Cannon get his payoff with first Lengend’s championship

Matt Cannon battled his way to his first Legend’s championship at Old Dominion Speedway this season.  Along the way, the 20-year-old Westminster, Md., driver racked up 12 top threes, including three wins and six seconds, with an average finish of 3.4.
“It feels real good, getting the championship,” Cannon said.  “It’s a lot of stress and hard work.  So it feels great to have it finally pay off.”
Cannon had considerable challenges on the road to the championship.  Early on, he had to compete with Roger Austin Jr. and Ryan Ellis.  Austin had three wins and Ellis had two, among other strong finishes. 
By mid-season, Cannon faced Rette Causey, who took home six wins at ODS and wound up sixth nationally. 
“Causey was the toughest because he’s one of the top 10 Legends drivers each year,” Cannon said.  “Running against him raises the bar a notch.”
As the season wound down, Ryan Polenz and George Cushman offered stiff competition.  Polenz grabbed two wins and a bunch of strong finishes. 
“Polenz was pretty impressive,” Cannon said.  “You wouldn’t expect a rookie to be as fast as that.”
When the season ended, Cushman trailed Cannon by only six points. Cannon said that the last few races were the hardest, knowing that anything could go wrong.   
“Before those races, you’d feel more butterflies in your stomach than usual because you knew that if you messed up, you’d lose the championship,” he said.
On August eighth, Cannon spun during a twin race as he passed another car for second and wound up ninth, which reduced his lead to just a handful of points. 
“I didn’t take as many chances after that,” Cannon said.  “I knew it would pay off to drive conservative and finish every race, even if Cushman beat me by a spot or two.  All I had to do was beat him more than he beat me.”
Cannon also put in more work on his car each week, he and his dad double-checking every part, making sure everything was top-notch, from the setup, to brakes, to tires.
In his last five races, Cannon came through.  He notched two wins, a second, a fourth and an eighth — enough to secure the championship.
“It takes a lot of commitment, a little bit of luck, and a lot of good finishes to win a championship,” he said. 
Cannon said his best win came in the second twin on August eighth when he passed Cushman in the final laps. 
“That was the most fun, with the points rival going on and taking the lead with two or three laps to go,” Cannon said.  “It was pretty cool.”
Cannon’s qualifying was strong as well.  He and his dad had the car figured out and Cannon knew the track well.  By the last part of the year, after track officials made qualifying count more, Cannon kept in the top three, with two poles for the year.
“I was pretty much in contention for the pole every week,” he said.
Next season, Cannon will likely travel to other tracks to get more experience, though he’ll still compete at ODS, but not for the championship.