RPW Column: Pivotal Restart Key To Mat Williamson’s Short Track Super Series Win At LeRPM

Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – ST-MARCEL-DE-RICHELIEU, QUE – It’s amazing what a difference 24 hours can make.

In reference to Mat Williamson’s two-race Short Track Super Series trek through his home land, that holds extremely true.

On Tuesday night, Williamson led a majority of the 60-lap main at Autodrome Granby before surrendering the lead to eventual winner Matt Sheppard.

He then encountered contact with Mike Mahaney which saw his #3 go off on the business end of a wrecker.

Wednesday evening at LeRPM Speedway, the St. Catherines, ONT driver wanted to correct the result of the night before, and did just that, leading every lap to score the $10,000 top prize.

“I really wanted to win in Quebec,” Williamson said.  “The fans up here are amazing.  Look at how packed the grandstands were tonight.  We really needed to win up here.  Jeff and Harry (Behrent) give me good equipment and we’ve been getting better and better this year and I knew the win was coming.”

However, it was a restart with 26 laps remaining that may be the defining moment of Williamson’s win.  That was when he had to fend off the extremely hard challenge from Stewart Friesen for the top spot.

After nearly a lap and a half, Williamson ultimately won the battle and went on to score the victory.

“I just knew I had to hit my marks,” he said.  “Stewart’s always great to race with.  He’s very respectful and I just needed to do my thing.”

He did just that.  At one point, the Halmar #44 was ahead but Williamson was able to power his way around and keep the lead.

“I felt like we could get it done tonight as long as I did my job,” he said.  “This team is amazing.  I just had to make sure I didn’t screw up with Stew pressuring me.”

However, it wasn’t just that one restart that Williamson was worried about.  Whether it was Marc Johnson or Friesen alongside after a caution flag, he knew how important getting a good start would be.

“Being able to hit the perfect launch when the green flag flew on the restarts was very important,” he said.  “Thankfully, we had the right motor combination for the track tonight.”

That goes without saying.  On the tight LeRPM track, Williamson’s car did not seem to be lacking for power.

“I really have to thank Clements Racing Engines,” he said.  “He gave us a bullet last night (at Autodrome Granby).  This small block ran really good and I thought we had the motor to beat there.  Tonight, it worked great on the short track.”

On several occasions around the tight quarter-mile oval, the leaders encountered heavy lap traffic.  Sometimes that can be a hindrance for the leader because he doesn’t know how hard to push or how close second might be.

Williamson felt comfortable running around the slower cars on this night.

“We’ve had a good car all year that can run in lap traffic,” he said.  “It’s a very maneuverable piece and Jeff along with his team really work hard at that.”

When it came to the slower traffic on Wednesday night, however, Williamson knew he couldn’t wait to pick his moves.

“I just knew I had to go,” he said.  “Stew’s one of the best and with him behind you, it keeps you on your toes.  To win up here is just amazing.  I wish we could come up here more often.”

Friesen was able to drive to a great second place finish, giving Canada the top two spots on the evening in front of the home crowd.

“This has been an awesome two days up here with the racing but also how many fans packed these events,” Friesen said.  “This has just been a blast.  To come up here with American Racer tires and sail panels, it’s been a lot of fun.  The tracks have been perfect.”

The driver who now calls Sprakers, NY home searched around the speedway for the best groove to run.  On multiple occasions, it seemed like he pushed a bit too much when running the high lane.

“I just seemed to lose the right front,” he said.  “I’d try to enter too straight in turn one, I got close to him and then I’d push over the cushion and lose a lot of speed.”

Was LeRPM the way Friesen was expecting?

“I was looking forward to the track being a little slicker than it was early,” he said.  “However, this was a great race car.  Thanks to my whole Halmar team for the hard work and we’ll be back.”

Third at the finish was Erick Rudolph.  Rudolph’s #25 really came on as the race went along.  At one point in the 60-lap affair, he was mired in a heated battle for the second spot with Friesen, Johnson and Mike Mahaney.

When the checkers flew, though, Rudolph was sitting on the podium.

“We had a pretty good race car tonight,” Rudolph said.  “I think our best laps were between (lap) 30 and 50.  The last ten seemed like we were just hanging on.”

“We started to struggle with lap cars,” he said.  “All-in-all, we had a really strong car and I’m proud of my guys for what we put together tonight.”

Rudolph was another driver who seemed to be making moves from high to low on the tight confines of LeRPM Speedway.

“The top seemed like the place I wanted to be,” he said.  “It looked like Mat and Stewie were up there for the most part as well.  You could make the bottom work, especially in lap traffic.”

From his first lap on track to the final one, Rudolph and his crew worked tirelessly to get a car that handled well and were rewarded with a great finish.

“After practice, we made a bunch of changes,” he said.  “Any time you end up on the podium with the Short Track Super Series, you’re doing something right.  We’re proud of that and we’ll take some good notes and if we come back, we’ll have a good starting point.”

