Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – WEEDSPORT, NY – If your name is Mat Williamson, you seem to have Weedsport Speedway figured out.
Another example of that was Sunday night where the St. Catherines, ONT driver led all 50-laps of the Empire State Challenge to come away with, yet another, visit to Victory Hill.
“Tonight was more like it was like when we were here with the Empire Super Sprints,” Williamson said. “The Sprint Cars make it spotty and a lot more ‘patchy.’ You have to roll the middle. The last time we were here, we rolled the bottom and it just seemed like we didn’t tighten our car up enough for that.”
This was Williamson’s third victory at the Weedsport, NY oval in four starts. The track seems to lend itself to multiple-groove, smooth, slick track action. Sunday night, racing alongside the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars was another example.
Sunday’s $3,000-to-win special at the Port also provided a great practice session for Williamson to gain some insight into setups without the pressure of a point chase.
“We figured we’d come down (from Canada) tonight to learn some things and try to get some momentum on our side,” he said. “We want to get ready for the next few weeks and the trip we had to Quebec wasn’t the greatest. We had one good night and two bad ones so we came here to hopefully get back on track.”
Safe to say, Williamson and company did, as they won their heat and led each lap in the caution-free affair. This may be what the doctor ordered for Mat.
“Hopefully, we’ll now go good back up in Quebec this week with Jeff Behrent’s car on the Short Track Super Series,” he said. “Then, we’ll go to Canandaigua Saturday and try to get a good finish there and then SummerFAST with the 88.”
In the main event, the only thing that Williamson seemed to be having to deal with was lap traffic. Second place Tim Sears Jr. and third place Jimmy Phelps weren’t in striking distance of driver number 6 but he didn’t know that. How did he know how hard to push?
“Dave (Farney, head starter) was giving me signals that I was far enough ahead, but you never know,” he said. “Things can change in a hurry. There was one lapped car that switched lanes down the backstretch once and I closed in on him so fast the second time, I almost spun him out. I had to jump on the brakes.”
There’s that mindset. You never give less than 100% until the checkered flag drops.
“That was probably a little too aggressive on my part,” he said. “It was a tricky race track tonight. I didn’t know how much of a lead I had so you have to push every lap.”
Sears brought the 83x home in second with Phelps in third in the HBR 98H. Alex Payne and Dalton Slack rounded out the top five.
Finish (50 Laps): 1. Mat Williamson, 2. Tim Sears Jr., 3. Jimmy Phelps, 4. Alex Payne, 5. Dalton Slack, 6. Dave Marcuccilli, 7. Darren Smith, 8. Chris Hile, 9. Larry Wight, 10. Anthony Perrego, 11. Chad Phelps, 12. Todd Root, 13. Ron Davis III, 14. Chris Hulsizer, 15. Tanner VanDoren, 16. Zach Payne, 17. Amy Holland, 18. Bob Henry Jr., 19. Nicholas Root, 20. Matt Sheppard, 21. Brian Swarthout, 22. Max Hill, 23. Brian Swartzlander