CHILLICOTHE, OH – Mat Williamson and his Buzz Chew Racing team have been a second-half kind of team the last few seasons – searching for speed the first half of the year and then finding wins the second.
However, winning momentum from the end of 2022, that’s carried into 2023, has Williamson hopeful he and his team already have the speed they need to chase wins and another Super DIRTcar Series title, starting with the 2023 championship season-opener at Atomic Speedway, March 31-April 1.
After ending the 2022 season with two wins at the World of Outlaws World Finals season finale – securing a runner-up spot in points for the 2019 series champion – Williamson picked up where he left off when the 2023 season opened in Florida. He won the final two nights of the Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals, with a dramatic last-lap pass each night to secure the win, and his consistent performance earned his first Big Gator championship.
“Hopefully it’s a sign of things to come,” said the St. Catharines, ON driver.
He and his team spent the off-season “getting things in order” for the 2023 season, making sure that both his Big Block Modified and Small Block Modified were in prime condition for the new year.
“There was a long spell where we didn’t run well on the series and that was probably the hard part,” said Williamson. “We finished the year well. Going down to Florida and continuing that momentum just goes to show we didn’t lose it the last three months just sitting around on the couch. That’s a good feeling. Hopefully, it can continue into March and into Atomic.”
The series’ trip to Atomic Speedway in Chillicothe, OH will be Williamson’s first trip to the 3/8-mile track and the Super DIRTcar Series’ debut there. A win or two during the two-day Rumble in the Hills will come with significant benefits, as Friday’s feature pays $10,000 to win and Saturday’s feature pays $12,000 to win. Both nights will award a guaranteed starting spot for Super DIRT Week 51, as well.
Williamson knows that keeping his winning momentum going is not an easy task on the Super DIRTcar Series tour, which fields the best Big Block Modified drivers in the country. But knowing he already has the speed he tends to search for throughout the year is the motivational boost he’s been looking for since his 2019 championship season.
“I think that we know what the recipe to winning is,” said Williamson. “To replicate that again, it would be pretty good. But that’s tough. [Last] year, it felt like our bad runs were bad and our good runs were good. We didn’t have the in-betweens. We didn’t have the fourth place finishes as bad runs. Our bad runs were 15th or 14th. Hopefully, we can get rid of that statistic and try to turn those into fourth and fifth place finishes and then the rest sets itself in place.”
UP NEXT: The Super DIRTcar Series Big Block Modifieds are back in action at Atomic Speedway on Friday-Saturday, March 31-April 1, for two Super DIRT Week 51 Qualifiers and a $10,000 payday on Friday and $12,000 payday on Saturday.
- By Michelina Friss, Super DIRTcar Series PR Coordinator
