The site where Matt had written was completely washed and sanitized to the point that you would never know he existed there. Everything was gone. It was sad, but not hopeless as Matt had his own copies of all his writings, including a 104-part anthology of the History of NASCAR over the first 50 years.

Last week, it came out in conversation that Matt had suffered a fatal computer crash... the blue screen of death... a couple of years ago and had no back-up files. That meant that everything... EVERYTHING was gone.  Upon hearing that, I went hunting. If you think I'm going to tell you where, think again.

I have for years had a back door key to a wealth of information.  I had used that key in 2005 and all doors were securely locked. Last week however, someone whispered in my ear and I found one left open.  I copied the links for the Historical series and sent them to Matt while wishing him a Happy Birthday and advising him to take them to file while the links still worked.

A short while after that, by way of thanks, Matt wrote and offered me the files, to be aired and stored here on RacersReunion "If I wanted them." IF I WANTED THEM? Holy cats, I couldn't say yes fast enough for tripping over my tongue. I read these pieces as a whole, back in 1999 when I was a newbie on the Internet. There weren't a whole lot of writers here back then, as most were still working the print media, but there was Matt and he had a wonderful way with words, much like Joe Whitlock, a writer from back in the Grand National days of NASCAR. In short, both were great and Matt still is. Sadly, Joe is no longer with us.

And so it is that beginning next Tuesday, all of you history buffs... and especially all of you young fans that would love to know more of the history of our sport, can come to RacersReunion and read Matt's Historical Anthology two days a week, which is the way they originally ran. As we are predominantly a site all about NASCAR History, RacersReunion is a perfect place to house this buried treasure, now unearthed and living again. I do hope that all my gentle readers will be as excited about this as I am. Matt, my friend, thank you one more time for your generosity.

Neither Matt nor I have a clue of the order in which they ran in 1998, so they will appear in the order filed, unless I discover one that is more timely to a certain day or week. In short, there will be no particular order, nor do I think there ever was. Each is a piece of history that stands alone and all are wonderful. They comprise a book offered in segments, and it's one I look forward to reading once more as I ready each one for publication.  I do so hope you will enjoy them as much as I have and will again.

Alas, due to filing errors somewhere way back in time, four of the original articles are no longer with us. I've identified two of the four because they are missing parts of something else. Both Matt and I apologize for that, but [sic] applies here. It's not our fault or our error.

~PattyKay

Email:  nas3car@etcmail.com

Twitter: @MamaPKL

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