RPW Exclusive: Race Teams Are Proving They Need To Be Ready To Win Long Before They Get To The Track

Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – LAKE CITY, FL – In a world where a driver and team need to be the fastest of anyone right off the trailer, practice makes perfect.

You can’t just rely on early night hot laps to get dialed in if you want to be standing in victory lane when the night is over.

Now, it’s all about pull-down rigs and shock dynos and spring smashers and, more prevalent than ever, test sessions, ahead of big events.

For one team, it was even a trip to a wind tunnel. Yes, you read that right…a Dirt Modified in a wind tunnel.

It’s been all over the internet the last few days that teams like Tim Sears Jr., Mat Williamson and Jimmy Phelps have logged laps at different Florida state facilities to get ready for their four-race swing at Volusia Speedway Park for DIRTcar Nationals.

For Phelps, it was time to shake the rust off, but also to try some different things that he and his HBR team hope will get them in the ball park instantly when they hit the track for the first time.

“We tested at All-Tech on Sunday just to shake the car down mainly,” Phelps said. This is a great trip for us to try some new things before the point season starts up north so we want to make sure we have a plan.”

The team goes into Volusia hoping to better on their fifth in DIRTcar Nationals points from a year ago. Jimmy did have two top fives in the three events but would love to return to the form he had in 2022 where he had a win, four top 5’s, a worse finish of sixth (in the only other race) and the title.

“We feel good with the car we’re going to run at Volusia,” he said. “It’s the piece we ran at Super DIRT Week and then at Charlotte and it was really strong there and our notebook has some really great ideas in it. So, I believe we can be right in the hunt all week.”

The test on Sunday, however, wasn’t with that car.

“We have two good bullets for this week, if need be,” he said. “The primary car we’ve run and know its potential. The other one we have is a brand new piece and we spent the time testing that. We’re confident that it will be just as good when we get back home.”

Williamson is probably the one driver heading into DIRTcar Nationals with the most momentum. Coming off a season that saw him dominate the win column on the Super DIRTcar Series and finish the job by winning his second career Series title, Williamson is chasing his third-straight DIRTcar Nationals crown.

With that, the team recently tested at Lake View Motor Speedway in South Carolina on their way to Volusia to see if some of the ideas they learned over the off-season and in the wind tunnel.

Yes, you read that right. Williamson and his Buzz Chew Racing team spent some time in the A2 Wind Tunnel in Mooresville, NC. They used that time to gain some knowledge of how their car reacts to changes so they can gain a leg up on the competition.

“We got some ideas in the wind tunnel that we tested out at Lake View,” Williamson said. “It was good to get back on track. We used both the time on and off the track to help us speed up the learning process for Volusia.”

Williamson and his team have perfected the art of being quick from the moment their car comes off the lift gate.

“It’s so important to be fast from the moment you pull on the track for the first time,” he said. “You can’t waste any time so while Lake View was about shaking the rust off, it was more to see if some of the stuff we learned at A2 could be put to use and help us be faster.”