Mat Williamson & Team Reflect on 2013 Accomplishments

The Mat Williamson Race Team enjoyed a great season in 2013, reaching, and, in some cases, surpassing goals we set for the 358 Small Block, plus our first full season in the Big Block division, competing at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, PA and selected other events.

Driver Mat and the dedicated crew of Charlie King, Ted Renshaw, Wayne Conn, Mat’s Dad Randy, and Rob Sawatsky utilized hard work and a rigorous Wednesday night maintenance program, along with "at the track" adjustments and constantly refined race strategies to achieve the following results, of which the team, its loyal sponsors, and fans can be justifiably proud:

- A total of Nine Feature wins, Four with the Small Block and Five with the Big Block.

- The 2013 Big Block Championship at Lernerville.

- 2nd in points at Humberstone Speedway, Port Colbourne, Ont.

- 3rd in points at Merrittville Speedway, Thorold, Ont.

- Set a new track record (14.944 on June 8th,2013) for the fastest 358 or Big Block lap at Merrittville Speedway, Thorold, Ont.

- 2nd in the overall Mr. DIRT 358 Series.

- 5th overall in the 358 for the best 16 finishes

- 2013 Co-Rookie of the Year in the Big Block Division

- 4th overall in the Big Block for the best 16 finishes

- 17th overall in MR DIRT Big Block tour points (running 8 of the 16 tour races)

The Mat Williamson Racing Team would like extend a sincere thank you to all of our marketing partners for their unflinching support for the 2013 season. Without your backing we would not have been in a position to accomplish as much as we did. You are not only a big part of our team, but you serve as the linchpin for our success.

Thanks also to our back up crew of Cliff Warner, Barry Robertson, Adam Williams, and Darryl Johnson for filling in when our crew was short on manpower and for your valuable assistance throughout the season.

A special thank you goes to our extended pit crew at Syracuse, Chad Chevalier's #12 358 race team, consisting of Chad, Ryan , Jason, and Ivan, and also to Paul Williamson, gas-man and second race car team hauler.

Thank you also to our Syracuse and yearlong support crew, plus another important part of the team- Tracey (Mat’s Mom), Bonnie Robison, Grandma and Grandpa Windeatt, and Grandma Williamson.

Finally, thanks to Dave Sully for all your great weekly website racing news updates and Helen & Alex Bruce for some great photos this year.

The team is already looking forward to the 2014 season.

Team Logs Solid Finish to Season at Charlotte

By DAVE SULLY - CHARLOTTE, NC- After running well and having the misfortune to run out of fuel at the Lernerville Stampede, the team ended its season with a good showing at the World Finals on the Dirt Track at Charlotte. Fielding the Big Block in front of a huge audience, Mat was able to time well enough on Thursday, November 7th, in the twin qualifier format to put himself in a position to make good qualifying runs in his heats. The effort put him in both of the 40 lap feature races, which capped off the event.

They didn't get a lot of hot laps on Friday, November 9th, and when they did, they were in the afternoon, with the race running at night. Any racer will tell you that racing in the daylight versus the night on dirt makes predicting track conditions really dicey. They did the best they could, but the car didn't perform in the first feature, although a seventeenth place finish is nothing to sniff at when you consider some of the drivers who didn't even qualify, like Kenny Tremont, Rob Bellinger and Stephane LaFrance, or the drivers who finished behind him, like Danny Johnson, Tim Fuller, Tim McCreadie, Carey Terrence, and Rick Laubach.

The team upped the ante on Saturday, November 10th, starting a distant seventeenth, but finishing a very respectable 12th, again finishing ahead of some top competitors, like Justin Haers, Pete Britten, McCreadie, Tremont, Terrence, Billy Dunn, and Lernerville nemesis Brian Schwartzlander.

Mat talked about the experience, noting, "The trip down there went well. We got in a couple days early, so we were pretty relaxed going into Thursday night. We went out for time trials and timed well for the first session on Friday night, but not so well in the second. In our first heat race, we started second and ended up third. Danny (Johnson) got by me. We were good. We were certainly a contender."

"For the Saturday qualifier, we went out in the heat race and started seventh and finished fourth, the final transfer spot. So we went out of Thursday without having to go to the B Main, and we were in both shows. We were very happy about that. Nothing was wrong with the car. Everything went off without a hitch. It was certainly good that way."

"For the Friday race, we had one set of hot laps and that was at about 4:30, and the race was about 9:30. We couldn't do much adjusting. We did what we could with it. We just struggled. We finished seventeenth, the last car on the lead lap."

"Then we got the car changed around. We talked to Pat (Macaulay) at Fox Shocks on Saturday morning and got it changed around for Saturday. We ended up coming from seventeenth to twelfth. It wasn't the result I wanted to have, but, after Friday, I was pretty happy with it. Everybody's hard to pass."

"The track is a little smaller than Lernerville. It was pretty rough on Thursday, but they did the best they could, and it was racier on Friday."

Mat also reported that the crowd in the grandstand was reportedly sold out at 21,000 and they sold 12,000 pit passes. That represents an absolute gold mine for the World Racing Group.

Mat concluded, "It was a good weekend, and I'll certainly think about going back next year. For now, we start thinking about Florida and go from there."

As for the year as a whole, Mat observed, "I'm happy with it. We did what we could. Obviously, the Merrittville championship was our biggest goal, but we're going to have to wait until next year for that. We just have to look forward. I learned a lot this year. We need to hit our marks and do the same things we did this year, but a little bit better."

I would like to add my congratulations to the team for their efforts in annexing its first championship and for the feature wins at Merrittville and Lernerville. The team also deserves a lot of credit for hanging in there when they ran into the bad stretch and turning things around. The future of the Williamson Racing Team seems bright, and with the continued support from its loyal and generous sponsors and fans, 2014 could be really special.

Fate Deals a Blow to Great Weekend at Lernerville.

By DAVE SULLY - Following the ups and downs of Super Dirt Week at Syracuse, the team journeyed to Lernerville for the two day Stampede, which featured numerous divisions competing in heats on Friday and features on Saturday. Knowing that the car was going to be good, with the Big Block back under the hood, everybody was reved up for a positive showing.

Things started out very well, as Mat performed well in time trials and buried the competition in his heat, lapping several cars in the process and winning by half a lap.

For the 30 lap feature on Saturday, Mat was slotted twelfth. He immediately put the pedal down and was to reach seventh, when then the rain began to fall, necessitating numerous laps to run the track in when it subsided. Unfortunately, that proved to be Mat’s undoing, as they had planned their fuel load for a thirty lap race. In the cruelest blow, the No. 6 ran out of gas, with Mat leading, on lap 28. Instead of a well-earned win, the result showed a disappointing 16th place finish.

Mat talked about the Lernerville show, declaring, “We were good. We killed them Friday night. We won the heat by over half a lap and almost lapped half the field. The motor was certainly running, and the car was pretty good. We could have made the car a little bit better. We did for Saturday.”

“On Saturday, we started twelfth. We got up to seventh, and it started to rain. They threw the caution when a couple guys went off the end. They needed us to run the track in. We spent about twenty laps running it in and then probably another twenty in cautions. That just killed us. I didn’t put in enough fuel. It was just my call. We always play it close with weight. We don’t carry enough fuel to run fifty lap races when we’re scheduled for thirty.”

“We got the lead. I don’t know if it was our race. Brian (Schwartzlander) was certainly good. It was just unfortunate we couldn’t finish and race with him. It’s one of those things we’ll look back on all winter and remember why we should put more fuel in the car next time.”

“We were certainly good. We’re looking forward to going to Charlotte because we know the motor runs pretty good. We’ve got a new car. It’s all set up. We’ve got a new trailer (Purchased from Danny O’Brien), and we’ll be taking that to Charlotte. We picked it up yesterday (Monday). I’m pretty happy with it. It’s certainly an upgrade.”

This season has had its share of thrills and disappointments. All things point to a good showing at Charlotte, but as has been the case all year long, nothing is for certain.

On a side note, the bad luck at Lernerville wasn’t the only mishap of the weekend. On Saturday night, Mat’s dad, Randy, went to Eastern States at Orange County and suffered the bad fortune of losing his balance and falling from the pit grandstand, breaking his arm. He underwent surgery the following day and by all accounts he should make a full recovery.

Bad Brockville Break Boots Mat From Possible Win

By DAVE SULLY - BROCKVILLE, ONTARIO – With the final championship race at Brockville on tap for Saturday, October 19th, it was going to take a great finish by Mat and an almost total collapse by Erick Rudolph to change the standings. That’s not the way, it played out, as Mat saw a great effort dissolve with one lap to go, while Rudolph went on to score his first ever series victory, clinching the overall title in the process.

The night started out very well for the Williamson Racing Team, as Mat set fast time and won $500 in the process. He then went on to win his heat, beating none other that Danny Johnson, in another heady effort. The race was going swimmingly, as well, for most of the way. However, bad luck, which has had its moments with the team this year, weighed in, with Mat suffering a flat tire with only one lap to go, dooming him to a seventeenth place finish and spoiling a really good pay day.

Talking about the Brockville trip, Mat declared, “We went there Friday night. They had timed hot laps, which paid $500 for quick time and nothing for second. We quick timed and got the $500. That was good. Saturday, we won the heat. We won over Danny Johnson, which is tough to do anywhere you go, him and Danny O’Brien. It was a pretty stacked heat. We had a really good race car in the heat. At feature time, we had just as good a race car, but the track took rubber. I put a 500 tire on the right rear and two 400s, so I went with a harder compound that most of the others went with, Erick included.”