Mahaney and Johnson completed the top five.

After blowing an engine in his primary #9s in the third heat race, point leader Matt Sheppard pulled out the backup car and started the 60-lap feature from the rear of the field.

At several points in the feature, Sheppard was the quickest car on track and by the time the race saw the checkered flag, he was seventh.

This was a great charge for Sheppard who’s charge through the field greatly minimized the number of points lost to Mat Williamson in the hunt for the Short Track Super Series North Region championship.

William Racine captured the 40-lap Sportsman feature event win with Donovan Lussier finishing second.

Sean Imbeault. Raphael Gougeon and Steven Lajoie completed the top five.

Other winners on the night include Alex Forcier in Mod Lites and Jacob Nadeau in Sr. Slingshots.  The Jr. Slingshots didn’t get a feature in as rain cut the night short.

Big Blocks Modifieds

Feature (60 Laps): 1. 3W-Mat Williamson[2]; 2. 44-Stewart Friesen[4]; 3. 25R-Erick Rudolph[9]; 4. 35M-Mike Mahaney[6]; 5. 9J-Marc Johnson[1]; 6. 124-Mario Clair[12]; 7. 9S-Matt Sheppard[24]; 8. ONE-David Hebert[19]; 9. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[3]; 10. 39X-Alex Therrien[8]; 11. 37-Mathieu Desjardins[20]; 12. 25-Steve Bernier[22]; 13. 91-Felix Roy[10]; 14. 49-Francois Bernier[5]; 15. 17Z-Dillon Steuer[14]; 16. 35C-Chris Curtis[26]; 17. 39A-Alan Therrien[11]; 18. 41-Samuel Charland[21]; 19. 6H-JR Hurlburt[17]; 20. 13-Kevin Hamel[16]; 21. 35-Francois Bellemare[29]; 22. 15M-Daniel Morgiewicz Jr[13]; 23. 47-Simon Perreault[25]; 24. 2-Patrick Beaumier[23]; 25. 96-JF Corriveau[7]; 26. 54B-Steve Bernard[15]; 27. 29-Steve Turcotte[30]; 28. 92P-Martin Pelletier[28]; 29. 25P-Michael Parent[18]; 30. (DNS) 54-Even Racine; 31. (DNS) 44G-Sebastien Gougeon

Heat #1 (10 Laps): 1. 124-Mario Clair[2]; 2. 39A-Alan Therrien[3]; 3. 44-Stewart Friesen[5]; 4. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[4]; 5. 15M-Daniel Morgiewicz Jr[1]; 6. 13-Kevin Hamel[6]; 7. ONE-David Hebert[8]; 8. 25-Steve Bernier[9]; 9. 47-Simon Perreault[7]; 10. 92P-Martin Pelletier[10]; 11. 44G-Sebastien Gougeon[11]

Heat #2 (10 Laps): 1. 96-JF Corriveau[1]; 2. 9J-Marc Johnson[2]; 3. 3W-Mat Williamson[6]; 4. 91-Felix Roy[7]; 5. 17Z-Dillon Steuer[9]; 6. 6H-JR Hurlburt[3]; 7. 37-Mathieu Desjardins[8]; 8. 2-Patrick Beaumier[5]; 9. 35C-Chris Curtis[4]; 10. 35-Francois Bellemare[10]

Heat #3 (10 Laps): 1. 25R-Erick Rudolph[1]; 2. 35M-Mike Mahaney[4]; 3. 49-Francois Bernier[9]; 4. 39X-Alex Therrien[7]; 5. 54B-Steve Bernard[8]; 6. 25P-Michael Parent[6]; 7. 41-Samuel Charland[10]; 8. 9S-Matt Sheppard[3]; 9. 54-Even Racine[2]; 10. 29-Steve Turcotte[5]

Penske Racing Shocks Hot Laps: 1. 35-Francois Bellemare, 00:13.427[2]; 2. 91-Felix Roy, 00:13.456[23]; 3. 124-Mario Clair, 00:13.514[7]; 4. 84Y-Alex Yankowski, 00:13.532[31]; 5. 39X-Alex Therrien, 00:13.548[28]; 6. 9S-Matt Sheppard, 00:13.553[25]; 7. 49-Francois Bernier, 00:13.573[4]; 8. 35M-Mike Mahaney, 00:13.575[17]; 9. 44-Stewart Friesen, 00:13.589[11]; 10. 39A-Alan Therrien, 00:13.670[27]; 11. 96-JF Corriveau, 00:13.721[8]; 12. 54B-Steve Bernard, 00:13.735[3]; 13. 92P-Martin Pelletier, 00:13.759[20]; 14. 54-Even Racine, 00:13.763[22]; 15. 2-Patrick Beaumier, 00:13.774[1]; 16. 47-Simon Perreault, 00:13.781[21]; 17. 29-Steve Turcotte, 00:13.833[29]; 18. 25P-Michael Parent, 00:13.849[19]; 19. 6H-JR Hurlburt, 00:13.892[15]; 20. 37-Mathieu Desjardins, 00:13.930[10]; 21. 35C-Chris Curtis, 00:13.980[9]; 22. 13-Kevin Hamel, 00:13.985[13]; 23. 15M-Daniel Morgiewicz Jr, 00:14.126[18]; 24. (DNS) 25-Steve Bernier; 25. (DNS) 41-Samuel Charland; 26. (DNS) 44G-Sebastien Gougeon; 27. (DNS) ONE-David Hebert; 28. (DNS) 9J-Marc Johnson; 29. (DNS) 25R-Erick Rudolph; 30. (DNS) 17Z-Dillon Steuer; 31. (DNS) 3W-Mat Williamson

