Good Finish at Brighton Puts Williamson Train Back on Track

By Dave Sully  - (Brighton, Ontario) After the nightmarish trip to Mohawk, which temporarily derailed the Williamson Racing Team express, a solid fourth place finish at Brighton, coupled with a less than stellar conclusion for point leader Dale Planck, closed the Series point gap and restored the confidence level of the team heading for Super Dirt Week, where three Series races will take place. Things started out well at Brighton, as Mat set fast time, putting him on the pole for his heat, which he proceeded to win. Breaking his normally dismal luck in the redraw, he drew the fourth starting position, and ran up front for the entire 100 laps.

Mat noted, “We used our Merrittville car. We didn’t change anything between the time trials and the heat, and then changed a little bit for the feature. We were pretty much spot on when we got there.

Speaking about the race, Mat declared, “We were good and (Chad) Chevalier was really good. He and I were racing together most of the night and then (Travis) Braun came along and door slammed Chevalier on a restart and took me and Chevalier back to fifth and sixth. Other than that, it was really good.”

As for whether he felt he had a chance to win, he replied, “Not really. We were consistently in the top five all night, though we dropped back to seventh briefly. We were persistent. Track position was important. The track was really slick. It rained a little bit, but didn’t really get tacky. At first, the top was really fast. Then the top went away and the bottom took rubber. It was a good thing we were up there.”

Ultimately, Mario Clair won the race, inheriting the lead when Planck, who looked like a sure winner, broke a shock mount on lap 87. Planck eventually finished 13th. Terrence finished second, with Merrittville cars, Braun, Mat, Chevalier, and Tom Flannigan completing the top six.

“It was a good night for points, other than Carey (Terrence, who finished second and is Mat’s closest pursuer). We closed up the gap on Dale. We’re 104 pints behind him now. We’ve got to have some good luck. That’s for sure. We need Dale to break and us to have a good run,” Mat asserted.

The team will on an extended break until they leave for Syracuse. As for the Super Dirt Week cars, Mat observed, “Everything will be done Wednesday night, I hope.” The Merrittville car will be used at Weedsport (Cayuga County) on Wednesday night, October 4th, and at Rolling Wheels on Thursday night, October 5th, with the Syracuse car put into action on the Mile for the Time Trials on Thursday afternoon, the Twin Twenties Qualifier on Friday and the 150 on Saturday. Obviously, the team will be very busy during SDW.

Rest assured, they are looking forward to the festivities and will be ready. Mat is already psyched and hoping for the best.