“I went out and was being pretty aggressive with my tires. I was warming them up on restarts and wasn’t saving them at all. I wasn’t thinking it would be an issue. When we were sitting third, I was actually expecting the top two cars to blow a tire, considering they had 400s on. I could see that tire wear was an issue. If it would have been Erick getting the flat tire, we would have been champions. It just didn’t go that way. I’m glad that the point race is over, because we were just having bad luck points racing.”

After all was said and done, it was a good season in the Series. Mat’s duel with Erick Rudolph gave a lot of attention to the region and their one/two finish certainly bodes well for racing in Southern Ontario and western New York in the future.

The Williamson Racing Team isn’t finished yet, as this weekend, October 25th and 26th, they will be at Lernerville for their Firecracker weekend. They run all the heat races on Friday and the features on Saturday. It’s $3000 to win on Saturday for the Modified race, which is also a BRP Big Block tour event. Chad Brachmann has clinched the title in that series. Mat will have the Big Block back in the car, hoping to top off his track championship with a Big Block Tour win. Other local drivers planning on competing, along with Mat and Chad, are Ricky Richner, Justin Wright, Chad Homan, and possibly Randy Chrysler. Mat expects up to 45 cars for this event.

The team is ready to have a good finish to their Lernerville finale, a track which has been very kind to them this year.

Super Dirt Week Produces Good Performances, But No Luck

By DAVE SULLY - SYRACUSE, NY- The Williamson Racing Team was a prepared as it could be when it set out for Syracuse for Super Dirt Week, and the car came back to St Catharines relatively unscathed from a hectic period of hot laps, qualifying, and racing when it was over. In between, there were a number of good things, some learning experience, and general satisfaction, but not a lot of luck.

The week started on Wednesday, October 9th, at the newly re-opened Cayuga County Speedway, affectionately referred to as Weedsport by most racers. The race, which was a seventy-five lap 358 Series event, proved to be a struggle. Mat finished 5th in his heat (behind Brett Hearn, Matt Sheppard, Pat Ward, and Ryan Susice), one spot out of qualifying, and then barely made it into the feature by finishing third in the second consolation race (behind Carey Terrance and Larry Wight), the last qualifying spot.

The race didn’t go as well as the team would have wanted. Starting toward the rear, Mat struggled to a nineteenth place finish. The only good thing about the night was that Erick Rudolph, who led Mat by 34 points going into the race, finished twentieth, which kept Mat in the hunt for the 358 title.

Talking about the night, Mat explained, “We were stuck in a tough group, didn’t time trial as well as we wanted to, and racing-wise we just made the wrong calls in setup and tires. I personally made the wrong call on tires. We just struggled for seventy-five laps. We’ve only raced Weedsport three or four times. It’s tough when you don’t go to a race track every week. You certainly know more when you do. Nobody has that advantage when you come to Super Dirt Week. It’s one of those things. You can’t look back on it.”

Moving onto Brewerton on Thursday, things improved somewhat. Running in the fifth heat, he finished in a qualifying position, third, behind two pretty good runners, Matt Sheppard and Tim McCreadie.

Mat explained, “It wasn’t too bad. We were back in a tough group again. You never get an easy group when you come to DIRT Week. We ended up third in the heat race. We weren’t very good then. We did what we usually do at Merrittville. It just didn’t pay off. We weren’t as good as we thought we would be. I thought we’d be a top five car for sure. It’s just disappointing that we weren’t.”

There was no time to fret, because the team had to get ready for the Twin Twenties on Friday, the qualifying events for the Salute to the Troops 150 on Saturday. Time trials went well earlier in the day, with Mat ultimately timing eighth after being on the pole for quite a while before the sun came out and the track got faster, allowing several of the later drivers to time quicker.

Mat observed at the time, “I think we’re faster than an eighth place car. That’s the disappointing part. The worst part about it is that eighth is the worst place you can be because you can only go backwards from there. You can’t gain spots. You can only lose them. I think we’ve got a fast enough car to do well in the Twins.”

“We’ll be all right. We’ve got a fast enough car to not get passed. The guys who timed faster start ahead of us. We’re not worrying about anybody coming up from behind us.
We’re hopefully not going to lose any spots. We’re starting ahead in the twin twenties and hopefully we can get a win. That would be great. I think we’re faster than the cars ahead of us. We’ve just got to keep plugging.”

Mat was prophetic about the Twins, as he finished in the runner-up spot in race number two. After a nifty move at the start got him into third, it appeared he would end up there, but on lap 18, Chris Raabe, who had led the entire distance, suddenly slowed on lap eighteen, advancing Mat to second, while giving the win to Marc Johnson.

In the 150 on Saturday, Mat had a good starting spot and seemed poised for a good finish. He ended up starting seventh, but was never able to improve, ultimately sliding back to a thirteenth place finish, not bad, but not what they expected after his finish last year. The condition of the track didn’t help, as passing was very difficult.

There were other factors that entered into it, as well. Mat noted, “We were better through the week than we were on race day. That’s for sure. I think we had a loose race car come race day, and you have to be almost perfect to pass on the outside at Syracuse. We weren’t one of those people. Racing for points hurts us when we go to a race like that. Guys can take chances pitting on earlier laps than we can, because we know we have to finish. We didn’t lose any spots in the pits. We didn’t gain any. I was happy with it. It went off without a problem. Like last year, it proved we could pit late and still finish up front. This year we had the car to finish up front, but the race track didn’t allow us to. It was one lane on the bottom, and if you got out of line, you’d lose two, three spots. It wasn’t a race track we’re used to seeing at Syracuse.”

Mat summed up SDW this way. “It was a good week. We didn’t have any problems mechanically. We didn’t have any problems physically with the race track. We finished every race we started. It was a good week that way, but we didn’t get the results that we wanted. Of course, we wanted to win. We put a lot of effort into that week. It’s just unfortunate we didn’t win.”

 

Close But No Cigar in Series Race at RPM

BY DAVE SULLY - Like a golfer who has a great round going, but has a few bad shots, the Williamson Racing Team put themselves in a position to win their first ever Series race at RPM on Friday, September 20th, only to be victimized on a late race restart, which resulted in an eighth place finish. The night started very well, as Mat timed second, finished second in his heat and then drew the outside pole for the feature on the tight quarter mile oval. Mat led the first 75 laps and things looked very good indeed, until fate intervened. A caution on lap 75 set up the final side by side restart, next to Chris Raabe, and that proved to be Mat’s undoing.

He explained, “It was the last double file restart. On all the other restarts he was playing games, smashing into the side of you, firing first to get the jump. The last one was his last chance to do anything. He just decided he was going to drive into turn one and not lift. He hit the side of the car and bent the front end all to hell, put us up on the cushion and pushed us back to about seventh or eighth. Going into the next turn, because of the damage he caused, we ended up getting spun around. It was unfortunate.”

“Because there were so any cautions, there weren’t any lap cars, so we went all the way to the back. There were about eighteen cars left on the track. We passed ten cars and finished eighth. It’s unfortunate to finish eighth, when we knew we had the fastest race car. Apparently, he does that to everybody, so it wasn’t just me. The track was neat. It was something different. I can’t wait to go back there.”

The upshot of the whole thing is that Mat left Quebec in second place in the points to Erick Rudolph, who now leads Mat by 34 points going into the next Series event at Weedsport on Wednesday night of Super Dirt Week. Mat summed it up, saying, “We’ve run better than anybody on the tour so far, and, unfortunately, the results don’t show it. We’ve still got a chance to win this thing, so we need to just keep going and hope for the best.”

 

Interesting Weekend Produces Mixed Bag at Mohawk

By DAVE SULLY - AKWESASNE, NY – The trip to Mohawk for the 358 Series Race took some unexpected turns and resulted in a generally positive weekend before it ended, two days later than planned. The team was scheduled to race the Series event at Mohawk on Friday, and then Little Valley on Saturday, but rain threw a monkey wrench into those plans. Instead of merely canceling the 358 race, it was re-scheduled to Sunday afternoon, making the run to Little Valley a non starter, due to time and distance. The team opted to remain at Mohawk to try to qualify for the Big Block Series race on Saturday, put in a perfunctory appearance if they made the race, and then get ready for the point race on Sunday.

Things got really interesting on Saturday, when, on worn tires, Mat timed well, qualified well enough to make the redraw and started fourth in the feature. He ended up running up front all night, ultimately finishing fourth, a totally unexpected, but very satisfying result.

I’ll let Mat explain it. “Of course, we were planning on running Little Valley (on Saturday). We had 200 and 300 tires for that. We didn’t have enough tires for the Big Block race. So, we just put on old tires and ended up going out. We time trialed good. We got in the redraw from the heat and started fourth. I was really going to take a lap as soon as I dropped out of the top ten, but we didn’t get a chance to do that, so we just kept our foot into her and hoped everything went well the next day.”

“We ended up fourth. It was good. We actually passed Brett (Hearn) at one point and kept the momentum up. We faded back to fourth after being passed back by Brent, but I can’t complain about that. We had a good car. That’s for sure. We like that place. I always run good there. It just seems that when the races count, I just can’t finish. That’s the unfortunate thing.”