Sportsman

Finale (40 Laps): 1. 35R-William Racine[10]; 2. 00-Donovan Lussier[4]; 3. 38S-Sean Imbeault[3]; 4. 44-Raphael Gougeon[7]; 5. 99-Steven Lajoie[8]; 6. 22C-Cedric Gauvreau[19]; 7. 49-Kaven Poliquin[15]; 8. 17-Antoine Parent[12]; 9. 49A-Alan Carrier[13]; 10. 89-Mathis Caron[11]; 11. 8KL-Karl Letendre[17]; 12. 84-Normand Hamel[2]; 13. 88-Fire Swamp[14]; 14. 2-Jeff Beaumier[6]; 15. 117-Keven Boucher Carrier[16]; 16. 22G-Gorden Clair[5]; 17. 36-Vincent St Louis[18]; 18. 338-Pascal Payeur[1]; 19. 3KL-Keven Letendre[9]

Qualification 1 (8 Laps): 1. 338-Pascal Payeur[1]; 2. 38S-Sean Imbeault[3]; 3. 22G-Gorden Clair[4]; 4. 44-Raphael Gougeon[7]; 5. 3KL-Keven Letendre[5]; 6. 89-Mathis Caron[2]; 7. 49A-Alan Carrier[6]; 8. 49-Kaven Poliquin[9]; 9. 8KL-Karl Letendre[8]; 10. 22C-Cedric Gauvreau[10]

Qualification 2 (8 Laps): 1. 84-Normand Hamel[4]; 2. 00-Donovan Lussier[8]; 3. 2-Jeff Beaumier[2]; 4. 99-Steven Lajoie[6]; 5. 35R-William Racine[5]; 6. 17-Antoine Parent[7]; 7. 88-Fire Swamp[9]; 8. 117-Keven Boucher Carrier[3]; 9. 36-Vincent St Louis[1]

Pratique: 1. 8KL-Karl Letendre, 00:13.929[10]; 2. 49-Kaven Poliquin, 00:13.955[13]; 3. 84-Normand Hamel, 00:13.986[4]; 4. 00-Donovan Lussier, 00:14.110[11]; 5. 35R-William Racine, 00:14.153[5]; 6. 44-Raphael Gougeon, 00:14.163[17]; 7. 3KL-Keven Letendre, 00:14.166[8]; 8. 17-Antoine Parent, 00:14.178[3]; 9. 88-Fire Swamp, 00:14.181[16]; 10. 89-Mathis Caron, 00:14.182[1]; 11. 22G-Gorden Clair, 00:14.201[9]; 12. 49A-Alan Carrier, 00:14.299[18]; 13. 22C-Cedric Gauvreau, 00:14.360[19]; 14. 2-Jeff Beaumier, 00:14.407[6]; 15. 99-Steven Lajoie, 00:14.434[14]; 16. 117-Keven Boucher Carrier, 00:14.469[7]; 17. 38S-Sean Imbeault, 00:14.494[2]; 18. 36-Vincent St Louis, 00:14.512[12]; 19. 338-Pascal Payeur, 00:14.516[15]

Mod Lite

Finale (25 Laps): 1. 6A-Alex Forcier[1]; 2. 27-Michael Forcier[10]; 3. 66L-Antonin Lafleur[2]; 4. 6F-Martin Forcier[13]; 5. 49-Logan Carrier[9]; 6. 25-Eric Lamothe[4]; 7. 721-Jean Francois Leblanc[6]; 8. 427-Francis Laliberte[17]; 9. 91-Kevin Burke[15]; 10. B7-Patrick Maltais[11]; 11. 08-Josee Fortier[19]; 12. 88-Alexandre Pepin[7]; 13. 769-Darren Trinque[5]; 14. S8-Steve Comeau[14]; 15. 735-Daniel Demers[18]; 16. 28-Eric Desilets[16]; 17. 98-Francois Marcoux[12]; 18. 31-Yan Beliveau[3]; 19. D12-Charles Antoine Pepin Bessette[8]

