Matos came to the United States in 2002 after karting in Brazil and began competing in Skip Barber Formula Dodge, winning that championship in 2003. In 2004 he moved up to the Star Mazda Series and in 2005 won the Star Mazda championship, establishing himself as a consistent title contender in each ladder he entered.
In 2006 he stepped up to the Champ Car Atlantic Championship Series driving for the Sierra Sierra team, claiming one victory on his way to fourth place in the points standings. That same year he entered four Indy Pro Series races for Guthrie Racing and swept both races held in March at St. Petersburg, Florida. He also made his A1 Grand Prix debut as part of A1 Team Brazil during the 2006–07 season, racing at Beijing.
Matos returned to the Atlantic Championship in 2007 with Sierra Sierra and clinched the title with several races remaining in the season, earning a scholarship worth $2 million for a Champ Car ride in 2008. He chose instead to sign with Andretti Green Racing for the Indy Racing League's Firestone Indy Lights Series, a decision that proved correct when he won the Indy Lights championship in 2008 as well, making him a double champion in consecutive years.
In parallel with the 2008 Indy Lights season, Matos drove a Mazda RX-8 for the SpeedSource team at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, finishing first in the GT class and ninth overall, sharing with Nick Ham, David Haskell, and Sylvain Tremblay. He also contributed to a class win for Michael Shank Racing at the SunRichGourmet.com 1000 at Miller Motorsports Park in the Daytona Prototype class, sharing with Ian James and John Pew.
Matos competed in the full 2009 IndyCar Series season for Luczo-Dragon Racing. He qualified third at his second race, the Long Beach Grand Prix, finishing eighth. At the Indianapolis 500 he was the fastest rookie qualifier and ran in the lead pack before a crash with Vitor Meira — in which Meira was injured — ended his race in 22nd. Matos won the 2009 IndyCar Rookie of the Year award by a wide margin over former Formula One driver Robert Doornbos. His best single-race result was sixth at the Milwaukee Mile.
He qualified twelfth for both the 2009 and 2010 Indianapolis 500 and crashed in both races in roughly the same location at the exit of turn one. In 2011 he failed to qualify the AFS entry for the Indianapolis 500.
Matos raced full-time in Stock Car Brasil between 2013 and 2015, claiming a race win in 2014 and finishing thirteenth in the championship in 2015. At the end of 2015 he failed a drug test and received a two-year suspension. He stated publicly that the substance had been used to treat tumours he had carried since the age of eighteen.
Returning to competition in 2018, Matos entered the Trans-Am Series and won the TA2 class championship at his first attempt. He won the TA2 title again in 2021, finishing first in six of the twelve races on the calendar. He won the TA2 championship a third time in 2024, cementing his status as the dominant force in the class across a six-year period.
Matos is one of the few drivers to win three separate American open-wheel or road-racing series titles: Star Mazda (2005), Champ Car Atlantic (2007), and Indy Lights (2008). His Trans-Am TA2 triple adds further breadth to a career that has spanned single-seaters, sports cars, and touring cars across three continents.
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