With the unexpected finish on Saturday, the team started well in the Small Block Feature on Sunday, timing well once more and having another good draw. Because of the number of laps run the night before, when the track rubbered over, it was no surprise that it took rubber quickly on Sunday afternoon, only a few hours after the Big Block race. That certainly affected the outcome. Mat noted, “We got the last spot in the redraw after the heat, drew four for the start and just hung in there. It was crucial to start up front. It was basically rubber downright from the first lap in the feature. It was like asphalt or go kart racing. We were running third when we got taken out (by Pete Britten) and with the rubber being down, you couldn’t really pass that well.”

Working hard, Mat was able to come back to record a fourteenth place finish. He explained, “I probably passed about four more cars. We pitted two different times for tires and tried to make some of the other rubber work, but that didn’t happen. It was unfortunate, but that’s racing.”

“You can’t look back on it. You’ve just go to move ahead. He (Britten) admitted he turned me. I don’t know if he was trying to apologize or whatnot, but it’s unfortunate that when we’ve been better than everybody else in the Series races at various race tracks, the points don’t show it. We’ve just got to get ready for the next six shows and try to win this thing.”

All was not lost however, as, even with the disappointment on Sunday, he lies in a second place tie with Carey Terrence, only 25 points behind the new leader, Erick Rudolph, going into next week’s races at RPM in Quebec on Friday and Brighton on Saturday. The good news overall is that the crew has worked very hard and the car has performed superbly. Mat is doing all he can. All they need is a bit of racing luck, and they’ll be back on top.

 

Bump in the Road at Autodrome Drummond

By DAVE SULLY - DRUMMONDVILLE, QUE - After a good finish in the Series race at Cornwall, the team anticipated a good showing at Autodrome Drummond the following week on September 6th. It started out well enough, as Mat timed 21st in an impressive field of 48 cars, finished third in his heat, which put him 13th on the grid for the start. Unfortunately, things unraveled from there, as the No. 6 went backward at the drop of the green, something that has been unheard of lately. The team ended up 19th and ended up surrendering the point lead to David Hebert, who won the race. They are now four points down to Hebert going into this Friday’s Series event at Mohawk.

Talking about the night, Mat observed, “We were good right out of the gate. We time-trialed well. We were half-decent in the heat, which put us in a decent spot for the feature
We passed Brett (Hearn) in the heat and started 13th in the feature. When the green flag dropped, we just started going backwards. We weren’t very good. We just tightened up too much. That just happens due to lack of experience at that race track. We pitted about lap 25, and that didn’t help at all, so we just kind of struggled. The way the point races are, you just have to keep your foot in it, and we ended up 19th. “

“We changed a lot between the heat and the feature. It had a lot to do with stagger and the shock combination. It’s hard to pinpoint. I think we were all right, but a lot of people were very good. The top five cars were very fast, and that made us look worse than we were. It is what it is, and we just have to move on to the next one Friday.”

With only one race track left on the schedule that the team is unfamiliar with, that being RPM in Quebec, the task, at least as far as preparation is concerned, should get a little easier. However, in racing, nothing is being taken for granted, and the team will be diligent in readying the No. 6 ready for every race.

Fourth Place Series Finish at Cornwall Puts Team on Top

By Dave Sully - CORNWALL, ON- One of the most successful weekends in team history concluded with a strong fourth place finish in the 358 Series race at Cornwall, which vaulted the team to the top of the standings. Beginning with the gutty performance on Friday, August 30, in the season ender at Lernerville, which saw Mat prevail over the Big Block of Brian Schwartzlander and continuing at Merrittville on Saturday, when Mat bested Pete Bicknell to win the John Spencer Memorial, the team journeyed to Cornwall, hoping to extend the momentum, and they did.

There was a momentary bit of angst at the start, however, before things brightened up. Mat explained, “It was a rough start to the night. We got to Cornwall and realized the fuel cap was off when we were washing the car. We thought there was some water in the fuel, so we drained the tank when we arruived. From there, we went out for hot laps and the motor was breaking down because the floats were too low. We fixed that, and things got a lot better. We went out for time trials and timed second in our group. We wound up winning the heat, started third in the feature and finished fourth.”

It wasn’t just a case of riding around at the front all night. Running a hundred twenty-five laps on a quarter mile track requires some strategy and a lot of concentration. There is really no time at all to relax. Early in the race, Mat actually surrendered some spots to save the equipment before making his surge back up to the front at the end.

Mat noted, “We dropped back early in the race. We were back to tenth or eleventh. In big long races, you do that to preserve the tires and brakes. The first 75 laps (before a mandatory yellow) is more like an extended hot lap session. I was just happy we were there at the end.”

With that finish the current Series standings show Mat ahead of Erick Rudolph by 44 points, David Hebert by 72 points, and Carey Terrence by 95 points. Rudolph, Hebert, and Terrence will probably be running the entire Series, so they figure to be some of the top pursuers for now.



All in all, it was a great weekend for the team, which now gears up for the long drive to Drummondville on Friday to try to keep the drive alive.

Great Ending at Merrittville, As Team Wins John Spencer Memorial

THOROLD, ON- With prestige on the line and a possible move up in the points, everything came up roses for the Williamson Racing Team, as Mat took the measure of Pete Bicknell to win the 50 lap John Spencer Memorial, a day after his dramatic victory in the final Lernerville feature of the season. As things played out after the heats and the redraw, Bicknell sat on the pole, with Mat outside him on the front row. Everyone expected a barn burner, and the two didn’t disappoint.

Mat was able to out run Pete to the first turn at the drop of the green and immediately establish a good lead, as the Terry Vince power plant performed flawlessly. The two set a blistering pace that had them in lap traffic by the ninth circuit. A caution on lap 13 cost him his big lead, but he picked it back up on the restart, while Bicknell tried to keep pace. He was gaining perceptibly when the again caught lap traffic on lap 25.

On lap 25, things got dicey, and Pete was able to wiggle past Mat for the lead on lap 27 in the heavy going. Mat didn’t panic and was able to regain the point one lap later. He opened a big gap from there, only to see it evaporate on lap 46 when Mark D’Ilario suffered a flat tire, which brought out the caution.

The single file restart showed Mat, Pete, Robbie Krull, and Mike Bowman, who had streaked up from the rear after going to his back-up car, following a wreck in his heat. Mat got a great jump and immediately put some distance between himself and Pete, while Bowman engaged Krull for third. At the line, it was Mat comfortably in front, followed by Pete, and Bowman, who squeezed past Krull on lap 49.

It was a great ending to a see-saw season, giving the team a lot of momentum going into the post season, which starts on Sunday night at Cornwall.

On the race with Bicknell and the swap of the lead, Mat commented, “I was running the top in one and two, and I know it’s faster to go across some nights. He showed his nose and got by me. I was taking it easy on the motor before it happened. He kind of snuck up on me, so I had to change my lane and turn the pedal up.”

Of the night overall, Mat declared, “Pete’s great to race with. You know he’ll never run you wrong. It’s always good to beat him at this track because he’s the master here. I can’t say enough about him.”

Pete gave Mat his due, noting, “Mat had a little better car than I did tonight. Hats off to him. He’s been running really well lately. He’s doing a great job.”

Unofficially, the team should finish in third in the standings, something that was unthinkable when the team went into its mid-season Merrittville slump, which is now, thankfully, in their rear view mirror.

Now, it’s on to Cornwall, with hopes of a good finish to what has been a perfect weekend so far. Time will tell.

Dramatic Win Ices the Cake at Lernerville

By DAVE SULLY - SARVER, PA – After clinching the title the week before, the Williamson Racing Team went to Lernerville on Friday, August 30th, with one thing in mine- win. That’s exactly what they did, as Mat drove his Small Block relentlessly to score a narrow win over Brian Schwartzlander’s Big Block. On a night when they figured to need a slick track to hold off the bigger motors, the track stayed tacky, as the Modifieds ran their feature second. It was going to take a Herculean effort under those conditions, and the driver was up to it.

It didn’t start out well, as Mat, lined up third, watched Dave Murdick explode to a big lead at the drop the green, while Mat immediately took second. Murdick’s big lead vanished on a lap three restart, but he re-established his advantage when the race resumed. A restart on lap seven gave Mat another shot on the outside, and this time the No. 6 took off and he beat Murdick to the first turn. After some contact, Mat was able to clear the No. 61 of Murdick and grab the lead.

It was still very early and things didn’t get any easier. After Mat held off Murdick on a lap nine restart, Mat’s chief rival, Brian Schwartzlander, out-muscled Murdick for second on lap 12 and immediately applied intense pressure, but Mat was able to keep him at bay. On lap 15, the caution flew, giving Schawartzlander a chance to make a move, but Mat got a great restart to maintain command.

On lap 21, with the two now in lap traffic and Schwartzlander nipping at Mat’s heels, the two came out of turn four with a slower car right in the driving lane. Mat dove low and was able to hold off a determined bid by Schwartzlander to wrest the lead away. Over the final four laps, with family and friends in the stands holding their collective breaths, Mat held his line, while Schwartzlander did everything he could to spoil the party. In the end, Mat prevailed by a close margin, a great ending to a great season in Pennsylvania.

