Clock Strikes Twelve on Great Effort at Mohawk

By Dave Sully - (Hogansburg, NY) After the six hour drive in intense heat to the outpost known as Mohawk International Speedway, formerly known as Frogtown, for the 75 lap 358 Modified Series event on Thursday, June 21st, things were definitely looking good for the Williamson Racing Team.

 

Following hot laps, Mat went out for his heat, and ran a solid third behind winner Dale Planck, and that got him into the redraw. After a rather disappointing draw of eleventh, the crew, which on this trip included, Dipper, Randy Williamson, and Rob Sawatsky, set the car up for a hot, dusty track.

 

The start of the race saw Mat get shuffled back to around sixteenth before things settled down. From there he began a steady march to the front, using the low groove. The race turned into a high attrition affair, signified by ten cautions and two reds. Through it all, Mat made his way forward, passing the likes of Brett Hearn, and Dale Planck before eventually finding himself in second place following a lap 49 restart, which saw him claim the position from Planck.

 

As he tried to reel in the lightning fast Billy Dunn, who had inherited the lead when leader Carey Terrence suffered a steering problem, the caution flew on lap 53, giving Mat a shot at Dunn from close in. Dunn, as he had numerous times earlier in the race got a good jump, while Mat came under siege from Erick Rudolph.

 

On lap 56, the clock struck 12:00 and the Cinderella ride ended, when Mat suddenly felt a vibration in the front end and wisely shut the engine off. The No. 6 carriage turned into the proverbial pumpkin, leaving Mat and the team wondering what might have happened over the final nineteen laps if it had stayed together. Because of the high attrition, Mat ended up 14^th in the final accounting, which, under the circumstances, wasn’t bad.

 

A thoroughly disappointed Mat, who suffered motor problem at Mohawk the previous year, bemoaned his fate, noting, “I felt it vibrating going into turn 3 and just shut it down right away. I didn’t know if it popped out of gear or what it was. We checked over the tranny and it was okay. We saw some oil in the valve cover, so we think it was the motor. It was our race to lose, and we lost it. I was putting around the bottom while everybody was in the rough stuff on top, just trying to save the car and be there at the end. It’s disheartening. We could have taken over the point lead.”

 

Of the race itself, Mat added, “I didn’t change anything in the car. We were good on the bottom. Once the top went away, I was getting better and better. That’s why I think I could have given Billy (Dunn) a run for his money. The worst feeling is to know you could have won, knew you had the car to win, and then sitting in the pits watching the last 19 laps. The track conditions were horrendous (evidenced by the fact that there were only 12 cars running at the end). We’ve lost two motors here when it’s been rough like this. Today I didn’t pound the rough stuff. I just putt-putted around the bottom.”

 

Despite the obvious disappointment, there were some good things to reflect on. Passing legends like Brett Hearn and Dale Planck during the race elevates the confidence level, and having the car perform as well at it did, bodes well for the future. The next step is getting past midnight.