WEEDSPORT, NY – Mat Williamson is becoming a regular visitor at Weedsport Speedway’s “Victory Hill.” He found the path to victory for the third straight Super DIRTcar Series feature at “The Port,” holding off Peter Britten to win his second consecutive Heroes Remembered 100.
Ronnie Davis III led the field to the green flag in the 100-lap feature, quickly pulling away from World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Series star Max McLaughlin.
As Davis led, NASCAR Truck Series star Stewart Friesen started working his way forward, passing Britten for second on Lap 11. Friesen challenged Davis on the inside lane but couldn’t get past him. That changed when a yellow for 10-time defending series champion Matt Sheppard slowed the field on Lap 20.
When the race resumed, the Sprakers, NY driver needed one lap to wrestle the lead from Davis, thundering around the outside of the No. 32R as they completed Lap 23.
However, as Friesen started building his own lead, Williamson began to charge toward the front. Running in fifth, “Money Mat” used the extreme outside to pick off cars one by one, getting past Anthony Perrego, Britten, and Davis in four laps to take second on Lap 32.
Williamson needed five more laps to catch Friesen and three more to pass him, thundering around the outside to take the lead on Lap 40. He cruised for the next 50 laps until another challenge awaited the Buzz Chew Chevrolet No. 88.
Britten’s No. 21A came to life in the final 25, finding momentum on Weedsport’s inside line. The Brisbane, QLD driver cleared Friesen on Lap 80 and set his sights on Williamson.
As Williamson caught the back of the field, Britten closed the gap, getting as close as two car lengths on Lap 92. But Williamson’s Bicknell chassis was too strong, holding off “The Batman’s” charge to earn his second Super DIRTcar Series win of 2024.
Williamson said he struggled with his car’s handling in the last 10 laps, allowing Britten an opportunity to strike.
“My tire was shot at the end, so I was kind of hanging on,” said Williamson. “We were fortunate to get it done. When the brown went away (on the track), I got worse. I had a good car; I didn’t think it was going to be that good tonight because the track was different. But we went off our notes from last year, and it paid off.”
The St. Catharines, ON driver began his night with an uphill climb after he qualified seventh in his group. However, he’s familiar with this situation.
“If you look back at the last couple of Weedsport wins, we haven’t [qualified] well in those,” said Williamson. “It just seems like when there’s grip in the racetrack, and you have to run the bottom, I’m not very good. I think our cars are so tight that we can’t roll the bottom like others can…luckily, we got in the redraw, and we’re standing in victory lane.”
The $7,500 victory is Williamson’s second Super DIRTcar Series win of the season and 24th of his career, breaking a tie with Steve Paine and Tim McCreadie for 12th on the all-time wins list.
Britten settled for second – his best Super DIRTcar Series finish at Weedsport. It’s also his second consecutive series podium after finishing third at New Egypt Speedway.
“I know we were pretty tit for tat for a while,” said Britten. “I feel like I was starting to pull him in clean air a little bit, and then as we got to traffic, we pulled right up on him. Once he got past [Smith] and got clean air, I had to clear [lap traffic]. And then, once I cleared them, he got away.”
Britten has taken over the Super DIRTcar Series points lead with his runner-up finish. He currently holds a three-point lead over Perrego, who finished fourth.
Friesen finished third, his second straight series podium at Weedsport. He said his car peaked too early in the feature, costing him a chance at the win.
“We were too good too early,” said Friesen. “Mat is always tough here. We fired off really good and strong but we just kind of lost the handle on it by the end of the race. A podium for us is a good night. We’ll just keep building a notebook and hope we get better the next time we come here.”
Alex Payne crossed the line fourth but was disqualified after he was light at the scales in post-race tech. That moved Perrego up to fourth. World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Models Series driver Max McLaughlin rounded out the top-five.
Heroes Remembered 100 (100 Laps): 1. 88-Mat Williamson[7]; 2. 21A-Peter Britten[3]; 3. 44-Stewart Friesen[4]; 4. 4*-Anthony Perrego[5]; 5. 8H-Max McLaughlin[2]; 6. 99L-Larry Wight[20]; 7. 98H-Jimmy Phelps[8]; 8. 35-Mike Mahaney[11]; 9. 83X-Tim Sears Jr[10]; 10. 3RS-Dalton Slack[14]; 11. 91-Felix Roy[23]; 12. 9S-Matt Sheppard[6]; 13. 32R-Ronnie Davis III[1]; 14. 28-Michael Trautschold[12]; 15. 27J-Danny Johnson[27]; 16. 12-Darren Smith[18]; 17. 7Z-Zachary Payne[24]; 18. 27JR-Daniel Johnson[22]; 19. (DNF) 58-Louden Reimert[17]; 20. (DNF) 15-Todd Root[19]; 21. (DNF) M1-Dave Marcuccilli[16]; 22. (DNF) 2-Jack Lehner[15]; 23. (DNF) 22-Brandon Walters[21]; 24. (DNF) 14-CG Morey[25]; 25. (DNF) 19-Tim Fuller[13]; 26. (DNF) 17-Marcus Dinkins[26]; 27. (DQ) 70A-Alex Payne[9]
- By Mike Warren / Super DIRTcar Series