Talking about the race, Mat declared, “I needed a restart to get by Murdick. We had one and he kind of played games. On the second one, I thought, ‘If you’re going to play games, I can play games too.’ We just capitalized on that second restart. I had him by a nose going into one, and I didn’t lift. I pounded off the cushion and came off two ahead of him. I knew if he stayed on the bottom, and I could stay on the top, I could maintain with him. We capitalized on that. We had a couple more restarts, and I just had to pick up the top; it was good from there.”

Of his race with Schwartzlander, he added, “I just tried to make the car as wide as I could get it. When you’re down in horsepower, and you’re up front, you’ve got to keep as much speed up as you can. Don’t lose your momentum and that’s what we did. I saw him poking his nose in. I just got nervous and kept plugging.”

How important was the win? “It means a lot, added Mat. “Terry Vince builds one heckuva motor, and it showed last night. That’s our Syracuse motor from last year and we plan on running it at Syracuse again this year.”

With the Lernerville program succeeding beyond their wildest expectations, the team will head back to Merrittville tomorrow for the season-ending John Spencer Memorial, hoping for the best.

Top Three Finish at Humberstone Caps Good Weekend

By DAVE SULLY - PT COLBORNE- ON - After a title clinching run at Lernerville on Friday and a fine second at Merrittville, the team notched a hard-earned third at Humberstone, culminating a very satisfying three day stint. The performances gave the team optimism for the upcoming weekend, with the final point race at Merrittvile and the next Series race at Cornwall in the offing.

The Humberstone effort on Sunday was hampered by bad luck in the pill draw, which saw Mat start sixth in his heat. He did the best he could, but there was little room to pass. Ultimately, he finished fourth, but was nipping at the heels of Mike Bowman for the last redraw spot at the end. The fourth place finish saw him start eighth in the feature.

Eric Rudolph drove away after drawing the pole, essentially leaving the rest of the field vying for the runner-up spot. Mat battled and clawed for each spot, grabbing fourth on a bonzai move between Bowman, who was running low and Todd Gordon, who was running the outside, that appeared to be inches from disaster.

He claimed third on lap 15 and set sail for Tom Flannigan, who was chasing Rudolph, close to half a lap ahead by that time. He gradually closed the gap, but ran out of laps as Flannigan was running very well on the outside.

Talking about the night, Mat explained, “It was just tough to pass. When I drew 29 out of 50 at the gate, I thought we’d be all right, but everybody had better luck than I did. I started eighth in the feature. That was about as good as it was going to get with the way we started after the heat. Certainly a top three always helps. I’m happy to finish where we did. We got second in points there. That’s not too bad. We’ve just got to build on it next year.

Things stay busy, with the Victory tour to Lernerville on Friday, followed by the final point night at Merrittville, where Mat still has a chance to move up in the standings. He is currently seven points behind third place Scott Wood and fifteen behind Mike Bowman in second. On Sunday, as mentioned, the important Series race at Cornwall.



The last few weeks have been encouraging. Hopefully, the team can build on the recent momentum.

Strong Second Place Finish at Merrittville Keeps Momentum Rolling

By DAVE SULLY - THOROLD, ON- Following the title clinching run at Lernerville on Friday, the team came back with another good effort, a runner-up finish at Merrittville on Saturday, August 24^th, as the late season push continues in earnest. With a near perfect performance last week, which saw the S and W No. Six win going away, the task was a little harder this night, as Mat started eleventh, while point leader Pete Bicknell and other fast cars went off ahead of him. A good run in the heat, where he started last and was nipping at the heels of third place finisher Tommy Flannigan at the wire, boded well for another strong performance, and Mat didn’t disappoint.

 

Things got a little dicey at the beginning, when Brandon Easey, Tyler McPherson, and Fred Carleton got together in turn four on lap five, with Mat just able to avoid being caught up. From there, he moved up steadily, claiming fourth on a lap 12 restart, third, from Mike Bowman on a lap 17 restart and second from Scott Wood on lap 29, just as Pete Bicknell was clearing Wood for the lead. Mat kept Bicknell honest over the last six laps, but couldn’t get close enough to make a move for the top spot. So, he settled for second, but was definitely the hard charger in the race.

 

Talking about the night, Mat offered, “The car was certainly good. Pete was fast. I think I could have given him a run for his money if it had been fifty laps or so, but he got to the front faster than I did. It was certainly a good night to start toward the front. He had the advantage there. He started seventh. If we would have started closer to the front, it would have been good.”

 

“It was tough coming from he back to do what we did. I used everything I had. It would have been a dream come true if I had passed him for the win. Jumping the cushion (on lap 21), I got out of my rhythm. I was overdriving, trying to go for it. That’s what you have to do. I wasn’t comfortable in second place. I wanted to win. We did as much as we could to do it. The team put a great car under me, and it was another top three. I can’t complain.”

 

Next Saturday, the 50 lap Merrittville finale will be a heads-up start, which should give Mat a decent shot at going out with a win.

 

Mat concluded, “We’re getting hot at the right time of the year. We’ve just got to keep it rolling into all the tour races and go from there.”

Team Celebrates First Track Championship

By DAVE SULLY - SARVER, PA- The Williamson Racing Team captured its first, of what they hope will be many, track championships, clinching the Big Block title at Lernerville on Friday, August 23rd, with one point race to go. The title was secured with a third place finish, once again running the Small Block motor, which put Mat out of reach going into the final race next Friday.

It was the culmination of the decision to go Big Block racing at Lernerville his season, despite the long haul to Central Pennsylvania. With three wins in the first four races, Mat established the S and W No. 6 as the car to beat. Consistently high finishes, including a fourth feature win, allowed Mat to build a substantial point lead over veterans Brian Schwartzlander and Jeremiah Shingledecker as the season progressed, with the ultimate prize being delivered on Friday.

Mat talked about the effort, noting, “We went in there like a regular night. We didn’t get ahead of ourselves and didn’t let the nerves get to us. We ended up coming out with a third place finish, after finishing second in the heat and locked up the point championship. It was one of the things we always wanted to do.”

“The first one’s the hardest one to get, so now we look forward to the 358 Series, try to knock that one off and look forward to next year. The year’s not over at Lernerville. We’re going to go back and try to knock off another win and keep the point lead where it is. It’s just unfortunate that we didn’t have our Big Block the last couple weeks. We might have been able to make it a little better. We can’t complain where it ended up.”

Mat was effusive in his praise of the Lernerville operation, observing, “Everybody there treats you right. The fans are great. We met a couple new people again last night. The staff is very appreciative that you go there. We’re looking forward to next year and, hopefully, we’ll be doing the same thing. Time will tell.”

Mat is very appreciative of the extraordinary support from his sponsors, without whom the expensive undertaking of running a Big Block and a Small Block effort would not be possible, and his dedicated crew who have made personal sacrifices all year to make this first championship a special one.

Hard-earned Fourth At Humberstone Caps Good Weekend

By Dave Sully - PT COLBORNE, ON- Following a third at Lernerville and a win at Merrittville, the team asked the small block to hang in there for the third night in a row, and it did, as Mat collected a fourth place finish on the slick Humberstone Speedway. Following a second place finish in the heat race, which saw him gaining steadily on winner Mike Bowman, Mat lined up eighth for the feature, following one of his now infamous redraws.

Dale Planck, who doesn’t need the extra help, was lined up on the outside pole in his big block, just where he wanted to be, and he took off at the drop the green. He ended up being chased by Erick Rudolph, who started fourth, while Mat worked his way past Tom Flannigan and Chris Steel to claim fourth by lap 11. That was as far as he could get however, as the race went caution free after lap nine. The leaders capitalized on the slippery surface, which made it tough to pass.

In the end, fourth was about the best Mat could do under the conditions, and he was satisfied with the effort, noting, “It doesn’t help when you redraw eighth, but we ended up fourth, and we can’t complain about that. It was tough to pass, but the car was good. It would be nice to go there and draw a little better, but it is what it is, the luck of the draw. That’s racing.”

The car performed well again, with Mat adding, “We didn’t even unload it from Saturday night.”

All in all, it was a good three night stint for Mat and the team, as they begin to fine tune for the last few point races and gear up for the big post season series shows..    

Near Perfection Keys Satisfying Win At Merrittville On Saturday

By Dave Sully - THOROLD, ON - After the encouraging finish at Lernerville on Friday, the team arrived at Merrittville on Saturday, August 17th, with a degree of confidence, despite the broken push rod, which sidelined them the week before. Using the same car and motor, Mat and the team turned in the most technically perfect race performance anyone has seen at Merrittville in a long time.

After winning the heat, albeit by a technicality (Mike Bowman crossed the line first, but was penalized for jumping the start, while Mat crossed the line second, after starting fifth), Mat lined up tenth for the start of the feature. The car took off at the drop of the green. With the race going caution free, Mat had to race past nine cars to take the lead. By lap 16, he was in second, passing Tyler McPherson, and one lap later he drove past Fred Carleton to take the point.

He wasn’t finished there. Staying on the gas, he built a half straightaway lead, which became close to half a lap by the time the checkered flag flew. Through the whole race, the car never wavered, and Mat could use any line he wanted to engage the lap cars. This, the team’s third win of the season at Merrittville, was easily their strongest performance. It wasn’t the most exciting. The other two wins had more drama, but on this night it showed the kind of dominance that they have been seeking all year.

