Sports - Outdoors

Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009

THE NEED FOR SPEED Ocean Springs native finds success on the drag boat racing circuit

OCEAN SPRINGS — As a kid growing up in South Mississippi, Matthew Caldwell loved being around the water.

Whether it was spending a pleasure day on the boat or catching cobia or king mackerel in the Gulf of Mexico, Caldwell felt at home.

But what later separated Caldwell from others was his addiction to racing.

More specifically, his need for speed began on the motocross circuit., Now, it has since expanded to the highly competitive world of drag boat racing.

‘‘I used to race motorcycles, but I got too old for that,’’ Caldwell said. ‘‘Motorcycle racing is a young man’s sport. I am 42 and married now.’’

With that in mind, Caldwell kept his spirit to compete a live when he pursued drag boat racing.

The 2009 drag boat racing season saw Caldwell become a three-time world champion, including winning a title in the Outlaw class recently during the Deep South Racing Association’s world finals at the Dock Bar and Grill on Gulfport Lake.

In that race, Caldwell hit top speeds of 115 mph en route to capping off a year in which he never tasted the agony of defeat on the DSRA circuit behind the wheel of 21-foot Allison drag boat.

‘‘When I got too old for motorcycle racing, I wanted to get into boat racing,’’ Caldwell said. ‘‘It’s a rush, that’s for sure.

“It’s also a lot of fun.’’

A week after claiming the DSRA World Championship, Caldwell added world titles in Pro Fuel and Unlimited in the Outboard Drag Boat Association in Jasper, Tenn.

“Running a quarter-mile (track) I hit 126 mph,’’ Caldwell said. “That’s a 9.2 second quarter-mile. It was a good year.’’

So what’s Caldwell’s recipe for success?

First of all, it’s his knowledge of outboard engines. Secondly, it’s a twist of Indy car racing.

That factors into a combination on the water like none other.

“I developed my own motors,’’ Caldwell said. “I customize my engines. It starts off being a 2.5 liter Mercury race motor. But I modify it to 450 horsepower and I use alcohol.

“I wanted to come up with something different that no one else had. I came up with Indy car fuel injectors and made them work with Mercury race motors.

In all, it took five or six years to develop. But it was worth it.

“Other people are trying to run it, but they have not been as successful. They do not understand it as well as I do.’’