Impressive Run for Williamson in 358 Series Opener at Cornwall
By Dave Sully
- (Cornwall,
Ontario) Mat Williamson
opened his quest for the Dirtcar 358 Modified title with an impressive fourth
place finish at Cornwall Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 20th. Crew chief “Dipper” Windeatt noted
that the car was fast right off the trailer and the team felt poised for a good
run, but in racing there are no guarantees.
After finishing third in his heat
behind Dale Planck and eventual feature winner Danny Johnson, Mat went out and
took the lead on the eighth lap and set the pace for 30 circuits before
surrendering the lead to Johnson in lap traffic. He continued his strong run, but fell
prey to Brett Hearn and, toward the end, Planck, whom he had passed earlier in
the event, resulting in the fourth place finish.
Finishing fourth in any Dirtcar
Series race is heady stuff, especially when the drivers ahead of you are
legends like Johnson, Hearn, and Planck. Mat talked about the race, noting, “We
were really good. We led until around lap forty (actually 38) and then Danny
(Johnson) got me in lap traffic. I tried to keep up with him. I sealed my tire
over and started fading back and finished fourth, but the car was really good.”
Regarding the lap traffic, he
added, “I was a sitting duck. The car was so good that I knew I’d be hurting
later on. In situations like that, it’s better if you’re not active in the
beginning and you’re better at the end, but we were too good too early. I went
to the bottom, while Hearn and Planck kept plugging around the top and both of
them got by me that way.”
Cornwall Speedway is a tight quarter mile, different than most of the tracks the drivers are used to. Mattalked about racing there, declaring, “It is pretty small. It was tough going
through lap traffic. You never know where anybody’s going to go. It’s a neat
little place, though. The track was good last night. It just took rubber early
and that hurt us.”
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