Mat concluded, “We’ve been rolling since we won down here three weeks ago. We just haven’t had any luck. We broke a push rod last week, and the week before we were rolling pretty good and just got caught up in a little wreck and had to go to the back, but
this car’s been good for the last four weeks. I’ve got to give credit to all the guys who helped me get here, all my crew, my father, and all the sponsors. I couldn’t do it without those guys. You also get a lot of input from a lot of other drivers, like Matt Sheppard and Mike Payne, when I was struggling. We’ve got seven (wins) now. It feels good to be back here. Maybe we’ll get two more here and two more at Lernerville and we’ll be up to eleven. We’ve got to win a tour race one of these days and get ready for Syracuse and Charlotte.”

Of the race, he explained, “I’ve got the setup here where I’ve got to keep the momentum up. When we’ve got to shut down and putt around the bottom as much as you have to, it doesn’t help as much, so we try to roll in a little bit heavier than anybody else. We’ve got some good side bite with this thing, so it tends to stick and drift up to the cushion. We just hammer the throttle. These guys (the crew) make things a lot easier for me when they set it up like this. It feels good to be back in Victory Lane.”



I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Solid Night At Lernerville Puts Team On The Doorstep

By Dave Sully - SARVER, PA – There was some trepidation in the air as the team departed for Lernerville on Friday, August, 16th without the big block, which, as noted previously, is out of service until Charlotte, due to the breakdown in Michigan. There are circumstances which favor the Small Block, however, and the stars seemed to be lining up right, as the Modifieds were scheduled to race their feature third, which meant that under normal circumstances the track would be slick, a definite advantage for the Small Block.

The heat race went well, with Mat starting fourth and ending up second to his closest pursuer in points, Brian Schwartzlander, who started on the pole. Anticipating the slick surface, the team was sobered by the fact that the track had probably the best grip of the night, meaning there was no advantage to the Small Block. It would take a good job by the driver to get a good finish.

They got it. Dave Murdick, who started on the pole, was in another time zone all night as he bolted to a big lead and never surrendered it, even after a lap 13 caution bunched the field. Mat started sixth and actually passed two cars on the first lap, and by lap ten was up to third. From there, it was just trying to hang on, as Murdick was out of sight in front and Jeremiah Shingledecker was good in second.

The challenge for Mat came in the form of Rex King Jr., who put serious pressure on Mat in the latter stages of the race, with Mat just edging him out for third at the line. With Schwartzlander starting tenth and finishing sixth, Mat actually gained five points on him, with two races to go.

Talking about the night, Mat declared, “I was happy that we got more points than Brian. We put ourselves in good position for the end of the year. That’s all that really matters at this point. We’re happy that we finished third. We have a good small block program, and I wasn’t really worried about it going down there. I knew we’d still be a contender, but it was tough to pass. I’m just happy we finished up there and got more points than Brian. The only bad part about it was that we knew we would have been a lot better with the big block. I’m just happy we did so well with our small block program.”

As they say, it isn’t over until the fat lady sings. She isn’t singing yet, but I think she’ll be tuning up soon.

Rain and a Broken Pushrod Sideline Team on Weekend

By Dave Sully - In what turned out to be a bit of a needed break after that hectic five races in five nights stretch the week before, the Friday night, August 9th show at Lernerville was rained out, giving the team a chance to catch their collected breaths. It was a case of nothing ventured, nothing gained, or, in this case, lost, as there are now only three point shows left in the championship chase. The only fly in the ointment is the fact that the Big Block motor, which was hurt at Michigan, will not be available for the stretch run, so Mat will be running his spec 358 motor from here on out. That shouldn’t be a big handicap, as both Jeremiah Shingledecker and Brain Schwartzlander have won with 358’s at Lernerville and, in reality, Mat doesn’t have to win races there to win the title. He only needs decent finishes. Mat has total confidence in the power that Terry Vince of ERD puts in all his motors, so he is not overly concerned. We’ll see how it plays out.

On Saturday at Merrittville, Mat suffered a rare DNF when a push rod let go early in the race, relegating him to a 17th place finish. Everybody has a spate of bad mechanical woes. Mat observed that as things go, a broken pushrod is not a big problem, and it was nothing that can be checked for ahead of time. It just happened. Let’s hope that this is the extent of it, with another busy weekend on tap, with Lernerville, Merrittville, and Humberstone on the schedule.

Stay tuned.

Five Races in Five Days Produces Mostly Positive Results

By DAVE SULLY - A grueling stretch of five races in five days, starting in Pennsylvania and ending in Michigan tested the team’s endurance and mettle. It started off on a positive note, with a solid second place at Lernerville, which protected the big points lead and ended with a bit of a downer as the motor let go at I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, Michigan, while Mat was contending for the win. In between, there was a sixth place finish at Merrittville on Saturday, a third place finish at the All Canadian at Humberstone on Sunday, and a nice fifth place result in the 100 lap Bob St. Amand Memorial at Merrittville on Monday. All in all, it was a productive run of races, with the cars performing well until the motor problem in Michigan.

Friday night, August 2nd, the team made the six hour haul to Lernerville, and came home solidly in first place. Racing with his nearest rival in the point chase, Brian Schwarzlander, Mat was in contention all night, but came up just short of the win. A heat victory, with the points awarded, made the night a wash in points with four races to go.

Mat explained, “Brian started outside of us and he got to the front first. We had to play chase and weren’t fast enough to get him. We missed the setup a little bit. We were fast in the heat. We should have left the car (alone), but we changed it and loosened it up too much. I just couldn’t get around as fast as he could. It was all right. We’ll take second place any day of the week. We won the heat, so we didn’t lose any points to him and just have to keep it rolling for the last four weeks.”

The team hoped to keep the momentum up at Merrittville on Saturday, where they’ve gotten things turned around recently. It didn’t quite go the way they would have liked, but it could have been a lot worse. A jingle early in the race forced Mat to play catch up and he was able to salvage a good finish after coming from the back.

Mat talked about the night, saying, “We were fast. I think we were fast enough to win. We started ninth and eventually we got racing with Scott Wood, and he spun out in front of us. I had nowhere to go and got caught up in the wreck. It was one of those deals where you know it’s your night and just got caught up in somebody else’s problem. I can’t complain. We ended up sixth after that deal. I think the top three cars were the only ones that didn’t get caught up in a wreck. The car was wicked. I can’t say enough about it. We were the fastest car on the race track, I think.”

On Sunday, the team made the short hop over to Humberstone for the prestigious All Canadian Championships and, as he has been often this year, Erick Rudolph was the class of the field, while Mat and Mike Bowman battled for the runner-up spot, which ultimately went to Bowman.

Mat related, “We started third and finished third. Erick was faster than anybody there. He got by me and Bowman and, with the sun going down, we couldn’t see much going down the back straightway, so it didn’t make it very racy, but I’ll take third place. We had two top fives this weekend, should have been three, but we’ve just got to keep it going.”

On Monday, the much anticipated 100 lap Bob St. Amand Memorial, a Super Dirt Series Big Block event, attracted 41 cars, 18 of them Big Blocks. The team chose to run the Small Block. Following time trials, Mat started sixth in the fourth heat and raced his way to second, which put him in the redraw, where he ended up with the seventh starting spot.

After dropping back early, the car came to life in the second half of the race, which was won handily by Matt Sheppard. The No. 6 car was able to find the right groove and pedaled to a nice top five, passing Dale Planck and Pete Bicknell in the process.

Talking about the race, Mat declared, “We weren’t very good for the first fifty or so laps. The last fifty we were kind of hanging in there until the last restart (lap 85), and we started to roll the outside. The car was good tonight, just had to do so much to get there. These guys are good (The top three were Sheppard, Danny Johnson, and Brett Hearn) and the problem you’ve got is if you’re off a little bit, you’re struggling. That was our problem the first fifty laps. We put new tires on and didn’t heat cycle them. It took a while for them to come in. Once they did, we were good. Maybe if it had been two hundred laps we would have raced Matt, but he was fast.”

We passed Dale and Pete. We passed Alan (Johnson). It was good once we got rolling on the outside. I knew I had to do something. It was good that it finally came around to us. It was really slick the last fifty laps. It was a little slick before that, but it didn’t dry completely until then. Once we got strung out on single file restarts we were good. You can’t give up ever. It showed tonight. I was happy we got a top five out of it.”

With scant little rest, though Mat said he got a good night’s sleep on Sunday, the team headed to Lake Odessa, in Western Michigan on Tuesday for the second appearance of the Super Dirt Series Big Blocks at the five eighths mile, I-96 Speedway. Things were going well, and Mat was running up near the front in the feature when the motor suddenly lost power and Mat wisely steered it into the pits, ultimately scored in 18th place.

Mat described the night, observing, “It’s a fast place. It’s actually really fast. I like it. It’s good. Things were going great. We had a great race car. We started sixth and were up to second, racing with Matt (Sheppard). Brett (Hearn, the eventual winner) kind of walked away from us. There was a caution, and I noticed that the motor lost power, so I drove it to the pits rather than do anything stupid. We broke a valve spring. We lost out on a good run. Maybe it could have been a win. It was just unfortunate that we were running good when this stuff happened.”

Overall, it was a wonderful effort by the team to persevere through the five race stint, with plenty of travel along the way. Mat deserves a lot of credit for running as well as he did over that period. It takes a lot of physical stamina to run that many laps, not to mention the mental stress of adjusting to five totally different race tracks and surfaces. Congratulations to the team for a great job with the cars, as well. Racing, after all, is a team sport and the team was up to the challenge, with more to come.

