OXFORD — Matty Sanborn was friends with Kayla Frye on Facebook through racing connections but had yet to meet her in person.

At the 2019 Oxford 250, Sanborn caught eyes with Frye earlier in the day and by the time the green flag was dropped for the race, as fate would have it, the only open spot in the grandstand was next to Frye. 

The rest was history, according to Sanborn. 

“I saw her in the grandstands during the heat races and I raced in the PASS modified so I was in between heat races and I went, ‘Wow,’” Sanborn said. “I liked what I saw. I was staring at her a little bit and I had my shades on and I thought I was being cool but I wasn’t. Fast forward to later in the day and they were lining up the 250 and there was absolutely nowhere to sit except right next to her. . . .  It was history right there.”

From then on, the couple spent many weekends together at Oxford Plains Speedway and at other tracks watching races, sometimes with Frye in them. 

On June 6, 2020, Sanborn decided he wanted to take the relationship to the next level, so he planted poems on index cards throughout other PASS teams at the speedway as a sort of treasure hunt for Frye to follow. 

“It led her to the same exact seat that I first met her at and I proposed to her,” Sanborn said. “Then we just kind of said, ‘Let’s just do it 250 weekend (on Aug. 27, 2021). Everyone is going to be here, we will be here, let’s just do it.’”

The two quickly started planning their small ceremony at Oxford Plains. 

“That’s why we wanted to get married here because all our friends are here,” Frye said. “The ceremony is going to be small and then we will all hang out after. I’m excited. I am nervous because there’ll be people, but I am excited to be with him forever.”

The two claim to not fight much and that Frye keeps Sanborn in line. They’ve continued to “race chase” this past year as Sanborn works on his car to gear up for next season. 

Frye had a friend who married the couple and Sanborn’s mother was in attendance. 

“We don’t fight about money or anything,” Sanborn said. “I think we are unique, because a lot of people like us as a couple, we’ve had a lot of compliments and I think that means a lot. She keeps me in line. Together, we’re perfect.”