaches grew stronger. Then his memory began to fade. He couldn’t remember having conversations or even going to the doctor.

Mead then had a seizure that sent him by ambulance to Cheshire Medical Center, where he was diagnosed with viral encephalitis, a disease in which the brain swells and alters blood flow. Doctors told him the disease has a 25 percent mortality rate. “If I had thought I just had a bad cold and didn’t have a seizure, who knows,” said Mead, who opened the season with a sixth-place showing in last night’s Late Model event before a happy crowd at Monadnock Speedway.

Jeff Zuidema won the Outlaw Pro Triple Crown and Pro IV Modifieds races, and Ed LoFland took the Late Model opener. Jeff Smith won in Super Stocks, and Geoff Rollins took the Mini Stocks race. Zuidema took the lead on lap 9 of the Triple Crown race and never relinquished it. Barry Gray and Bryon Baker took second and third. In the Late Model race, defending champion Keith Carzello took second while John Lavoie was third. Smith won the Super Stocks green to checker from the outside poll position. Mike Roy was second and Leo Martin took third in his first-ever race after starting from the last position. Mini Stocks defending champ Emerson Cayer took second while Kevin Ouellette was third. Andrew Jardine won the four-cylinder Enduro, while Dan Yagmin was the full-size winner.

The biggest winner, though, was Mead, who was just happy to be alive and racing. He spent 36 hours in the emergency room and 21 days in the hospital, and celebrated his 30th birthday on June 2 from a hospital bed. He missed five weeks of work as used car manager at Toyota-Volvo of Keene; he said he still can’t remember two weeks of his life.

When Mead was released from the hospital, he started a rehab regiment that included taking 17 pills a day. He sometimes took five naps a day, and he often struggled to regain his strength and energy. “It made me feel like I was 90,” he said. Through the struggle, Mead always thought about racing. While in a hospital bed, his father, Dennis, said his son asked how he did in the weekend’s race, even though Matt hadn’t run. Mead received an outpouring of support from the racing community. Fans sent cards and videos from the races, and drivers and crews were constantly asking how about him and checking in with him. “It was amazing, watching him get cards from the track,” Dennis Mead said. “You can bump and bang on the track, but it’s amazing to see a group of people who will be supportive of another competitor.”

Matt always thought about a comeback. For weeks, he asked doctors when he could race again. Doctors, he said, kept telling him to wait just a couple more weeks. Then he learned his license would be revoked for six months while he was taking the medications, halting any hope of finishing up last season. Mead was second in points when he had to stop racing.

Now, Mead, still suffers from severe headaches, but is down to just one pill a day. Racing is his main medicine. “Some people love fishing, this is what I love doing,” Matt said. That Mead is racing again doesn’t surprise his father, who said Mead’s first word was “car.” “He could have just as easily said, ‘I’m not gonna do it’ and just coasted,” Dennis Mead said. “He wants to be competitive and will be competitive.” Though he ran some of the fastest practices times early Saturday, Mead said he’s taking things week to week. If a championship is in the cards, so be it, but he’s not pushing too much. “I enjoy it more,” Matt said of racing. “It’s just different. I’m more calm about everything. (The illness) definitely made me think of things differently, more sensibly about life. I look at the bigger picture.

“I’m just glad I remembered how to turn left.”

June 22, 2008

Monadnock Speedway beats out Mother Nature...Tempers were hot and the racing was rough Saturday night at Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, NH. Rain threatened, but they managed to get all of the feature events in before the showers moved in. Brandon Warren brought in his first win of the season in the Mini Stock division. Bill Johnston won in the Super Stocks. The All Star Race Truck Series was at Monadnock this weekend and Andy Lindeman brought home the win in that division. Matt Mead was the first repeat winner for the Late Models, and Barry Gray won a wild one in the Outlaw Pro division. Jeff Kirley picked up his third win in the Full Size enduros.

Jason Lafleur led the Late Models on to the track for their 30 lap feature event. Last week?s winner Darrell Keane sat on the outside pole, followed by Aaron Fellows, Matt Mead, and John Lavoie. Coming into the race, the top three in points, Adam Gray, Lavoie and Fellows were separated by only 6 points. They came to the green and Lafleur went wide coming out of turn 4 and pushed Keane up against the outside wall. They got together again on the front stretch and collected Geoff Rollins. The caution flew for the 03 car of Andy Brooks Jr. who spun in turn 4. It took a few laps to get everyone sorted out and in the right position and they restarted on lap 2 with Mead in the lead, followed by Lafleur, Keane, Guy Caron, and Fellows. On the restart Keane moved into second and Lafleur got hung out in the outside lane, where he fell out of the top 5. Mead pulled out to a good lead over Keane, and Caron challenged for second and took it on lap 7. On lap 10 Fellows moved inside Keane and took third. By lap 12, Mead had pulled out to a half a straightaway lead over Caron, Fellows, Keane and Gray. The biggest battle on the track was between Gray and Keane for fourth, it started on lap 15 and Gray finally took the position on lap 25. By lap 26 Fellows had caught Caron for second, but fell short by a few feet at the finish. Mead picked up his second win of the season, Caron came home second, followed by Fellows. Mead was the first repeat winner of the season in the Late Model division.