Team Records Second Place Finish at Ohsweken Special

By Dave Sully - OHSWEKEN, ON- After the good finish at Lernerville on Friday and a welcome rainout on Saturday at Merrittville, the team traveled to Ohsweken Speedway on Monday, July 29th for the Northern Summer Nationals, with Mat recording a second place finish to Chad Brachmann in the 30 lap Modified Feature. After finishing third in his heat, Mat drew the fourth stating spot. He made it to second, but was no match for Brachmann, who was the class of the field this night.

Talking about the evening, Mat explained, “I started outside pole in the heat. Brandon Easey started on the pole and got a better start than I did. Mike Bowman was right behind him and took advantage of Brandon’s start. I ended up finishing third in the heat and that put us starting fourth in the feature. We got up to second when Chad was leading. Chad had a better car than we did. That’s for sure. He walked away from us; he beat us by about five seconds. He certainly had a dominant cat there, but it was great to be back at Ohsweken.”

Mark D’Ilario finished third, but Mat was comfortably ahead of him at the line. He added, “The top five had a good race, except for Brachmann. (Top five finish was Brachmann, Mat, D’Ilario, Chris Steele, and Erick Rudolph.). “It was a nice pay day and a good night. I’m glad we were back there.”

Glenn Styres has done a great job with Ohsweken Speedway and has been bringing in the top series, especially the sprint cars. The team was definitely happy to go there and satisfied with the result.

It’s nice to race for fun occasionally, with no pressure. Ohsweken was a good time and rewarding to boot. Now back to the task at hand. It gets busy, with races at Lernerville on Friday, Merrittville on Saturday, and the prestigious “All Canadian” on Sunday at Humberstone. The team will be ready.

 

Solid Third Keeps Lernerville Ball Rolling

By Dave Sully - SARVER, PA- The Lernerville express continued to roll on Friday, July 27th , as the team recorded a third place finish, which combined with a win in his heat and a seventh place finish for second place point man Jeremiah Shingledecker, padded the championship lead. With a win in the last outing, Mat was consigned by the handicapping to the tenth place starting position for the feature

After being shuffled back briefly, Mat pedaled forward as fast as he could, but with the race going caution free was unable to catch the leader, Dave Mudick or second place Rex King Sr, although Mat was breathing down his neck at the end. The No. 6W enters August with a 48 point lead over Brian Schwartzlander, who finished fourth this night and a 51 point lead over Shingledecker, who finished eighth and dropped to third in the standings.

Mat summarized the evening, noting, “We started outside pole in the heat and won by half a track. We started tenth in the feature because we won the week before. We ran third. There were no cautions. I think if we had a caution it would have helped us, but with no cautions that’s what we were faced with. Dave Murdick was pretty fast and so was Rex King. They definitely kept me on my toes, but I think it would have been a different story if the caution came out. I think I was faster than they were. I just couldn’t catch them through traffic.”

As for the track conditions, Mat added, “We (the Modifieds) ran last, so it was really slippery. I’m surprised that Shingledecker didn’t run as well as he usually does. He had a small block in it. He struggled.”

With five point races remaining, there is reason for optimism. Mat concluded, “We’ve got quite the point lead. We’re on our way to our first championship, as long as we can keep everything together.”



That about sums it up.

Strong Second at Humberstone Keeps the Ball Rolling

By DAVE SULLY - Pt Colborne, ON- Following that much needed win at Merrittville, it was important to follow that up with another solid performance to help build momentum. The team came up with that, as Mat finished in the runner-up spot ion the 30 lap Modified Feature at Humberstone on Sunday, July 21. After winning his heat handily, Mat started third in the feature, right behind Erick Rudolph, who has been on fire all season long. Rudolph got a great run at the start and, following a lap two caution, grabbed the lead from polesitter Chad Chevalier, from where he immediately checked out.

While that was going on, Mat was racing Bill Bleich and Chris Steele for position before finally moving in to second on lap seven. By this time, Rudolph was in another time zone, but Mat set sail to try to close the gap. As he was narrowing the advantage somewhat, the caution flew on lap 16 when late arriving Dale Plack, winner of the last two modified features at Humberstone got involved in a tangle with Tom Flannigan and Steele, resulting in he and Steele retiring from the event and giving Mat a chance to start next to Rudolph when the race resumed.

Mat tried to hang with Rudolph, but after three laps the young driver, who finished second in the 200 lap ROC race at Oswego the night before, gradually pulled away. Mat had to be satisfied with second, but the car ran well and the team was satisfied with the effort.

Mat commented, “The car wasn’t too bad. Eric was certainly better than us. That showed tonight. I don’t know what he’s got, but it’s pretty good. We’re good, but we’re not quite good enough to beat Erick. I’m just happy that we came back with another good run. It was tough racing. The bottom lane was really good tonight. The top wasn’t too bad. The track was wicked fast. It was another good night, with no damage. I’m on vacation this week. I’m just happy that we’re going away after a couple of good runs, knowing we figured it out.”

“We certainly turned it around. We’ve just got to keep on trucking and get some more wins before the end of the year. We made some changes, and they were for the good. It will be interesting to see what happens at Merrittvile next Saturday when we start at the back. It we’re as good as we were last Saturday, we’ll be pretty competitive. I’m pretty excited.”

It’s a good time to take a break, especially when the team is upbeat after suffering through that prolonged funk at Merrittville. They’ll all be back with renewed vigor to tackle the second half of the season.

Merrittville Victory Drought Over

By DAVE SULLY - THOROLD, ON- After what seemed like an eternity, the team finally basked in the glory of a win at Merrittville on Saturday, July 20th, ending a winless streak there that began after the stirring duel with Pete Bicknell on May 4th. With a narrow loss to Mike Bowman on June 7th, the only other realistic chance for a win, the team had tried everything to get to Victory Lane, only to be thwarted. Last week was perhaps the most discouraging event, given a respectable finish at Humberstone, which had provided reason for optimism, with Mat admitting that they really didn’t know what to do next. He vowed they would find a solution and on Saturday, they found it.

A win in the heat, although not necessarily a guarantee of a good performance in the feature, got the team off to a good start, with the handicapping putting him in third place on the grid. When the green flag flew, polesitter Todd Gordon took off like he was shot out of a gun and opened a huge lead, while Mat sparred for position with Bill Bleich and Chris Steele before claiming second on lap 7.

By this time, Gordon was a straightaway ahead and still setting a brisk pace. Mat began to chip away at the lead, and was visibly gaining. When Gordon entered lap traffic on lap 14, Mat was rapidly closing the gap and began stalking the No. 28. On lap 21, he was able to draw up on the outside and pin Gordon behind the 108, from where he eased into the lead.

Once ahead, he drove out to a commanding lead, but there was one more hurdle, as the only caution of the event came out on lap 31. That forced a restart with Gordon and Pete Bicknell, up from tenth, ready to test him. Mat was up to the challenge, getting a great restart and then holding off a brief challenge by Bicknell, who got by Gordon, to win going away.

To say that Mat and the team were relieved would be a vast understatement. Upon reflection, Mat talked about what led to the winning performance, explaining, “We have been doing things for a while that just got outdated. We went back to basics. I’ve got to give a shout out to Matt Sheppard and Mike Payne. I talked to both those guys this week and got some information from both of them. Just some help and advice. It cleared my head a little bit. You know, ninety percent of this game is mental. It’s great to be back.  I’m just so happy to be back. It feels great. I’ve got to thank my crew for sticking it out, sticking with me when we’re running bad. It’s so mental. You get down in the dumps and you’re going to stay down there until you clear your head. It’s a different mental aspect. It’s great to be back, and I’m happy to win on Semenuk’s night.

Of the night itself, he continued, “We won the heat pretty convincingly, but we’ve been good in heats all year. To be honest, I didn’t think we’d be able to catch Todd. When I was racing with Bleich, and Steeler went by me, I figured we’d be done. The race car wasn’t really good for the first five laps. Then a tire came in, and it was like a light switch came on. It was good to catch Todd in lap traffic. We got him pinned against a lap car on the bottom and went around him on the outside. I could roll the middle really good. I had forward bite when nobody else did and just a little bit more side bite than anybody else. I could use the throttle more than they could. I think it paid off. I was not excited to see that late caution. I’m not sure how close Pete was before the caution.”

Mat concluded, “The car was pretty good tonight, but we’ve still got some improving to do. It’s not perfect yet, but we’re getting there.”

With plenty of racing left, it was important to get things turned around ASAP. One race does not make a season, but Saturday was a step in the right direction at a critical time.

Woes Return at Merrittville

By DAVE SULLY - THOROLD, ON- The elation of the Friday night win at Lernerville lasted less than twenty-four hours, as a disappointing finish at Merrittville on Saturday, July 13^th, had the team scratching their collective heads again. An outside pole start in the heat set Mat up for an easy win, providing reason for optimism, but at the drop the green for the 50 lap feature, with a seventh place starting spot, the car struggled, and Mat ultimately finished tenth. 

 

To say Mat was dejected would be an understatement. He offered, “I knew the first lap we were no good. Last night (at Lernerville), we put the shocks on and lap one you get good side bite and drive off the corner real good. You know pretty much whether you’re going to be good or not. Tonight, I knew I wasn’t gong to be very good.”

