FULTON, NY – The path to Victory Lane at Fulton Speedway is one Mat Williamson knows well. But with a $4,000 prize on the line Wednesday night, he needed nearly all 60 laps to get there again.
The St. Catharines, ON driver charged from 10th to first, overtaking Billy Dunn with five laps to go to win the Highbank Holdup, securing his second Series victory of the 2025 season.
“Holy moly, that was a lot of fun,” Williamson said. “Billy and I had a hell of a run. I don’t think he even knew I was there. Hats off to my guys. They worked hard all night. It’s a team effort, and that was a lot of fun.”
Jordan McCreadie and Dunn led the field to green in the 60-lap Feature, with Dunn grabbing the early advantage through Turns 1 and 2. The two Watertown, NY drivers battled until a right-rear flat on Kyle Devendorf’s car brought out the race’s only caution on Lap 3.
When the race resumed, Dunn took control again, pulling away from McCreadie and Ronnie Davis III, who had moved into second. Dunn held the lead until Lap 20, when Davis closed in during lapped traffic. As the two fought for the top spot, Williamson began his push to the front, entering the top five by Lap 22.
With Williamson on the move, Dunn pulled away from Davis after switching his line to the bottom on Lap 24. Williamson continued to gain ground, passing McCreadie on Lap 30 and then Davis for second on Lap 36. He then began to chase down Dunn.
By Lap 50, Dunn’s two-second lead had shrunk to just over half a second. Williamson made his first serious attempt to pass on Lap 51, trying the outside lane, but Dunn held him off. One lap later, Williamson dove low and slid in front of Dunn in Turns 3 and 4, only for Dunn to cut back underneath him on the frontstretch.
The duel didn’t last much longer. On Lap 55, Williamson found momentum on the high side and powered around Dunn to take the lead. From there, he pulled away to earn his 17th career Series victory, breaking a tie with David Hebert for eighth on the all-time wins list. It also marked his third Series win at Fulton.
After redrawing 10th, Williamson said he knew he had to be aggressive.
“You had to get there,” he said. “I felt like we missed it early with the carburetor, but Guillaume got it dialed in right for the Feature, and that’s all that matters. We made the redraw, and we’re standing here on the front straightaway.”
With the win, Williamson reclaimed the Series points lead from Mike Mahaney, who finished fourth. He now leads by six points heading into the next event at Can-Am Speedway.
Dunn finished second after leading the first 55 laps. He said he could feel the pressure coming from behind.
“I saw him coming with about 10 or 12 laps to go,” Dunn said. “And I saw him on the scoreboard before that. I tried to move around and maybe slow him down a little bit, but he was really good. I had a little trouble getting through traffic. I wasn’t maneuverable enough. But it was a really good run. It’s fun racing with Mat. That was a hell of a race. Congratulations to him.”
Davis finished third, earning his fourth career Series podium. The Memphis, NY driver said the result built on recent success.
“We’ve been on the podium the last few weeks,” Davis said. “We’ve had really strong cars. So, to back it up with another one tonight feels pretty good. I’m hoping the way the season’s going, we’ll nail down a win here by the end of the year.”
Alan Fink earned his first Series top-five finish, coming home in fifth.
Highbank Holdup 60 (60 Laps) Results:
- 6-Mat Williamson [10]; 2. 49-Billy Dunn [2]; 3. 32R-Ronald Davis III [4]; 4. 35-Mike Mahaney [8]; 5. 28-Alan Fink [3]; 6. 83X-Tim Sears Jr [15]; 7. 31W-Lance Willix [11]; 8. 25-Erick Rudolph [16]; 9. 7Z-Zach Payne [6]; 10. 91-Felix Roy [14]; 11. 10C-Willy Decker [5]; 12. 5H-Amy Holland [30]; 13. 28M-Jordan McCreadie [1]; 14. 14T-Payton Talbot [18]; 15. M1-David Marcuccilli [9]; 16. 3-Chris Mackey [12]; 17. 42P-Pat Ward [24]; 18. 38J-Jarrett Herbison [28]; 19. 44-Gordon Smith [7]; 20. 31-Corey Barker [22]; 21. 21C-Brian Calabrese [17]; 22. 17G-Garrett Poland [25]; 23. 45R-Preston Forbes [29]; 24. 92-Andrew Buff [27]; 25. (DNF) 99L-Larry Wight [19]; 26. (DNF) 60-Jackson Gill [26]; 27. (DNF) 31B-Ryan Dolbear [13]; 28. (DNF) 1X-Willy Decker Jr [21]; 29. (DNF) 21A-Peter Britten [23]; 30. (DNF) 5D-Kyle Devendorf [20]
