WEEDSPORT, NY — After battling through difficult starting positions in the first four DIRTcar 358 Modified Series Features of the season, Mat Williamson took full advantage of a front-row start on Sunday night at Weedsport Speedway.
The St. Catharines, ON native surged past Jordan McCreadie on the opening lap and never looked back, cruising to a commanding victory in the Speedweek Finale. The win netted Williamson a $5,000 payday and marked his third Series triumph of the 2025 season.
Williamson, who has been using Weedsport to prepare for future events, said the performance was a promising step forward.
“We were actually trying some stuff tonight to be better when we come back with the Big Block,” Williamson said. “I think that’s promising. My small block program has been pretty good this year. The whole team has been on rails.
“It’s cool to win at Weedsport. I think with the Big Block last time we finished second, maybe third, so to get back on Victory Hill is pretty cool.”
Williamson and McCreadie led the field to the green in the 50-lap Feature, with the 2023 Series champion quickly grabbing the lead. The only caution of the race came on Lap 6 for Steve Lewis, but it did little to slow Williamson’s momentum.
After the restart, Williamson built a comfortable gap until encountering a pair of slower cars—Lewis and C.J. Castelletti—running side-by-side. He attempted to pass Lewis on the bottom on Lap 18, then capitalized when Lewis slid up a lane on the backstretch, charging past both in Turn 3.
Behind him, McCreadie began to feel pressure from a charging pack. He too struggled to get around Lewis, opening the door for Tim Sears Jr., who used traffic to his advantage. Sears swept around McCreadie and Lewis in Turns 3 and 4 to take second on Lap 23.
That would be the closest anyone came to Williamson, who crossed the finish line more than 11 seconds ahead of the field.
“You want to give the fans the show that they deserve,” Williamson said. “But we’ve started in the last row of the redraw in every Series race this year. This was the first time we weren’t in that last row.”
With the win, Williamson reclaimed the Series points lead for the third time this season. He now holds a 12-point advantage over Mike Mahaney, who finished seventh.
Sears, of Hastings, NY, settled for second—his best Series finish in two starts this season. He credited the result to recent improvements.
“We made some really good gains on our Troyer car,” Sears said. “We won last night, and we’ve taken a lot of swings, so we had to just sit back and regroup. I think we’re starting to head back in the right direction.
“We definitely gained on it tonight. Hopefully, this translates into some good speed.”
Defending Series champion Felix Roy rounded out the podium in third. The Napierville, QC driver rebounded from engine trouble during Hot Laps, which forced him to compete in his brother Jeremy’s No. 90 machine.
“It was running good,” Roy said. “The guys worked really hard on the car to get it to fit my style because me and my brother drive different. And it paid off.
“The car was pretty good. I could pretty much go where I wanted in traffic and run that middle and top. A lot of guys were stuck on the bottom, so I figured I’d go up there and make it work.”
Ronnie Davis III finished fourth, while McCreadie completed the top five.
DIRTcar 358 Modified Series Feature – Weedsport Speedway (50 Laps)
- 6M-Mat Williamson [1]
- 83X-Tim Sears Jr [5]
- 91-Felix Roy [6]
- 32R-Ronnie Davis III [3]
- 28-Jordan McCreadie [2]
- 28F-Alan Fink [12]
- 35-Mike Mahaney [4]
- 31-Lance Willix [10]
- M1-Dave Marcuccilli [11]
- 18R-Brad Rouse [7]
- 5-Amy Holland [8]
- 60-Jackson Gill [13]
- 7Z-Zachary Payne [19]
- 21A-Peter Britten [15]
- 3B-Chad Brachmann [20]
- 63-Adam Roberts [17]
- 98H-Jimmy Phelps [25]
- 12-Darren Smith [14]
- 42P-Pat Ward [18]
- 22-Noah Walker [16]
- 92-Andrew Buff [26]
- 26-Kyle Richner [24]
- 160-Max Hill [21]
- 17G-Garrett Poland [23]
- 427-Carter Gibbons [30]
- B24-Brendan Gibbons [29]
- 11S-Steve Lewis Jr [27]
- (DNF) 38J-Jarrett Herbison [22]
- (DNF) 117-CJ Castelletti [28]
- (DNF) 99L-Larry Wight [9]
