As the son of veteran and race-winning NASCAR crew chief Phil Gould, Matt Gould knew from a young age that racing was his calling.
“I grew up racing in Clint Bowyer’s backyard, believe it or not, with my dad,” Gould told Frontstretch “At a young age, I told dad I wanted to start racing, and dad brought in our box stock [car], and we started racing at Millbridge Speedway.
“And it kind of took off from there. [I] started winning races, started to race more and then just kept moving up through the ranks. [I] got to late models, won a few races and Al Niece had a lot of confidence in me and wanted to get me in a truck.”
Gould made his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut at the Milwaukee Mile last summer, finishing 33rd. It was a start more than six years in the making, as his father joined Niece Motorsports as crew chief for Ross Chastain in 2019, when Matt was 13 years old. Now 19, Gould has grown up alongside the team and been there every step of the way.
“Niece has grown a lot in six years, and it’s been really cool to watch that progress,” Gould said. “From literally cutting splitter bars off of other trucks to put them on others, and now we do everything in-house, even pit crews. It’s been awesome to watch.”
He also has a nickname at the shop: LP.
“In 2019, there were four Matts that worked at Niece, and we had to come up with a nickname for at least 3 of them,” Gould explained. “And mine was Little Phil.”
In the six years since, Gould has been a “jack of all trades” for Niece, doing anything and everything in the shop to assist the team and forge a career of his own.
“I’ve done it all, other than drive the hauler,” Gould joked. “I serve as a mechanic on this [No. 44] truck. I also do some interior stuff on my dad’s [No. 45] truck; I did it on my truck last year. It’s always helped me have a better understanding. I’m more comfortable with the environment when I get here to drive, and that’s big to have that confidence and be comfortable where you’re at.
“I’ve done a lot of spotting. I’ve spotted some last year for practices and stuff. Other than just working on a truck, you’re playing a big role in the team, helping the team however you can.”
Gould’s work was rewarded with two Truck starts in 2024: his aforementioned debut at Milwaukee and a start at Martinsville Speedway last fall, where he finished 27th.
He’s back as a part-time driver for Niece in 2025, and his first start of the season came at Martinsville in March. He finished 23rd, for a career-best result and his first-ever finish on the lead lap.
That prior start and prior experience at Martinsville absolutely paid dividends for Gould in his second trip to the track.
“When I showed to Milwaukee, I had a bunch of simulator time thanks to Chevy,” Gould recalled. “But even when I got there and made the first couple laps on the track, I really didn’t know what I was doing, just trying to find a comfortable spot to be comfortable.
“But when I got to Martinsville, I had a lot of confidence. I’ve been in the truck and had experience. So yeah, I had a lot of confidence. I have a lot more confidence now that I know the environment, what the truck’s going to do and stuff.”
Gould is set to run multiple Truck races for Niece this season, but as of May 6, he doesn’t have any future races lined up at the moment. But no matter how many races he runs, his one goal is to keep making progress year after year.
“I want to feel accomplished, right?” Gould said. “I don’t try to set numbers out there for myself because I always set really high expectations, and sometimes they’re unrealistic. So at the end of the year, I want to feel accomplished like I did something, like I learned; like I progressed.”
Stephen Stumpf is the NASCAR Content Director for Frontstretch and is a three-year veteran of the site. His weekly column is “Stat Sheet,” and he formerly wrote "4 Burning Questions" for three years. He also writes commentaries, contributes to podcasts, edits articles and is frequently at the track for on-site coverage.
Find Stephen on Twitter @stephen_stumpf