Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – ST. CATHERINES, ONT – Every driver that walks into the pit area at a race track is hoping their preparation in the shop will give them an advantage when they get racing.
Some will do that through hard work and determination while others will try to skirt around the rules in the hopes of not being found out.
Former Super DIRTcar Series champion Mat Williamson is no different than any other driver, with one minor detail. He will not go outside of the rulebook.
That’s why his disqualification from the June 2nd Modified feature at Merrittville Speedway really got him upset.
That’s also why he wasn’t going to sit around and let his name be drug through the mud for something, as he puts it, he would never do.
“I’ve never done it in my life so why would I start now,” Williamson said by phone exclusively to Race Pro Weekly. “My word is my bond and the teams I race for all work hard to give me the best equipment possible to get the best finishes we can. Being labeled something we’re not is something I’ll forever fight to prove as wrong.”
Williamson, who won on that night, along with second-place finisher Gary Lindberg and fourth-place man Dalton Slack had their finishes stripped away after samples of their Hoosier tires, taken for testing, came back from Blue Ridge Labs (Lenoir, NC) as not meeting the benchmark specs set forth by Hoosier Racing Tire.
This really bothered Williamson who states that he knew that the track was going to do testing beforehand and welcomed it.
“I was told that morning about the test samples were going to be taken at Merrittville,” he said. “An employee at BRP (Bicknell Racing Products) let me know. He said if I was doing anything to mine that I shouldn’t run them because they were going to test.”
That statement frustrated Williamson.
“I told him right then and there that I’ve never softened tires before in my life,” he said. “I’ve never cheated in racing so I had nothing to worry about.”
Then, Williamson won yet another feature at the Thorold, ONT track and, low and behold, the BRP employee was right.
“We went to tech and they said they were going to be testing tires,” he said. “I was fine with that. I had nothing to hide.”
Multiple samples of a Williamson’s tire along with Lindberg’s and Slacks were taken as well as a brand new Hoosier D300 compound tire. They also took a sample from the new Hoosier and added a chemical so that it would be altered. That way the labs could detect a difference.
All samples were placed in bags that are used in all tire testing. They were scheduled to go to Blue Ridge as well as Akron Rubber Development Laboratory (ARDL) in Akron, OH. Akron is a lab which has been used by several other major racing organizations for tire testing.
The first tests from Blue Ridge came back and their findings stated that the samples from each team did not conform to the benchmark Hoosier sample.
When hearing of this, Williamson was furious, as were the other teams, and he began to search out answers. Those started to make sense with the second and third tests. Williamson received those results on Friday (July 7th).
“When the samples were tested at the second lab, ARDL found an issue,” he said. “They discovered that when mailing samples in the bags, there was the possibility of cross contamination. The sample that was altered by track officials had leaked through the bags and contaminated all four other samples including the brand new tire that was going to be used for a benchmark.”
Luckily, the track took a third set of samples that were sent to be tested.
“(Track official) Mark Chapman sent out the third and last sample to the lab, without sending one that was altered,” he said. “I am extremely grateful he did that but since that day, all communication with the track’s tech officials has been severed.”
The final test at ARDL was paid for by the three teams that were in question, Williamson, Bob Slack, owner of Dalton Slack’s car and Andrew Sittler, owner for Gary Lindberg.
Williamson had won multiple races to that point at Merrittville this season so to be classified as cheating really got his anxiety going.
He knows that’s not who he is and knows that’s not who the other teams involved are. Being known as a cheater is also something he doesn’t want to be labeled as. When it comes to the rulebook, Mat says he won’t step over the line and he means it.
“Any team I’ve ever driven for, before I even turn a single lap, I lay it all out on the table,” he said. “We’re going to do things by the book. I have too much to lose and my family’s name has too much to lose to be caught cheating. I won’t have that.”
As stated, both sets of tests were officially emailed to Williamson from ARDL this past Friday. The findings, according to the report, state:
The initial samples (Five In Total – JV1215775, JV1215778, JV1215786, JV1215783 and JV1215789) contained atypical entities at a level that may flag the tires as being chemically altered.
The next set of samples (Four In Total – JV1215774, JV1215788, JV1215770 and JV1215784) contained no atypical entities at a level that may flag the tires as being chemically altered.
Is Williamson breathing a little easier now?
“The report shows the tires which were sent with an altered sample were all contaminated,” he said. “The bags used for these tire tests aren’t good enough to keep samples separate from one another. The ones sent without the altered tire all proved to have no chemical treatment. All three of our tires were proven to be untouched.”
Through this whole situation, though, Williamson is surprised that Hoosier Racing Tire itself hasn’t been involved in the testing process.
“I’m a little disappointed that they didn’t try and help with this whole thing,” he said. “I tried calling Neil (Cowman, Dirt Oval Business Unit Manager) and left him a voicemail. He never called me back.”
While he understands their stand off approach to a degree, Williamson believes, at some point, the manufacturer needs to be a part.
“I know they don’t want to get involved with tire testing but there comes a time when they need to,” he said. “If there’s a fault between the lab and their tire’s benchmark, it needs to be addressed because people’s reputations are at stake.”
Is this vindication for Williamson? Does he feel that his reputation is back in order?
“It’s probably 95% of the people that I’ve talked to or read comments about believe the results and believe we did things properly,” he said. “They see that we never cheated. In the end, though, there’s still probably 5% that aren’t going to believe us no matter what.”
He understands racers and fans alike will always have their opinions and you’ll probably never change that.
“I could do 18 tests and have all of them come back showing we didn’t do anything to the tire,” he said. “I could do ten lie detector tests and have every one prove I didn’t do anything to that tire. There’s still going to be those people that don’t like me anyways and are going to say I cheated. That’s upsetting but that’s also racing. At the end of the day, it is what it is.”
Mat Williamson has won a lot of races throughout his career. Hell, that’s how he got the nickname “Money Mat.” However, through all of that, he’s worked hard to be a driver who does things by the book and when that comes into question, he takes it personally.
He knows he’ll never be a fan of everybody. He’ll always have detractors. However, at the end of the day, being able to lay his head on his pillow knowing he’s doing things the right way means more than any checkered flag or accolade.
Reputations mean something in this sport. However, for Williamson, his means everything!