Qualification 1 (8 Laps): 1. 27-Michael Forcier[2]; 2. 25-Eric Lamothe[1]; 3. 6A-Alex Forcier[8]; 4. 88-Alexandre Pepin[4]; 5. 721-Jean Francois Leblanc[6]; 6. B7-Patrick Maltais[10]; 7. 6F-Martin Forcier[7]; 8. 91-Kevin Burke[5]; 9. 427-Francis Laliberte[3]; 10. 08-Josee Fortier[9]

Qualification 2 (8 Laps): 1. 769-Darren Trinque[1]; 2. 66L-Antonin Lafleur[7]; 3. 31-Yan Beliveau[8]; 4. 49-Logan Carrier[3]; 5. D12-Charles Antoine Pepin Bessette[4]; 6. 98-Francois Marcoux[2]; 7. S8-Steve Comeau[9]; 8. 28-Eric Desilets[5]; 9. (DNF) 735-Daniel Demers[6]

Pratique: 1. 66L-Antonin Lafleur, 00:15.818[17]; 2. 27-Michael Forcier, 00:15.820[2]; 3. 6F-Martin Forcier, 00:15.844[8]; 4. 25-Eric Lamothe, 00:15.960[1]; 5. 91-Kevin Burke, 00:16.047[5]; 6. 31-Yan Beliveau, 00:16.062[18]; 7. 28-Eric Desilets, 00:16.074[15]; 8. 6A-Alex Forcier, 00:16.138[7]; 9. 735-Daniel Demers, 00:16.150[16]; 10. S8-Steve Comeau, 00:16.401[19]; 11. B7-Patrick Maltais, 00:16.451[10]; 12. 88-Alexandre Pepin, 00:16.549[4]; 13. 769-Darren Trinque, 00:16.627[11]; 14. 427-Francis Laliberte, 00:16.719[3]; 15. 49-Logan Carrier, 00:16.883[13]; 16. 08-Josee Fortier, 00:17.033[9]; 17. 721-Jean Francois Leblanc, 00:17.109[6]; 18. 98-Francois Marcoux, 00:17.485[12]; 19. D12-Charles Antoine Pepin Bessette, 00:17.485[14]

Slingshot Sr

Finale (15 Laps): 1. 95-Jacob Nadeau[4]; 2. 97X-Anthony Robitaille[6]; 3. 98-William Pelletier[8]; 4. 15-Matthew Noiseux[1]; 5. 39-Claudie Lizotte[7]; 6. 51-Hugo Noiseux[10]; 7. 6-Ludovik Guillemette[12]; 8. 49-Samuel St Hilaire[5]; 9. 15P-Melodie Pulfer[9]; 10. 61-Cedric Tremblay[3]; 11. 21-Olivier Desrosiers[2]; 12. 25-Phil Adam[11]

Qualification 1 (6 Laps): 1. 39-Claudie Lizotte[4]; 2. 61-Cedric Tremblay[2]; 3. 21-Olivier Desrosiers[5]; 4. 49-Samuel St Hilaire[1]; 5. 15P-Melodie Pulfer[3]; 6. 25-Phil Adam[6]

Qualification 2 (6 Laps): 1. 97X-Anthony Robitaille[1]; 2. 95-Jacob Nadeau[2]; 3. 98-William Pelletier[5]; 4. 15-Matthew Noiseux[4]; 5. 51-Hugo Noiseux[3]; 6. 6-Ludovik Guillemette[6]

Pratique: 1. 97X-Anthony Robitaille, 00:18.671[2]; 2. 98-William Pelletier, 00:18.759[10]; 3. 21-Olivier Desrosiers, 00:18.803[9]; 4. 6-Ludovik Guillemette, 00:18.828[12]; 5. 61-Cedric Tremblay, 00:18.846[3]; 6. 39-Claudie Lizotte, 00:18.866[7]; 7. 15P-Melodie Pulfer, 00:18.944[5]; 8. 15-Matthew Noiseux, 00:18.971[8]; 9. 49-Samuel St Hilaire, 00:18.985[1]; 10. 95-Jacob Nadeau, 00:19.070[4]; 11. 25-Phil Adam, 00:21.993[11]; 12. 51-Hugo Noiseux, 00:21.993[6]

Slingshot Jr

Qualification 1 (6 Laps): 1. 17-Antoine Lepage[1]; 2. 28-Sarah Ann Lauziere[2]; 3. 48B-Emric Bourque[3]; 4. 07-William Lepage[4]

Qualification 2 (6 Laps): 1. 4-Elie Verville[2]; 2. 28L-Lea Jeanne Lauziere[3]; 3. 61JR-Antony Boissonneault[4]; 4. 39A-Shawn Boulerice[1]