 

“It’s so frustrating to know that you should be running better than you’re doing. You put the work and the effort in, and your guys work hard. Everybody thinks about it throughout the week. Then we come out, change everything around, trying to get better, and it doesn’t change a thing.”

 

“Mike (Bowman) ran great tonight and last we week we were battling for last. Those guys got their stuff changed around. Obviously, we haven’t. So, that aspect of it is frustrating. That’s racing. There’s a lot of nay-sayers, but this is racing. This is the game we play.”

 

Sometimes, a driver can make changes during a caution to improve the car, such as the brakes and panhard bar. However, with no cautions Mat couldn’t try and he suggested that it wouldn’t have made any difference, noting, “There wasn’t enough adjustment in the cockpit that I could have done to make the car any better. I could have changed it a little bit and maybe gone from a tenth place car to a ninth place car, but, as I said, it’s just frustrating. I hope we can get it turned around some time.”

 

“There’s two different race cars we’ve got here. They’re pretty much the same. The only difference is the motor. I ran the identical four shocks tonight that I did last night.”

 

“It’s so disappointing when you work throughout the week. You put your heart and soul into it and then come out and run like crap. We’ve just got to keep at it, and hopefully we’ll get it turned around one of these weeks.”

 

It’s doubly hard to have a tough night after the success the night before, but it’s precisely that sweet smell of success that will keep the team striving to end the misery at Merrittville.

Fourth Lernerville Win Renews Confidence

By DAVE SULLY - SARVER, PA- After winning three of the first four races at Lernerville, the team was in a bit of a slide, as they had to settle for from some seconds and a fourth, but on Friday, July 12th, things came together nicely for a convincing win and an increased the point lead in the Big Block Modified division. A heat win and a good draw (done by track officials) put Mat on the outside pole for the feature and at the drop of the green he was hammer down.

Mat explained, “The night started well. We started fourth in the heat, but we were in the lead by the end of the first lap. Brian (Schwartzlander) and I kind of walked away with it for the win. It was a good race. I’m happy to win the heat, especially with the heat points (which very few tracks award). Then they drew the outside pole for the feature for us, and we didn’t look back.”

“I knew Jeremiah (Shingledecker) was there. I saw him a couple times. I knew Brian would be right there too. Those guys are wicked to race with. I’m just happy to win and happy to be up front, and happy to increase the point lead.”

“We changed a few things, nothing major. I’m just happy we had a good run. It’s good for the confidence. Hopefully, it’ll be the end of the bad streak we had going. I just hope we figured it out.”

It was nice to get the “W” at Lernerville, which always makes the four hour return trip enjoyable. Now, it’s back to Merrittville to see how far they’ve come.

 

Top Five Showing At Humberstone Restores A Glimmer Of Hope

By Dave Sully - PT. COLBORNE, ON- After suffering through a disappointing Saturday at Merrittville, the team regained a measure of respect and renewal with a solid performance at Humberstone, capped off by a top five finish. The most significant development on the night was that the car actually contended for positions, without Mat having to perform Herculean efforts just to pass somebody.

Mat got pinched off while making a move early in his heat, after a bad draw put him in a tough starting position, but worked his way up to a qualifying position for the feature. Starting ninth, it was evident that the car was going to be competitive, as he stayed with the pack as it accelerated at the start. He passed Scott Wood, Chris Steele, Robbie Krull, and Chad Chevalier during the race, and ended up in a spirited battle with Todd Gordon for the fourth spot which lasted a number of laps, with Gordon holding the spot by half a car length at the line. Dale Planck won the race.

It was definitely an encouraging sign, giving the team something on which to build. Mat felt a lot better than he did the previous night. Though still not doing handsprings, he noted, “We changed some stuff today, put it on the scales. We went back to basics and changed some little things around. It seemed to make a difference. I can’t complain about it. We went forward tonight, instead of backwards. I’m just happy we’re back in the ball park.”

“(This week) we’re going to keep getting back to basics. It’ll be good.”

Sometimes, you say things to make the listener feel good, even though you may not be totally convinced yourself. Other times, you say those things when you really sense something good is going to happen. I’m leaning toward the latter here.

Team’s Struggles Continue At Merrittville

By Dave Sully - THOROLD, ON- The Williamson Racing Team’s fortunes at Merrittville continued to suffer, even with a new frame and a host of changes. Entering the night with some anticipation after gutting out a twelfth place finish in the “Battle of the Border” on Wednesday, the hope was that they had a plan to shrug off their recent woes at their home track. However, it didn’t turn out that way, as a fourth place finish in his heat, right where he started, put Mat in the tenth starting spot for the feature.

Any thought about moving up was lost at the drop of the green, and Mat eventually found himself just trying to stay on the lead lap as he and arch rival Mike Bowman were at one time battling for fifteenth in the race won by Tim Jones. Bowman was lapped, just before a caution on lap 30 saved Mat from the same fate. Only some late race heroics by Mat salvaged a disappointing twelfth place finish.

The most disconcerting part of the finish was that the car never showed any signs that it could move forward and Mat had to drive the wheels off it to salvage the finish that he got.

Mat’s bewilderment was evident, as he observed, “We worked on the car all week. I don’t know what the heck we’re doing wrong. I never felt so bad. It just keeps getting worse and worse. We’re working on the car more than ever. We’re doing more maintenance than ever. We’re doing more tire work than ever. We’re working on the thing three times more than we used to, and we’re going three times slower. I just don’t understand it.”

“The racing game is tough. If it was easy, everybody would do it, but I don’t know any more.”

“We’re definitely not going to give up. We’ll keep working on this thing all summer until we win one of these races. It’s frustrating when we can go and race the best guys in the Northeast and come in second, and come from the back and have a chance to win those races given a decent starting position. Then we come to our home track and race some of the best guys in the Niagara region, and they’re tough to beat, but we can’t get out of our own way. We can’t be that way at our home track, when we can go six hours down the road to a track we see twice a year and contend for a win. That’s the frustrating part. We know we should be winning. My program is top notch. My guys work as hard as anybody else and it’s tough not to win.”

There are all kinds of clichés that apply here to solve the dilemma, perhaps the most appropriate being, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” A little luck might help as well. Look at it this way. When you’re down, there is only one direction you can go, and when it does, the smell of success will be much sweeter.

Team Puts Ransomville in Rear View Mirror After Muddled “Battle of the Border”

By Dave Sully - (Ransomville, NY) Perhaps it was the threat of bad weather, or maybe it was residual effects of the celebrated Dave Just incident from last year, but things did not go according to plan for the team at the “Battle of the Border,” (more truth than poetry here). However, at the end of the night, the team recorded a respectable 12th place finish, which could have been a lot worse, and is ready to move on.

The night started out on a sour note, when the track refused to honor the crew’s dirt cards when they signed in at the pits, an obvious slight for what is a common practice at most facilities. It got worse when the timing loop malfunctioned, forcing the heats to be determined by a “feast or famine” pill draw instead of time trials, at which Mat has been strong lately. The draw put him near the back in the heat, from where he was shuffled to the rear on the start, where he ultimately finished.

Starting tail in the consi, from which three would qualify, Mat struggled to a fifth place finish, forcing him to use a provisional to get into the race. He ended up starting last (30th). As for the consi, Mat observed, “I knew we had a provisional. I was planning on taking it at the start of the race.” By battling and clawing, avoiding wrecks and other mayhem, he was able to make up eighteen spots to salvage the 12th place finish, after being tied for the Series point lead going into the event, when Mat Sheppard was DQ’d after winning at Cornwall on Monday night, losing a hundred points in the process.

To cap it all off, the skies opened up just as the Sportsman Feature ended, drowning the pit area, perhaps a fitting conclusion to a frustrating night.

Mat put it in perspective, noting, “It’s nice when you go to a dirt show and you go to a professional race track, to have everything organized where you can time trial, and it’s not the luck of the draw. That put us behind the eight ball right at the start. This place isn’t known for passing. If I was watching the race, I’d be disappointed, but to be in it was another thing. When you’re sitting back and you can’t pass race cars, even when you know you’re faster, it puts you in a tight spot.”

So, we took the provisional, started 30th and got to twelfth. We moved up on a race track where there wasn’t much passing going on. I’m just glad we don’t have to come here every Friday night.”

Mat concluded, “The car was decent. You had to really play the race track. You had to hope a guy made a mistake and take advantage of it. To sit out there for 75 laps, it’s the most boring race I’ve ever been in. I’m just glad it’s over. We salvaged a good run from it. I’m glad that we’ve got this place off the schedule, and we can move onto the next show.”

To quote the old R and B tune, “Mama said there’d be days like this.” However, the team survived; the car rolled onto the hauler in one piece, and they’re still in the hunt. Coming off two good performances at Cornwall, there’s reason to be optimistic about the future.

Strong Showing in Small Block Series Race Caps Good Weekend at Cornwall

By Dave Sully - (Cornwall, ON) – Following a gutty performance in the Big Block Tour race on Sunday, the team came back with an even stronger effort on Monday, July 1st in the Small Block event, as part of a two day holiday show at Cornwall. This time, a good qualifying effort put them in the redraw and Mat drew the sixth starting spot.

Mat observed, “We timed third fastest in our group (which determined the starting spot for the heat. The bottom lane was certainly the place to be, timing third was really a better avenue than timing second. The first couple laps (Chris) Raabe got in front of me on the restarts. It was kind of like a battle for the bottom. Then, on another restart, he hit his right rear on a bump kind of shot out, and I squeezed into the hole. He tried to squeeze me down the back straightaway and made me lift. I held my lane and that got us into the redraw.”

