After succeeding in karts at an early age, Mathews jumped to the Wisconsin Mini-Sprint Association where he was named Rookie of the Year at Wilmot Speedway in 1995. He captured a win in his rookie year en route to a fourth place finish in points and the Rookie of the Year title at Wilmot Speedway in 1995. The following year Mathews finished second in points at Wilmot and fourth overall in the Wisconsin Mini-Sprint Association series with five feature wins. He backed up his success in 1996 with three more wins at Wilmot in 1997.
1997 Ryan went from a successful racing kid to a young short track star on the rise. While he saw plenty of success on the short tracks in karts and sprints, Ryan got the opportunity to jump behind the wheel of a high-powered stock car when he tested an ARCA RE/MAX Series car at the Winchester Speedway for car owner Tom Bigelow. That test was Ryan’s first time ever piloting a stock car. The test was such a success that Bigelow put Ryan behind the wheel of his ARCA entry later that season on the dirt mile at Springfield, IL.
Ryan Mathews has been on a rampage since he began racing go-karts when he was only 15 years old. After finishing his first season with five wins and twelve top-three finishes out of 13 races, everyone associated with Ryan knew his talent was something special. Since that first season, Ryan has competed in over a dozen different series, earning race wins, championships, and rookie titles from karts to Super Late Models. Now his career takes him into the highest levels of stock car racing, something he always dreamed about since his Wisconsin racing beginnings.
From there it was on to the Mid-American Supertruck Series. Just like he had done in the past, Ryan succeeded from the start in the trucks. Three top-five finishes as a rookie in 1998 set the table for 2 feature wins and a pole in both his 1999 and 2000 seasons. After a stellar Supertruck Series stint, it was time for Ryan to jump into the ranks of Super Late Models on a full time basis.
When Ryan qualified third for his first ever Super Late Model start, many people were surprised. Anyone who has seen what Ryan has accomplished over the years shouldn’t have been. When he went out and set fast time in his second
ever SLM race, he proved he belonged in the top levels of stock car racing. Ryan went on to earn Rookie of the Year at Slinger Speedway in 2001 and raced and succeeded at tracks throughout the Midwest.
The 2003 race season was a turning point for Ryan when he made the decision to leave his job as an engineer at Harley Davidson to race full-time for his own race team, RDM Racing. Competing in the Midwest All-Star Racing Series (MARS) Ryan won his 50th career short track win at the age of twenty-five. In addition to racing the MARS, Ryan also competed in the Miller Nationals where he placed 5th out of over 70 national drivers. The highlight of the 2003 season came when Ryan raced to a 3rd place finish at the Madison International Speedway, beating NASCAR Cup champions Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth.
Over 50 career short track wins and titles during his Super Late Model career shot him up to the ASA National Series in 2004, where Ryan competed in a partial schedule. He kept up his Super Late Model success even while running ASA, as well. In 2005 Ryan competed in six different Super Late Model series as well as some of the most prestigious races in the country, racing anywhere from Minnesota to Florida on any given weekend.
2006 sees Ryan jumping to the ARCA RE/MAX Series for Eddie Sharp and his Eddie Sharp Racing team. He plans on entering at least eight ARCA races this season beginning with the May 21st event at the Toledo Speedway.
