Matt Latino earned his Pro Stock license in late 2024, driving a KB-Titan Camaro in hopes that one day, an opportunity might present itself for the second-generation drag racer to compete in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series.
If there’s one thing the son of Pro Modified turned Pro Stock racer and now KB-Titan principal Eric Latino has learned, you open the door without hesitation when opportunity knocks.
Latino headed to the PRO Superstar Shootout in support of his father, and understood there might be a chance he might make a test run or two. What he didn’t count on was the knee injury Eric tolerated would flare up to the point that it forced him out of the seat ahead of the crucial test session.
“It was an extremely valuable opportunity under the worst circumstances,” Latino said. “I’m grateful that I get to jump in the car. Unfortunately, my dad’s knees have not been feeling so great, and he was really excited about this race. But he’s got a procedure coming up, so when he felt a little bit of pain in his left leg, he said, ‘You know what? I think maybe I should step out on this one and try to do a little bit more rehab before Gainesville.”
I had three full days of testing plus four qualifying runs. Even if I didn’t make it in a single round, that is a lot of testing to get in before Gainesville.”
Latino believes learning one’s role is as important as knowing how to wheel the car. He’ll be a spectator at the upcoming NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla., while he continues seeking sponsorship.
“If I don’t run in Gainesville, really, it’s not the end of the world. I’ve been saying I’m not focusing on any rookie of the year or this or that,” Latino said. “It would be great. But I really just want to do well. I want to get the funding, I want to do it right, and I want to do it well. And whenever it starts, that’s when it starts.”
Participating in the private testing enabled him to become acclimated to making runs, but participating in the side-by-side runs was a considerable apprehension to get by should he get the call in Gainesville.
“That was my first time running alongside someone, and I’m grateful that every single test run I was able to line up against someone throughout those test runs,” Latino admitted. “It enabled me to gain a lot of experience on staging, which has been great. That’s really been the only anxiety I faced and well, early on, there weren’t any fans in the stands.”
He handled to pressure to perform in front of fans, and even though he lost the first round PRO Superstar race, he handled it just like a seasoned veteran. When the green flashed, both Latino and his first round David Cuadra experienced violent tireshake, he was content to not make the situation worse and just coasted to the finish line accepting the loss and choosing to race another day.
Latino understands the value of racing conservatively while he learns the ropes.
As a rookie driver, mistakes are an inevitable part of the game, and Latino understands this part. However, he’s of the mindset a rookie driver isn’t required to keep making the same ones over and over.
“Each time I’ve gone down, I’ve made one little mistake and I’ve managed to fix it,” Latino explained. “Thankfully, I haven’t made the same mistake twice. One of which, I didn’t have enough wheel speed on the burnout, maybe held it in a little bit too long. Fixed that on the next one. I didn’t have enough brake pressure on one of the staging attempts. Fixed that. On my first full track pass, I lifted a little early. I went back, fixed that. So little things here and there. My shift points have been great. Thankfully I’ve been pretty much on the money on all those. My staging procedure has been nice. Oh, another mistake I made, I was backing up the car and walking left. I almost took the door off on the barrier, but that’s just again, it’s so new.”
“So to me, now I’ll never make the same mistake because I know what to look for. It’s going to take some time to, I’d say master it. But I think I’m doing well.”
In fictional movie characters, Latino believes his driving style is a mix of Baby Driver’s Baby (Ansel Elgort) with a dash of Cole Trickle (Tom Cruise).
“I keep to myself, and I’m trying to find what works,” Latino explained. “Everyone’s got their own pre-race routine. What I’ve been doing is I go into the trailer; I do some stretches. I have a foam roller because many people have trouble with their lower back and neck. And especially when you’re cramped up in that car, you never want to have lower back pain going into stage [the car]. So I get my foam roller, roll it out, get a good stretch in. I have some bands that I do some stretches, and this warm-ups’ workout to get the blood flowing. I put some music on and keep to myself. And when it’s time to go, I jump in and go. Try not to chitchat too much and just stay focused.”
Latino is busy being focused on listening for the knock of opportunity.
