Matt Stone Racing are pleased to announce that Todd Hazelwood has signed a multi-year deal and is set to reunite with the team in 2022.
“It’s great to have Todd reuniting with the team and moving towards the next stage of his career and our involvement in Supercars.” says team owner Matt Stone, while Hazelwood said, “I’m super excited to be returning with the team at Matt Stone Racing for the next few seasons in the Supercars Championship. MSR and I have already achieved so much together, and I cannot wait to reignite our partnership to achieve at the highest level.
Since departing the team at the end of 2019, Todd has gone on to claim his maiden pole position, his first Supercars podium, and recently secured provisional pole for Race 16 at the NTI Townsville 500 in July before ending up 3rd in the Top 10 Shootout.
When asked about his recent successes, Hazelwood commented, “All of my best results so far in Supercars have been at NTI and Truck Assist events so I’m really hoping their MSR relationship continues next year as they seem to bring me a lot of good luck. I’d certainly like to get those results at every round.”
As well as all this, Hazelwood has also been voted Supercars ‘Ultimate Performer’ on two occasions so far in 2021.
Having previously completed a 6-year stint with the team from 2014 to 2019 when he ran in the Super2 category, and first made the move to the top tier of Supercars, Todd is extremely familiar with how MSR runs and operates, and the team within.
“We’ve had some very good results with Todd in the past in both Super2 and as a rookie in our first couple of years in the main game when we were a one car team. Both Todd and our team have grown a lot in the past two years, so we are expecting some strong results from both of our drivers and from our team as a whole next year.” Commented Stone.
Hazelwood also stated, “The whole team has had significant growth during the last 24 months, and I can already sense the excitement and energy with the plans put in place behind the scenes.
“It will be really special for me to join the team again after so many years of great memories, friendship, and success. Both Matt Stone and Jason Gomersall were the backbone to creating my Supercars career and I feel the timing is perfect to reunite and achieve unfinished business on track.
Todd has proven he is in good form and at a pivotal point in his career. His on-track performance, recording consistently higher qualifying and race results, has really solidified his position with the team and is something MSR look to continue improving on in 2022.
“We are both hungry and highly motivated to take it to the best and create something special. I’m incredibly grateful for this opportunity to return to the team at Matt Stone Racing and I cannot thank Matt Stone, Jason Gomersall and Al Bye enough for helping make this whole deal possible. Bring on 2022.”
This announcement comes after the news that Jake Kostecki and Zane Goddard are both parting ways with the Gold Coast based team at the conclusion of 2021.
“It’s been great to lock away a multi-year deal with Todd. Our drivers are obviously an important piece of the puzzle that we need in place to produce the results that we want to deliver. I have every confidence that our line up next year will once again see MSR take a step forward towards our goal of being race winners at the highest level in Australian motorsport.” Says Matt Stone.
With 5 rounds still to go in the current Supercars championship season, Matt Stone Racing are focused on our return to racing with Jake Kostecki and Zane Goddard come October 29-31 at Sydney Motorsport Park.