In the hundred lap feature, strategy played out. Mat explained, “You certainly have to put yourself in a position to win at the end of the race. We got forked on a couple of restarts. I dropped back to eighth on the original one. After that everybody went to the bottom and I ran the top, got the car square. I think we got by Brett (Hearn), Bowman, and two other guys in two laps, so that put us up to fourth. Then we had another restart and I got up beside MacDonald and kind of waited for him to screw up and then I took advantage of it and that put us in third. Once I got up to third I was kind of paying protection, just running around the bottom because the track was really rough. I didn’t want to break and get a DNF. We were just kind of idling around in third and I caught up to Matt (Sheppard) and Jimmy (Phelps). Then on the last lap, Jimmy kind of blew it in for the win and almost spun out. I got under him and beat him to the line. “

It doesn’t get any easier, as the team prepares for the “Battle of the Border,” at Ransomville on Wednesday and then re-doing the car on Thursday and Friday, changing the frame for the next shot at Merrittville. “We’re going to try something different. I just don’t think we have the right package for the frame right now. We plan on experimenting and put something different. We’re going to go back with what we had from last year.”

It certainly helps the psyche to go into a race coming off of a good performance. Hopefully, that will translate into a good finish at Ransomville on Wednesday. Time will tell.

Nice Recovery at Cornwall Big Block Series Event

By Dave Sully - (Cornwall, ON) – What difference a day makes. After a frustrating night at Merrittville on Saturday, the team hustled home, re-worked the car and headed for the Big Block Series race at Cornwall on Sunday morning, June 30th, with the Small Block. Mat offered, “We found a little bit of a problem after Merrittville, and we addressed that. Then we just went back to square one. It’s just one of those things where you use the “KISS method” (Keep it simple, stupid). It’s basically that theory all wrapped up in a race car.”

There were two reasons for taking the Small Block. First, the tight quarter mile Cornwall oval is more conducive to less horsepower, and second, there was a Small Block Series race the next day, as well, and it’s impossible to transport two cars. Thus, the Small Block was the order of the day.

Fifty-eight cars, including all of the heavy hitters, were on hand, meaning there would be a number of cars that wouldn’t make the field, adding to the anxiety. “There were ten in the heat, and I timed eighth (where he started),” Mat noted. Things brightened when Mat was able to move up to finish fourth in the heat, which relegated him to the B Main, since only three qualified for the feature out of each of the six heats.

The fourth place finish in the heat allowed Mat to start on the outside pole in his B Main, and he wound up winning it and qualifying for the A Main. Things really came together in the feature, as starting in twentieth, he was able to record a fine seventh place finish, ahead of the likes of Danny O’Brien, Dale Planck, Danny Johnson, Brett Hearn, and Billy Decker, to name a few.

Mat explained, “I like Cornwall. That’s the start of it. I always run good there. I’ve got a lot of laps there. I’ve been up there for regular nights and all the tour shows over the last few years. I’ve probably got over a thousand laps there. It certainly helps in that aspect.
We were rolling pretty good. I got up beside Sheppard there and then he got on the gas, but if the right rear tire hadn’t chunked out we would have been a top five car. It seemed like I got up to the front and used everything I had to get there. When I got there, I couldn’t really race with those guys.”

As for the breakdown between Big Blocks and Small Blocks, Mat thought there were three or four ahead of him. He noted, “It was kind of even. There were seven Big Blocks and eight Small Blocks in the top fifteen. I don’t think it was an advantage or a disadvantage to have a Small Block. They’ve got the rules pretty wrapped up so that a Small Block can compete on the Big Block Tour at these small tracks.”

It was important to come back with a good performance, after the team struggled once again at its home track. It was good to get the Big Block points and puts them in a good frame of mind going into the Small Block event on Monday.

Team Still Chasing Merrittville

(Thorold, ON) – The team went back to the drawing board after last weekend’s frustrating runs at Merrittville and Humberstone, making wholesale changes to the car, and believing they had uncovered the problems that have been plaguing them. Unfortunately, it didn’t show up in the results on Saturday, June 29th, as Mat struggled to a fourth place finish in the heat, which put him tenth on the grid for the feature.

It looked promising at first, as Mat moved up as high as fifth, but then slipped backward before making a couple of late passes put him in ninth at the line, just nosing out Brandon Easey.

Talking about Merrittville, Mat declared, “We’ve been struggling this year at Merrittville. There’s no doubt about it. I still don’t think we’re where we need to be. We’re still planning on changing frames this week (a possibility Mat mentioned the previous week), get back to things that have been successful before and see what happens. It just sucks to struggle at your own track like that.”

There is no relief as the team has Sunday and Monday dates at Cornwall for Series races, before returning for the midweek “Battle of the Border” at Ransomville, another 358 Series event. Who knows? Sometimes going on the road can change the dynamic, especially going to a track that Mat likes and has many laps on.

On a positive note, Mat talked with Mike Bowman after the nasty confrontation in the pits last week, and they also met. Mat feels the situation has been resolved.

Complacency never solves anything, and the team will continue to search for the answer at Merrittville. Maybe the new frame and going back to basics will be the formula they have been seeking.

Learning Experience at Humberstone

By Dave Sully - (Pt. Colborne, NY) Following a fourth place finish at Merrittville on Saturday, the team traveled down the road to Humberstone with the small block on Sunday, as they had considered doing since the big block wasn’t working there. After winning his heat easily from the outside pole, Mat entered the dreaded redraw and wound up tenth on the grid for the feature, behind some very fast cars, mostly small blocks. In fact, there were only two big blocks on hand.

The race had a dubious start, as four cautions were recorded before the second lap was official. Mat was able to avoid the early carnage, and by the eighth lap he found himself fifth for a restart after Bill Bleich and Robbie Krull got together.

From there, it became a matter of survival, as the tightly grouped field never really got strung out because of cautions on laps 15 and 21 in the 30 lap race. The track slickened, with the only big motor able to utilize its power was eventual winner, Dale Planck, who got past small block pilot Erick Rudolph and was able to dictate his own route around the race track.

The veteran Planck was able to out power the small block on the straightaways, while losing some ground in the turns. Mat did the best he could with the slick surface and ended up a respectable seventh.

Mat conceded that that the crew is still trying to work some bugs out that have kept them from challenging for wins. They have been fast at times (witness the record breaking lap at Merrittville), but not fast enough long enough, if you get my drift.

Commenting on the course of action, and his night at Humberstone, he declared, “We’ve been struggling with our shock package and our whole combination really, and it’s nice to have this Friday off (from Lernerville, which has a three day Late Model show), so we can get back to the basics. We washed the car, and we’re going to make some major changes to hopefully get a little better. We haven’t had the right combination yet. We’ve been searching for it, but every time there’s a slick race track we’ve been struggling. We actually thought about changing the frame out, but we’re going to keep trucking.”

The bad news is that they are still looking for the right combination, and the good news is that they are still looking for the right combination. The news will be even better when they find it, which they will, because this team has a never say die attitude.

There is still a lot of time. Heck, the summer just officially started on June 21st. The team can use that as a fresh start.

 

Rugged Night at Merrittville Ends in Controversy

By Dave Sully - Thorold, ON- Following a good performance at Lernerville on Friday, resulting in a second place finish, Mat and the team found themselves still chasing the setup a little bit. After a third place finish in his heat, Mat started sixth in the feature. While Todd Gordon held sway at the front, joined later by Shayne Pierce, Pete Bicknell, and Tom Flannigan, Mat found himself in a pitched battle with Mike Bowman for fifth.

As the race in front consumed most of the interest, Mat and Bowman, who were both fast, went at it in the heavy going. At one point there was some heavy contact going down the front stretch. Mat took exception to it, and took a run at Bowman in turn two.

After that, Bowman spent the rest of the time trying to catch up to Mat, which he was unable to do, though he got close. Mat ended up fourth after Flannigan broke late, with Bowman fifth. On the cool down lap, Bowman expressed his displeasure with Mat by trying to spin him out on the front stretch. Warned by race director Bob St. Amand, not to pursue that course of action, Bowman followed Mat to the inspection area off pit road, where he reportedly exited his car, went over to Mat, still in his car. Officials quickly stopped that action, but when Mat exited his car another melee ensued, which was broken up by officials and bystanders.

Tempers still ran hot some time afterward, with no word at this time on any penalties.

Talking about the on-track incidents, Mat declared, “When you race some guys as hard as they race you, they sometimes get a little upset about it. We can take it and we can put it out. It was hard racing for sure. He (Bowman) came up on me on the front straightaway and took my left front out of my hands. Took the left front away and got by me. I got back by him and he tried to chop me going into turn one. I drove it in hard and took the wheel out of his hands. That’s one thing about racing. You’ve got to be able to take it, if you can put it out. When you can’t take it, but you want to put it out every week, you’re not going to get much respect from anybody. What happened in the pits was just emotions running high at the end of the race.”

About the race, Mat explained, “We’re trying some stuff to try and get better. Sometimes it helps you and sometime it hurts you. Tonight we were just holding on for fifth. Everybody’s racing hard.”

Fourth place is good most nights and on a hot night, literally and figuratively, with a full moon to boot, you file this in the back of your mind, and get ready for the next race. There’s still a long way to go.