NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Releasing the clutch on a Pro Stock car and throwing four perfect shifts is one of the most exhilarating feelings in drag racing. At any given NHRA event, fields are set by thousandths of a second; rounds are won and lost by the same thin margin. Newcomers don’t always have the easiest go, but that doesn’t change the pressure on them.

Matt Latino is as new as they come. He’s one of the 2025 rookies looking to gain experience and challenge himself mechanically and behind the wheel. Like many before him, Latino is a second-generation racer, which brings added pressure.

After missing the field at the NHRA Arizona Nationals, he qualified for the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals in Pomona in just his second attempt at the class. In Pomona, Latino earned his first round win, defeating his father Eric on a holeshot in their first-round matchup.

“Racing my dad was the coolest thing in the world; he’s my best friend,” said the younger Latino. “My dad is probably tired of hearing about it, but being able to race him in my first-ever round of competition was the coolest thing ever. It was unfortunate that one of us had to go home, but selfishly, I wouldn't change it. It's a story I can tell forever, and it's a moment that I'm never going to forget,”

Father/son or father/daughter matchups are always special, whether it was Warren and Kurt Johnson, Steve and Billy Torrence, and many others.

Precision is key in Pro Stock, from the burnout to staging, launch, and shifting, too. With the 10,500-rpm limit, racers must rev the engine to a point just before the limiter and make the shifts without hitting it.

“I’m learning that driving well means doing the same thing every time. I consider myself to be focused; I won't get into something unless I'm ready to do it, and I feel like I'm ready. The burnout is the most difficult thing to be consistent with,” he added. “I've been very consistent with my shifts, and  thankfully my reaction times have been consistent as well. Thankfully, I haven't muffed a burnout yet. I don't want to be the new driver who rides the red line of the limiter. So, it's all about finding that fine line of just touching that limiter and dialing it back just the slightest amount without losing enough momentum to stop your wheels.”

Latino’s mount is a 2019 Chevrolet Camaro with a class-legal 500-inch big-block that’s backed by a venerable Liberty “Equalizer” 5-speed manual transmission. The engines develop upwards of 1,500 horsepower burning VP Racing gasoline.

Between rounds he dives under the back as a crew member to make improvements. Latino is responsible for measuring rollout on the slicks, along with pulling the driveshaft, fueling the car, packing the parachutes, and if there’s time, he assists Lon Moyer with checking valve lash.

Prior to strapping into the Pro Stocker, Latino gained experience in a 1973 Duster that he built.

“The Duster was kind of an old-school Pro Stock or Pro Street car," he said. "I got that car in Canada. It was unfinished, so it was a bit of a project. I finished the cage, got it up to spec, and it was a 9-second car; it ran 9.0. Before that, I ran my 1964 Valiant, which I still have today. It had a 318 and ran like 16 seconds. That obviously wasn't fast enough, so we put a stroker small block. And that ended up going just over 11 seconds in the quarter mile in Canada at Cayuga.”

Latino is part of the KB Titan Racing team, so he is surrounded by world champion drivers and tuners.

“I've always wanted to be involved in some level of professional drag racing,” said Latino. “I wanted to run Pro Mod. I had a dream of running there with my dad, but that dream slowly faded away once I got away from clutches and banging gears. When my dad raced Pro Mod, we had Lencos. We were leaving on a clutch, you're pulling levers, that's what I always wanted to do. And then we went to the air shifters, we were still shifting it, but it was blazing away, and then we went to trans brakes and automatics. That's where I kind of lost interest, and that's when I started looking at Pro Stock as a class that I think would be enjoyable,” he explained. “I'm a car guy, a car enthusiast. I love manual vehicles, something about leaving with a clutch and rowing through gears. It's the only kind of racing I want to do.

“I don't plan on running the full schedule. I just recently secured some funding from a couple of relatively large companies. I will be running at least another five races, but I'd like to run somewhere between 6 and 10. If I can run six to 10 races, I'd be eligible for rookie of the year. That's not really what I'm going for. I have a baby boy on the way.”

By Day Matt Latino is the Director of Business Development for the Global Emissions Systems (GESi) in the Sport Division. GESi is the high-performance division. “We manufacture high-performance catalytic converters that we sell to exhaust manufacturers like Kooks Headers and Stainless Works, all the really large aftermarket exhaust companies that make street-legal exhaust systems. We supply the catalytic converters,” he explained.

In addition to learning the class and improving his driving, Latino’s goals are to be the best driver he can be.

“I want to cut some lights, catch all my shifts, and hopefully it translates into some round wins. I'm not going to say, hey, I'm going to go out there and win a championship because it's my first year. I certainly would like to qualify for this race and go a round or two. This is my first time running the four-wide style so I just want to stage properly, avoid mistakes, catch my shifts, and be the best driver that I can be.

“I must thank my dad and family, everyone at KB Titan, and my sponsors, Bear Grill, Air IQ, Ace Race Parts, Right Trailers, and Simpson. My crew chiefs, Nate VanWassenhove and Rob Downing are invaluable, as well as Lon Moyer, who works on the engine.”